Pre-Thanksgiving Color and Stitchery

What are you thankful for at Thanksgiving? Many things of course. But for me, from the vantage point of my quilting world perspective, I need to add to that list the rich colors and textures of the holiday. I love pumpkins in many shapes and types and here is the variety I have on my hearth for tomorrow. From left to right there is the rough woven straw, the crisp plaid cotton fabric, the nubby cable knit, the gathered silky smooth velvet, and bright, slick, hammered copper.

My younger son Alex absolutely loves a lighted tree so yesterday I assembled our 6' tall pre-lit Walmart tree and placed just a few gold ornaments on it to represent the tones of Thanksgiving. Last year was the first time we did not have a freshly cut live tree and I was a bit wistful that purchasing an artificial tree would signal us letting go of a "real" tree tradition. However, being able to erect this tree in less than 30 minutes, when the inspiration struck me, has a lot of benefits. Alex can double his holiday enjoyment. Alex is a special needs adult, but one of the perks of his situation is that he continues to enjoy typical childlike pleasures. (You can see Alex enjoying his birthday quilt in my post for May 26, 2014.) I do not want to rush Christmas, so I will wait to add the red and other bright ornaments later, in a week or so. For now, we have lights and golden hues for Thanksgiving.

For the Thanksgiving holiday, I enjoy setting a pretty table more than I enjoy the cooking part of things – and much, much, more than dealing with the cleanup and all those turkey leftovers. Here are some plates I bought at T.J.Maxx several years ago. The pattern is Royal Turkey by Maxcera but I did not know that was anything special at the time. I just liked them with their scrolls and ripply edges and bright orange-reds. I love that although there is a turkey, the colors are not just browns. The painted fruits brighten up the plates, too, as if that striking border were not enough!

The burgundy tablecloth underneath that plate was also a discount store find many years ago, but this is the first time I have used it.The quilters out there may enjoy the embroidered and appliquéd leaves at the edges and corners. Those leaves are what attracted me to it when I bought it. The low price for such detail was a pretty good incentive, also.

Since there will be only four of us tomorrow at a table big enough for six or eight, I draped a table runner crosswise at one end. I'd picked up the leaves runner at an antique store. Again I was drawn in by appreciation for the stitchery. Those tea light holders shaped like leaves were a random find at a dollar store. My son will have a blast blowing out the tea lights and having us relight them repeatedly for him. It is gratifying to watch that such a small thing gives him such great pleasure.

I love dragging bits of items from my closets, collected a various random times, and putting them together in a fun way. After gathering it all together, this is what the table will look like, pre-food. Tomorrow I will add a few red carnations in the individual mini-vases or tuck them  in with the gold utensils at each place. Those mini-vases hold pumpkins, leaves, and candy corn stick decorations within.

Shortly after taking a quilting class in fall 2014 at Alden Lane's Quilting in the Garden I bought those stick decorations at their Christmas shop. The whimsical candy corns make me smile. The pumpkins may have faces on them making them Jack O'Lanterns but I still think they add to the ambience and friendly tone of the Thanksgiving table.

My son's mini-vase is customized more to his taste. Those Tootsie Rolls pops remain true to the red, orange, and brown color scheme.

There is no food yet, but our dog Daphne is practicing for her food coma tomorrow.

Hopefully there will be moderation for us, and not a food coma. This is the first time ever that for a Thanksgiving at home, I will not be cooking. We are buying a holiday feast from a local restaurant. A single adult friend will be joining my husband and son and me. Not cooking gave me time to do this fussy table decor stuff that I love.

I am thankful that tomorrow promises to be a low-key day for us to relax and count our blessings; catch the Macy's Day parade on TV... watch a little football... blow out a few candles... do a jigsaw puzzle. I am blogging today instead of frantically baking. Whooo, knows? Maybe we will do it again this way next year.

I am joining up now with Freshly-Pieced's work in progress pre-turkey link party.