Linen Love!

My Linen Closet

My Kitchen Linens

Until starting my home inventory, I didn’t realize how much I am surrounded by textiles! They are literally everywhere! I don’t even consider myself a fabric enthusiast. I’ve always placed a high value on the home-made textile items I have, although I don’t make them myself.

Here is a list of all the day-to-day textiles that are in use, in my linen closet or in the kitchen cupboard.

Bedding

• 1 duvet and cover
• 2 comforter sets
• 3 fleece blankets
• 4 home-made quilts – all gifts
• 2 futon covers (actually own 2 futons!)
• 8 pillows
• 3 queen sheet sets
• 3 twin sheet sets

Bath

• 3 bath mats (for 2 bathrooms)
• 2 shower curtains
• 14 towels (8 used regularly)
• 18 face cloths / wash cloths (use 2 per day)

Rom likes the corgi tea towel!

Cloth Table Napkins and Pot Holders

Kitchen

• Table cloths – 2 fine crochet, 5 fabric (seasonal), 2 vinyl (for crafting)
• 5 place mats
• 3 aprons
• 16 cloth table napkins (3 different sets)
• 5 dish cloths
• 13 tea towels (use 1 or 2 a day)
• 5 treated fabric food wraps
• 13 reusable grocery bags (store branded) – kept in the car
• 10 reusable mesh produce bags
• 1 pair oven mitts
• 4 pot holders (used as trivets)

Decorative

• 9 cushions (for couch, futons etc.)
• 6 throws (aka TV blankets) – 3 brought from UK by Rom
• 10 rugs of various sizes – for 8 rooms and 2 entrances (no carpets in house)
• 7 sheer curtain panels
• 1 door panel (curtain)
• 7 valances (window toppers)
• 1 patterned velour curtain (made by Link, obviously)
• 2 cafe curtains

Cleaning

• Bag full of rags
• 7 old towels (used for pets, floors, etc)
• 2 microfibre cleaning cloths (for dusting computer and TV screen etc)
• 2 car wash mitts (one fell apart after first use so had to upgrade)
• 2 shoe shine cloths
• 2 washable Swiffer pads

Other

• 9 handkerchiefs (recently started using)
• 9 bandannas, re-purposed as handkerchiefs
• 2 “magic bags” (fabric bags filled with raw grain, used as heating pads)
• 15 fabric tote bags (freebies collected from conferences, etc) – all in use holding things

I don’t sew, but it’s no surprise that my kid Link sews for a living because our house has always been filled with textile items that we treasure. We have all these hand-made items, some in use and some stored away:

4 hand-made quilts

Quilt made by my grandmother

My grandmother had been working on one late in life. Her niece finished it and gave it to my mom, who gave it to me.

My Quilt from Ellen

Link’s Quilt from Ellen

The next one is a gift from a sister-in-law. I adore the colour scheme and the quilting stitch pattern! She is so talented. Link also received one of her creations.

Micro-pieced quilt from my sister

Finally I have one made by my sister from 5200 miniature pieces. It is worn to tatters!

19 doilies and runners

This is a runner – you put it on your dresser to help display your silver vanity set better!

My favourite doily design from Mom: laurel leaf

When I was a child, every household surface was covered with a doily or a runner. When I moved out of home, I brought some with me and received lots more as gifts. My mom still makes a few each year to sell at fundraising sales, and there are always a few old-timers aficionados who seek them out. They have gone beyond old-fashioned into “vintage” now! I can’t display mine because the cats play with them, drag them around and chew on them! So they are stowed away for safe-keeping. I “may” have a few too many but what the heck.

Table cloth crocheted by Mom in hundreds of hours

My mom has made me two gorgeous crochet table cloths which I use for special occasions.

I would like to be able to make some simple household things like curtains and table cloths. All you seamstresses out there, be kind and don’t laugh at me! I have a 25-year-old sewing machine in working order! Most of the window treatments in the house were left here by the previous owners and they don’t match my decor.  There were vinyl mini-blinds and valances in every room, and I have replaced half of them so far.

I’m very fond of the Canada wall hanging from my sister!

I’ve received a few fabric wall hangings as gifts. A couple were pieced from scratch and several were made from pre-printed panels.

The most detailed cross-stitch I’ve made – raspberries – note the year: 1990!

One thing I have plenty of is cross-stitch pictures.  Our house has 3 on the walls, 6 in storage, and 14 little ones made by Link over the years! We’ve also done lots more of them and given them away as gifts.

This pot holder will never touch a pot!

Rounding out my list of home-made textiles are some knitted cotton dish cloths and quilted pot holders.

I feel extraordinarily fortunate to own these things from talented crafters since I would never make them myself.

It amazes me that I can be surrounded by so much fabric and not think much about it. I haven’t counted upholstered furniture, camping gear, purses and backpacks, fabric-lined baskets, soft-sided guitar cases, stuffed animals, and dozens of other things that are not clothes and not household linens!

Is anyone out there a textiles fan? What items do you love?