Done with My Rocking Chair

I was Halfway to My Rocking Chair just under two weeks ago, and now I'm done.

I top stitched all the seams so they wouldn't unravel when I washed the panels.  I don't usually prewash anything, but I wanted to be sure the fabric was shrunk before I made the slipcovers.  It came out all rumply and didn't entirely flatten out after ironing.

The cushions were an odd shape, so I needed to make patterns.  I taped brown paper together until I had a sheet large enough, then traced around the cushions, being careful to keep the pen perpendicular to the paper.  The cushions are 4.5" tall, so I divided that by 2, added a 1/2" seam allowance, and that gave me my cutting allowance. 

To add the zipper, I sewed the front to the back panel, which made a long rectangle.  On the seam line, I used a basting stitch where the zipper was going to be, and a regular stitch going out to the raw edges.  I laid the zipper face down along the seam line on the inside, and stitched around it.  Then I removed the basting stitch, folded the rectangle in half, right sides together, and machine stitched the remaining three edges.

That was my plan, anyhow.  I had two variances:  

1. For the first cushion, I forgot to remove the basting stitch before sewing the slipcover shut, so I couldn't get at the zipper to unzip it.  Uh oh.  I had to rip out a hunk of a side seam to get at it.
2. The back cushion had quite a curve along the top and side edges, so I had to put the zipper on the bottom.  The next day I realized there was no way that opening was going to be large enough to push the cushion through, so I cheated and left the top open, put the cushion inside, then stitched it shut by hand.  This is exactly why I wanted to use zippers in the first place, so I wouldn't be resorting to this trick of "permanently" sewing a cover over a pillow.  

Oh well.  The whole experience was much less than enthralling, so I threw my patterns out and have no plans to make more slipcovers.  Next time I want a different look, I'm going to throw a big quilt over the chair.

Here is what I've been calling Side A.

And this is Side B.

The idea was to mix and match the two sides, so let's look at a few.

Side B back and seat, Side A footstool.

Side B back and footstool, Side A seat.

Side B back, Side A seat and footstool.

Side A back and seat, Side B footstool.

With the completion of this rocking chair, my UFO projects are down to just one.  And guess what?  I'm not going to work on it until who knows when.  I was so good this year, working through most of them and I want to work on NEW things.

This wore me out.  I'm going to go sit a spell. 

Aluminum

I noticed an abundance of vintage aluminum items around here, and thought I should do a little research.

Aluminum was invented in 1852 by Henri Deville, a Frenchman, when he used copious amounts of electricity to refine bauxite (a type of clay from Le Baux in southern France).  Aluminum used to be more costly than gold.  Jewelers pounded it into knives, forks, and spoons for Napoleon III to use at his state dinners.  

In 1852, a pound of aluminum cost $545 ($14,170 in today's dollars).  By 1890, thanks to a new, simplified refinery process, it cost $2.25 ($58.50 today). 

Early aluminum pieces were mostly silver-colored.  This assortment of kitchen items includes a small cupcake pan, Jello molds, a butter dish, and a tart pan.

Hammered aluminum serving dishes became popular in the 1930s.  Much more affordable than silver, they combined an old-world "made by hand" appeal, while the aluminum gave them a modern feel.  The plate is Everlast forged aluminum; the handled dishes are unmarked.  Everlast was in production from 1932 - 1961, when it could no longer compete with the next modern material, plastics.

This 9" lamp dates back to the 1940s, at least. 

Aluminum is widely used in the transportation industry.   The upper floors of passenger liners are constructed of aluminum.  Although this engineering feature works good when the ship is upright and operating as should be, it is one of the factors that complicated the recent raising of the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy and sank in 2012.  Aluminum is weak and therefore the flotation ballasts couldn't be attached to it.  That left a very narrow corridor around the steel hull to work with.

World War 2 military designers in the aircraft industry made heavy use of aluminum.  After the war, the supply was abundant, and decorative arts designers came up with innovative and colorful uses for housewares.

 

This set of glasses has a curved rim.

Non-vintage sundae bowls, nice to use for pins.

 

I was so excited to find this pair of mid-century anodized aluminum bowls from Emalox, a Norwegian company.

I'm not done collecting aluminum, that's for sure.

Not Just Another Pretty Face

The injuries we do and those we suffer are seldom weighed in the same scales.

                                                                           ---  Aesop

Thursday is Purse Day - Macavity the Mystery Cat

I made this purse in 2007, while enamored of the Cats soundtrack.  One song in particular stuck with me - Macavity the Mystery Cat, whose lyrics are from T.S. Eliot's poem of the same name.  What with a new season of Foyle's War starting this week, and Foyle's foray into MI5, this seemed like a good time to share this purse with you.

 

Macavity is a ginger-colored cat.  I knit a rectangle out of variegated yarn with a ginger cast to it, then folded it in thirds.  The top third flops over to make the flap.

The body is 3" wide and 2" tall.    The pink beads look like eyeglasses, just the thing for a mystery cat. A beaded fringe dangles off the edge of the flap, another element of disguise.

On the back, you can see the stacked beading I used to close the side seams.  

The handle is braided with three strands of the yarn used in the body, then I wrapped the orange eyelash yarn round and round it.

Macavity and a cat clock I bought at a thrift store today.

Halfway to My Rocking Chair

Seems like I've spent most of this year finishing up UFOs.   I had a pile of blocks I started at a quilt retreat earlier this year.  Rather than making them into a quilt, I'm using them to cover the cushions on my rocking chair.  I've been slowly working on this project since the end of July, and I'm finally halfway done.

 I made six different panels, so I could mix and match the back, seat, and footstool from both sides of the cushions.

This is going to be on the back cushion of Side A.  These are the "garland" blocks from Elizabeth Hartman's Glam Garlands pattern in "Modern Patchwork".  There are supposed to be three colorways, but I only made pink and aqua before I pooped out.

To stretch the pink and aqua blocks across all three cushions on Side A, and to provide some diversity, I used some filler.  This is going to be the seat on Side A - you can see I added a central column of squares.

 
This is for Side A's footstool - squares mixed into the garland columns.

This will be the back cushion on Side B.  I was originally going to use the citron fabric I showed as ingredient three in My Next Project, but that wouldn't have worked with my new plan of mixing and matching the two sides of the cushions.  (That citron was supposed to be the third colorway of garlands if I was going to make the big quilt like in the book.)

I made some garlands for Side A out of the center fabric panel, so that will help tie the two sides together.  I wanted similar colors, but no garlands on Side B.  Plus by this time I was getting a little tired of the project, so I used some large blocks and strips.

This is for Side B's seat.

This is going on the footstool on Side B.

Not Just Another Pretty Face

Your assumptions are your windows on the world.  Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.

                                                                                                             ----   Alan Alda

This Morning's Walk

Temps in the upper 40s - perfect weather for a walk.

Everyone with the proper equipment, all set to go.

We started out near some elk.

I wonder if elk eat crabapples?

This is the crabapple tree.

 

Next time out there, I'll have to see what kind of tree this is.

I know this clump is Birch.

 

Sumac and Purple Coneflower.

We saw fossils of ancient humans...

... in the midst of civilization.

Nice place to sit and relax after a long walk.