Vegetable Vases inspire Vintage Va-voom

With the sudden appearance of one leaf on the yard, then two hundred, tunnel vision set in and all I could see was the dining room’s table covering needed to be changed out. From sunny Fifties fruit to something more…fall-ish.

I’ve had this quilt topper forever and having not once made a move toward sewing it to a backing, I decided instead to use it as a tablecloth.

Last night was the covering’s inaugural with a dinner for four. I set out to buy a bouquet for a central vase arrangement, but the grocery’s selection wasn’t great and the cost not worth it. Then I saw the price of green peppers, 4/$1.00.

Instead of a single vase, the hollowed green peppers served as individual vases at each place setting. I bought a flowering mum plant (cutting the blooms from the stems) and 4 colorful peppers to add some bam!, as Emeril would say. So easy and so beautiful.

Love it when a spontaneous inspiration turns out much better than the plan.

With the dishes cleared, the topper is a marvel of fabric squares dating from the late 1930s into the 1950s. At first glance, it looks like a haphazard placement of florals, but stepping back, you can

see there’s a sense of design to her selection of square placement.

The size of the topper is large/queen, so we’re talking a lot of fabric scraps that had to be of a certain size.

So fun how she decided to include two squares of the cowboy fabric.

The borders aren’t finished, so there are lots of threads dangling, which one day/some day, I will or not get to. Actually, retaining the raw edging retains the mystery as to why this topper was never completed. When next guests are seated around the table, I’ll ask this very question. What a great conversational starter! What do you say? Chiming in welcome!

xxea

Tie One On…an apron, of course!