Appliqué is ornamental needlework in which pieces or patches of fabric in different shapes and patterns are sewn or stuck onto a larger piece to form a picture or pattern. It is commonly used as decoration, especially on garments. The technique is accomplished either by hand stitching . This excellent table linen was rescued from being abandoned. We had it soaked in percarbonate of sodium, washed and ironed and it has come up trump again. It has never been used and left in the wedding dowry armoire all these decennia. The various shades of blue all still as vibrant as when it was embroidered by hand. We have styled the table linen entirely with blue dinner ware and it looks perfect. There were no napkins with this table linen ,so we have added 4 linen napkins with the initials R.S. Prior to decking the dinner table we have put a longer white table linen first and afterwards the appliqué piece as it measures 1.75 and it looks perfect.