Celebrate National Punctuation Day

I am a firm believer in the proper use of punctuation, so imagine my glee upon reading The Washington Post’s (note the use of a possessive apostrophe) Metro section this morning that today is National Punctuation Day, founded by Jeff Rubin in 2004. Learn more about National Punctuation Day HERE. To celebrate, the founder is hosting a National Punctuation Day baking contest. Submit your baked good in the shape of a punctuation mark before September 30th for a chance to win. As I’ve done all kinds of punctuation cookies–question marks, semi colons, and more–this would be right up my alley if I actually had a kitchen yet. Find details on the site HERE. For a punctuation meatloaf recipe, click HERE.

P.S. The question mark cookie above is from my web site, proof of my punctuation cookie history.

Technorati Tags: punctuation, cookies, baking contest, question mark

Most of the cross stitch projects I make are pretty small and not something I would consider heirloom quality (though I am working on a big project for my daughter that I hope to have done for her high school graduation in two years that I hope is something she’ll want to keep forever, but that’s another story).

But it is definitely possible to cross stitch projects that will stay around for generations, and one prime example of that is a cross-stitched linen tablecloth.

Linen tablecloths are classic, while stitching one can be a big project, depending on the size of your table, it doesn’t have to be really complicated.

Koekoek has a good, detailed post about figuring out how much linen you would need to make a tablecloth that you can cross stitch and/or embroider on (they also sell tablecloth linen in their shop if you don’t already have some or a linen tablecloth you already use). Of course for a project like this you’d want the best fabric you can find and afford, because you’ll be stitching it for a long time and hopefully using it for years.

The post walks through how to measure your table and determine how much fabric you’ll need including the drop you’ll want and hems. It includes the math for rectangular and square tables as well as circular tables, which helps take the guesswork out of buying fabric. It also talks about preparing the fabric and making mitered corners if you have a square or rectangular table, which will help the tablecloth sit nicely on your table.

The tutorial doesn’t include specific patterns to use for your tablecloth, but it does advise keeping it simple because this is a really big project. You can start with a motif in the center or doing borders, and this is a project you can add to through the years by, say, stitching a symbol for each family member or adding names, wedding dates, etc. and making it a real record of your family.

Would you ever cross stitch a tablecloth or have you done so? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Koekoek]

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