ART-The Chair

I have this chair that was my grandmother Chrystie's. I vaguely remember it being at her desk or vanity.When Mom got it it was covered with a needlework Ma did years before. Then Mom had me cover it over with another of Ma's needlework. Noticed a while ago that the background was stained like it was wet at one time.Not sure how that happened- no one ever sat in the chair- not for over 10 years. Maybe can blame my kitty Dorian. Whatever. I decided to take it apart and recover it. I had forgotten about the original needlework pattern which was a feathered bird. The one on top of that was floral.

I needed a flashlight to see the holes to unscrew the seat. That was fun. Then I remembered the last time- only 3 screws. ha ha ha.



ah yes come to find I had used a glue gun to secure the seat cover last time. oh gee that means cutting the artwork off the seat. I sure as heck was not going to use a hair dryer or an iron to loosen the glue. oh well.



cut off floral design. Notice the unfinished area. Not sure I should attempt to complete it.



under that was the feathered bird



Then cut off the feathered bird to reveal the old material that was on the chair originally!Sprayed that with alcohol and set it in the sun for the day- then inside to dry another day.



Then gently hand washed the two pieces plus a piece my mother had done. Used a bar of Fels Naptha. Hoping the water stains would go away. They faded enough.


Shopped around Hyannis for the right material. At first I wanted something paisley, or dark with gold or silver threads. Nothing caught my eye.Hard to see prices- I wanted to keep it under 10 bucks. Then in JoAnn Fbarics I walked down an aisle and saw Home Spun fabrics 4.99 a yard. yay perfect and this one struck me first. But I kept looking just to be sure.


noticed later that the yarn I bought earlier was the same hues.


Chair without seat- with old seat- with new seat. Project as complete as I ever get.







I might add while I was feeling so ambitious doing late Spring apartment cleaning, I finally hung the Napoleon portrait. It had been leaning behind a bookshelf for 6 years. Also finally stuffed a pillow cover a cousin gave me a few years ago. no pix of that- wait took pix and realized after 3-4 years that there is a beach theme with lighthouses. ha ha ha. It is a technique I would never have the patience for but love the effect!
Napoleon



The pillow



The fate of the 3 pieces of needlework? They are push pinned to a wall that never gets direct sunlight. May be a bit tacky- no pun intended. But I am not going to spend 100 bucks each for framing.