The technique of appliqué feltwork appears in the 1700s, but it was during the middle of the following century that feltwork achieved widespread popularity among women eager for new styles of handwork to decorate their homes. The tablecover’s design, with its central medallion and scrolling border, follows a traditional textile form, but its coloration of vivid hues against a strong dark background appealed to mid-nineteenth-century tastes. The embroiderer’s skillful use of appliqué felt creates the tablecover’s prominent three-dimensional motifs. Layers of felt petals, and strawberries padded to suggest ripeness, add a degree of naturalism to the artificial arrangement of flowers and fruits. Pansies, roses, daisies, and bluebells mix with sweet peas, lily of the valley, and fuchsias; many are accented with sequins, seed beads and pearls as if sprinkled with dew. The result is a striking example of needlework as it was practiced by talented women following the patterns and dictates of embroidery designs created for mid-nineteenth-century interiors.