Restoration

Our lives can sometimes feel like a frayed patchwork...

Coming apart at the seams...

Tattered and worn on the edges,

like this beautiful quilt I found in a yard sale pile. I loved the vintage fabrics used in the 9 patch pattern, and the red backing, and knew it could be beautiful and warm, even though it would never be the same quilt that it once was. Some experts say that you shouldn't add fabrics to antique quilts, but instead, cover the frayed parts with fine mesh, to keep it together without changing it's original content. (This would especially be done to one with special historical value and not as worn as this one.)  My objective was to strengthen the quilt and restore its usefulness, even though that meant changing it.

Being the collector that I am, I usually have bits and pieces of vintage fabrics stashed around my sewing room.  I cut them to the size of the frayed squares (with enough added to fold under the edges) and just appliqued them over the worn out areas, and then re-quilted the new squares.

I also bought a piece of red fabric to make a new edge. I don't mind that it doesn't match exactly or look like it once did, the integrity and strength are what matter in quilts and lives. The changes that ultimately keep us together only add to our beauty and character.

Chairy thoughts.

I have wanted a Bergere style chair for a while now, but the ones I’ve seen in shops, or even at flea markets have been out of my price range. They look so cute painted white, and upholstering them in burlap seems to be a popular look. So when I saw an add for one on my local Freecycle site I responded right away and was thrilled to be the lucky recipient, and of course, I had slipcover plans.

I kept thinking about an article I saw several years ago in Martha Stewart Living, but after searching the internet and the Martha Stewart website, I couldn’t find it, or even the date of the magazine. So I turned to e-bay. I found an issue for sale (May 2002) that mentioned an article on summer slipcovers. I had a hunch that that was it, so I bought the magazine and was right.













I really loved the shirt-like fabrics that were used on these.
I happened to have enough of a blue and white stripe that I bought at a rummage sale at least one decade ago.


I was surprised at how similar my chair is to this one in the article. I guess it was really embedded in my subconscious since I finished my slipcover long before I saw the article again.
I haven’t decided if I will paint the wooden parts, or just clean them up, but I love my new chair.

Another reason to buy chocolate.

My daughter of Paper Pony introduced me to the Trader Joe’s little round tins of chocolate wedges. It’s almost as if they had crafters in mind when they designed the containers.

I love the magnetic storage tins you can buy. Some of them have little windows,  just like these chocolate tins.  A while back, I bought some little black tins at a yard sale and made them into such containers , described in this blog post. So the other day I got out my die cutter and my circle dies and cut some paper to glue on the top, and straight strips for the bottoms. (Or you could paint them.)

I don’t even glue the magnet on the back, I just put a strong magnet on my metal surface and put the tin on top.

 

Scrappiness.

I love the word “scrappy”.  My 1974 Webster’s Dictionary says that it means “fond of fighting”, but I like to think of it more as meaning, “too tough to give up, even though you’re just a scrap of a thing”. When I saw, in a recent bulletin from our church, a request for sewing items and containers to hold them, I got very excited. I always have beautiful little scraps that I can’t bear to throw away, or even give away, because I know that I will eventually come up with a use for them. Well, they hung in there and have found their special purpose!

These little bits of  left over fabric along with some of  the other things I end up collecting ( ribbon, wool sweaters for felting, zippers, thimbles, etc.) have become sewing kits on their way to Zambia.

Having been faced with a challenge, I am thrilled to have a pattern for a compact sewing kit that I can produce in a hurry.

Now those scrappy little bits will be even more treasured.

Loving the local farmers!

 

Beautiful colors from the Sunday Farmer’s Market up the street.

Patio quartet.

I found these chairs at a local shop called Clearwater Bazaar. At under $20 each, I couldn’t resist. I have talked to so many people who share my love of chairs. What is it about us that makes us want to bring home every chair that we see sitting by the side of the road, or looking neglected in the corner of a shop?

I decided to leave them rusty-chippy, since the paint wasn’t flaking too much, but since I was planning to lightly sand them and also sand the wooden backs, I thought I should test for lead. I have several old things around my house that I have been worried about especially now that I have grandchildren.

The nice people at Orchard Supply directed me right to the lead testing kits. Two testers per pack and not that expensive. You can use each tester for more than one item as long as they come up negative, and you do it within two minutes.  I didn’t find lead in the chairs, but a couple of other things that were flaking a bit came up positive. I have put them away for now and have to decide what to do with them, but was glad that I could continue with my chair project.

My original plan was to sand the wood and leave it natural, but decided instead to paint it a similar color as the chair paint and distress it.

 

I’m pretty happy with how they turned out. They look so inviting all in a row on my patio.

The nest.

 

I have been so busy with sewing work lately, and it seem that everyone is planning some sort of celebration at the end of the month. Either the first big weekend at the beach house, or a graduation party.  I’ve barely had time to sit or tend to the nest. (I do take a little test rest in most of the chairs I slipcover…just a little short close-your-eyes for a few seconds and take a deep breath rest.)

I did make it over to Saffron and Genevieve for the Spring Sale and open house and used some of my sewing credit for this great iron nest. Looks like it is the perfect place for the Charley Harper salt and pepper birds that my daughter, Sarah, gave me.

We also got a new computer and I thought, “Oh no, now I have to figure out how to use this new PC when I am used to a Mac”, but turns out it isn’t as hard as I thought it would be.

I am looking forward to a little bit of a let-up in the work because I have opened my home to a few needy chairs that are longing for some special attention. I’ll introduce them to you soon.