Embroidered Monogrammed Table Runner

2023.MCV.02.001

Embroidered Monogrammed Table Runner

"Betsy"

1929-1939

Maria C. Vallejo

Table Runner

George A. Leinonen

A white cotton embroidered table-runner, approximately 6 inches tall by 24 inches wide. The runner features elaborately embroidered floral motif, embroidered gold ribbon, and the letter “B”. The primary colors are blue, gold, and green. 

Cotton or Linen

Approx. 6"x24"

Embroidery

Maria C. Vallejo: Her modest life in the city of Espanola New Mexico was simple yet colorful. Mother to many children and grandmother to many little ones, Betsy made sure her chores were done promptly and nearly perfect. Order and beauty were vital in the home. After learning of my love for manual and needle arts, Maryanne, her granddaughter, and my friend offered to give me some of her labor of love. After cooking, cleaning, washing, sweeping, and mopping, she rewarded herself relaxing with needle and cloth in her lap. Embroidery became her meditative moment and her spiritual connection. It was the era of the Great Depression. She was thrifty. She was prolific. She recycled her well-worn pillowcases into embroidered doilies. She monogrammed a scrap of fabric to create a small runner for her dresser. Let's imagine her perfume bottles resting on it. Embroidery offered Betsy the rest, calmness, beauty, and color she craved after a very long day of household work. I cherish her embroidered pieces.

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