Preparations

My mom has hosted Thanksgiving every year in memory. Sometimes family comes. Sometimes family is pointedly excluded. Sometimes it's themed. Most years it's duck. This year, she's mired in transitioning E's mom through a rather substantial lifestyle change and doesn't feel up to hosting. Which means, for the first time in my adult life, I could actually host Thanksgiving.

So I volunteered.

And M didn't leave me.

Mom & E, Russ & Elaine, me & M, and possibly a couple last minute additions to the roster will be falling in around our gorgeous (yet impossible for us to find linens for) dining table. And then it struck me: I don't have eight of anything, as far as linens go.

Since I have recently discovered top stitching, and how it makes things survive the washing machine better, I decided to make my own. They're a bit eclectic -- just like everything else in our house -- but they're colorful and should cheer up the table under all that stylish china and crystal. Good thing we picked a neutral tone pattern. :)