just to feel productive

When I'm in the midst of big projects, or I've got little time but so. many. ideas, sometimes I'll whip up something easy to finish for that "winning!" feeling. Well, I'm working on a big quilting project right now (back-logged from Christmas 2010, ahem), and I'm not going to finish in a day or two.  So today, I decided to whip up some cloth napkins (I've been thinking of them since my friend Diana and I had a conversation about cloth napkins two weeks ago!).

Part of our Lenten purge included paring down on our cloth napkin collection.  I started buying cloth napkins when I started thrifting, when I starting thinking (ironically) about simple living and the virtues of shunning paper napkins (and paper towels)*. Any time I saw a nice or cute set, I'd pick them up, rationalizing, there are only four (six) here. Well, four (six) adds up, and before you know it, there's a drawer full of mismatched hodge-podgy napkins.  So we donated about 85% back to the thrift store for someone else to enjoy, keeping only a few, and now I'd like to have one big, semi-matching set for eventual holidays and group get-togethers. Kind of like my version of holiday linens? Originally, I would have already had this in the napkins I made for my wedding, but a friend who did a lot of work on my wedding for me asked if she could have them, and so I want her to.

four cloth napkins.

straight and even stitching! no tension problems here!

two-ply. both sides are vintage thrifted bedsheets. I love those polka dots!

just cheers a place setting right up, doesn't it? plus, our dinnerware is all white, so it matches everything.

In any case, they are also easy to sew up and I've got vintage sheets everywhere, so why not? So I end this day feeling successful because of cloth napkins. Don't be surprised if there are more posts like this in the future. I am a creature of habit, after all.

*Also, just as a point of clarification, we don't buy paper napkins at home, but we still do for work, and we still buy paper towels, but we just take months to go through one roll.