Begin
With special anticipation, I begin this Cherry Tablecloth needlework journey. Calmly embroidering, with great colors and a wide variety of possible stitches as a beautiful design becomes even more classic with each strand of floss until an heirloom keepsake is made.
At this point, I am happily working on my cherry embroidery every night. The average time it takes me to embroider a new tablecloth project is between 3-9 months, depending on the level of difficulty in the design.

It also seems to take a lot longer when there are a large volume of colors in the design. You know, completing all of one color for a reasonable space, then securing the knots, snip and threading needles with the new colors every few minutes. More colors are more time consuming.
Finished

Before you know it, here is a beautiful tablecloth complete. I do a little Irish jig dance celebrating! Standing up and dancing around the living room singing, “It is done, yeah, it is done!”, after the last stitch is tied-off.

Then the new tablecloth is carefully washed, ironed (every single inch), and carefully photographed on the dining room table. I apologize that I did not think anyone was interested in the unfinished stages of embroidery during this project time period. Nowadays, I make it a point to photograph the stages of completion so others can see how it looks as you go along.
I hope that you are able to find forgotten treasures at your next garage sale expedition too. This was actually someone else’s dream tablecloth that I was able to complete. When she got this fine tablecloth stamped in this great cherry basket and cherry vine pattern I am sure that she had all kinds of ideas about how beautiful it would turn out. She probably had a great fondness for fresh cherries, herself. I hope that my embroidery has honored her wishes for this heirloom tablecloth.