About Lucille

My story began long ago when my mother, a talented seamstress, taught me to sew. She always stressed the importance of using quality fabrics and was meticulous about straight lines, square corners and “Press the seams!” She just about drove me crazy while I was learning. She also instilled in me the enormous joy from seeking out the most unusual and exquisitely beautifully detailed fabrics. Now I see that everything she taught me really makes a difference in the quality of my finished product.

I started making napkins and tablecloths for myself, friends and family. I remember a year I made a fall themed tablecloth for a friend. The next year when she was using the tablecloth she said, “I love this tablecloth. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a tablecloth for every holiday or month of the year?” With that I knew what her next Christmas present would be. I searched all year for just the right fabrics and even had her with me on occasion though she never suspected. I did make her a set of twelve themed tablecloths, one for each month. And recently she told me she still uses and loves them all as much now as she did when she received them.

Then my mother-in-law wrote a short story (see below)about her love of the beauty and elegance of cloth napkins. I was so inspired that I keep a basket of cloth napkins on the kitchen counter for daily use. We use them even if we are being the 21st century family in front of the TV. I had another friend who was getting married, and I asked my mother-in-law if I could use her story to accompany the wedding present of a dozen of my dinner napkins. She said she’d be honored, and to this day I always include her story with the napkins I give as wedding presents.

After I left a stressful management position, I decided to combine my passion of working with beautiful fabrics along with my love of sewing, and Lucille’s Linens was born.

After I began creating linens professionally, I started displaying them in unusual baskets and containers geared to the theme and colors of the fabric. Some of my favorites are my lobster napkins displayed in a mini stock pot, my blueberry napkins in a glass pie plate and my chili pepper napkins in a canning jar. I went on to add an excerpt from my mother-in-law Barbara’s story, “Evidence of a Good Life” (see below here) on card stock that I include with each set of linens.

I didn’t realize it until a friend pointed out to me that I had literally created a new art form with each set telling its own story. I’m delighted to say that my work now appears, not only at craft fairs and in gift shops, but also in art galleries!

I make various sizes of Dinner and Lunch napkins, with the generous 20” x 20” dinner napkin my favorite. I also have a generous round Dinner napkin as well as various styles of placemats and table cloths. I pay great attention to detail all during the process from choosing the perfect fabric to the appropriate display container. All my napkins are double sided for added strength and durability.  The seams are sewn, turned and topstitched with coordinating thread for a more polished look.

Evidence of a Good Life

By Barbara McCranie
Copyright © 2008 Lisa Haneberg

I feel good about the weirdest things.
This week I’m wallowing in the recognition
that our worn table napkins validate a fine lifestyle:
not just great dining but a higher level of living.
It started when my husband suggested new napkins.
The dozen white cotton dinner napkins that we use daily
are thin and frayed around the edges.
But they’re soft, feel good, and proof of thousands of dinners for two.
The same old couple dabbing and wiping until their napkins are threadbare.
You can’t replace that.
Worn table napkins are symbolic of: the soft touch of wrinkled hands,
worn elbow patches on a favorite sweater, a book with eared pages,
a fireplace stained by smoke.
Testimony of a meaningful life.
New napkins would offer a promise; old ones are evidence.
On my list of wishes for my children: worn napkins.