Lace tablecloth

"No matter the occasion, no matter whether the china is peasant pottery or finest Wedgewood, there is a crocheted cloth to complete the setting, and to bring you a pleased feeling of satisfaction because your own lovely handwork gives the setting its true distinction."

Copyright, 1938,  The Spool Company, Printed in U.S.A.  Third Edition.

Seventy-seven years.  I'm making assumptions but I put down the crochet needle last night and told myself that a seventy-seven year Work In Progress had been finished.

The pattern booklet says it was published in 1938.  I don't know when my grandmother bought her book (for 10 cents!) nor if she started her project immediately or not.  I only know that all the motifs were made and more than half of them were waiting to be added to the half-finished tablecloth.  I started the project at the end of the summer and it has taken me two months to crochet the fillers and add four or five more rows.  (And do more filling!)  The pattern ended with 352 motifs made into rows of 16x22.  There was still a bagful of motifs and besides the cloth didn't cover my rather small dining room table so I went back to connecting more rows and enlarged the cloth to 432 motifs in rows of 18x24.  I guess that was what my grandmother had planned all along as I've now run out of motifs and the cloth is now large enough.

"Your grandma would be happy that you finished her project."

Yes, she probably would be.  I know I would (will) be very upset when the day comes along when I've left a half finished quilt stuffed in a box.

"Ah~ah~.  All that time put in and I didn't get it finished...  What a waste."

BUT!!!  Thanks to a determined grand-daughter (me) my grandmother's tablecloth has been completed, mended (in some places the threads had broken), starched and ironed.  And crochet has never been my strong point so I'm rather proud of myself!

I laid the cloth on the table.  It fits (barely).  It looks great!  Despite what the pattern book claims, it does not give my dining room that much distinction as I don't have any Wedgewood nor peasant pottery...  Just Japanese pottery and I'm afraid Japanese pottery doesn't much go with a hand crocheted tablecloth...

I have already covered up the crocheted cloth with my blue plastic tablecloth...  I don't want the cats sitting on it.  I'll whip off the blue cloth to brag to a couple students tomorrow and then Grandma's tablecloth will go in the closet again until Leiya finds a use for it someday.