Hey Everyone, welcome back to Inspirational Sunday.
At the beginning of the week we unfortunately had to attend a funeral. Sad for those who lost a mother, grandmother and friend but on a positive note we did get to see family whom we do not see very often. As well we met the newest member of the family who is now 5 months old. He is a real cutie.
While I was at the funeral home I was looking around and noticed a couple of chairs that had some pretty interesting patterns in the upholstery. I approached the funeral director and said that I had a strange request. He said that’s okay he gets a lot of strange requests and go ahead and ask. So I asked if I could take a picture of the chairs. He said he had never had that request before.
I did explain to him that I am a quilter and that I have this blog where I write about what inspires me. Anyway I did promise that I would mention the name of the funeral home on my blog so here it is. It was the Innisfil Funeral Home and it was a very warm and inviting environment – not that I plan on visiting anytime soon again. The funny thing is that the director informed me when I told him that I was a quilter that one of the quilting guilds in Barrie uses one of their funeral homes for their executive meetings. Small world.
All right back to the inspiration.
One of the chairs had a herringbone type design that would make a great Barbello design. If you look close there even appears to be some fracture strips in where the tan/gold thread is.
The other one was a very masculine design that would make a great quilt for a guy with the right fabrics. To mix it up a bit the strips could be staggered to create a totally different look.
Following the funeral we went for lunch with Michael’s parents and Aunt and ncle at Swiss Chalet. Now I have been in these restaurants before but that was before I was writing a blog and so I suspect that I just haven’t been paying attention. As soon as I walked in this time the fabric on the bench seats just stood up and said take my picture. So I did.
A close up of the Swiss Chalet fabric
The design in this fabric very much reminds me of Gloria Loughman’s class Playing on the Surface where pretty much anything goes with design, texture and surface embellishment. Check out her book Quilted Symphony: A Fusion of Fabric, Texture & Design to learn more about this technique and design. My quilt Sea Serpent was made with this technique.
Well, I must get back to that quilt I was working on yesterday – I am afraid that the eleventh hour has come and gone – that’s okay it will be delivered tomorrow all quilted and ready to hang at the Women’s Art Show in Orillia. A very different quilt for me and I have been having fun with metallic thread believe it or not. Razzle Dazzle by Ricky Tims from Superior Threads is easy to use in the bobbin and looks fantastic on the quilt top.
An Update On My Gypsy Sit Upon
I also have to say that I have been quilting pretty much non-stop yesterday and today. Normally my neck and shoulders get really sore and tired but I have been sitting on my Gypsy Sit Upon which I wrote about here and last night when I went to bed there was no pain. Yippee!
Happy Quilting!
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Hah! I have looked at Swiss Chalet’s chairs for awhile now and wondered about a quilt. A lot of the restaurants upholstery would work or for free motion quilting!
Cool design ideas. That Swiss Chalet chair is really inspiring….
Sorry to hear of your loss. Over the last number of years, funerals have been the only time that I’ve been able to connect with extended family. I love the Swiss Chalet fabric! Some years back, we had upholstery fabric donated to our chapter of Binky Patrol for quilts for kids. When I opened the box and saw the fabric, it was not what I had expected. These fabrics did turn into some amazing little quilts!
Jen, your post this am had me trotting downstairs to check out the upholstery on two armchairs which are in our front hall. They were purchased many years ago from a funeral home in Victoria for $10 each:-) And the upholstery is very, very similar to the bargello sample on your blog, but in a different colorway. Must have been a popular fabric with funeral directors at one time LOL.
Very funny Dawn, now you will be looking at all furniture in a different light.
Most of the handbags I make for my website are made from discontinued drapery and upholstery remnants. There is so much texture in these fabrics and I love the process of making something other than drapes with them.
Jen,
I also have the Gypsy Sit Upon and use it all the time. It does several things to help me, including raising me up a bit higher so I am at a better sewing height. My back and shoulders don’t get as sore but my tailbone does get sore. Have you had that issue? Any suggestions? Do they ever lose air? I love your blog. Thanks for all the ideas.
Linda, I to find that my tailbone will get sore if I do not change my position on the sit upon. I have not had it long enough to know if it loses air or not. It certainly helped the neck, shoulders and back though.