Sunrise Quilt Studio

Back in September, my daughters and I took a nature hike to look at the changing colors of autumn. It was a bit early in the season, but some of the Sumac was turning red. Up against the green leaves, that red really pops. These bushes were in the yellow and orange stage for the most part. Now most of the trees are past their peak colors and I've missed getting out and taking more photos. Life does get busy at times.

My grandmother's chair is finally done! I finished the upholstery this past weekend after DH replaced the broken wire pieces in the seat for me. I like the texture in this fabric. I added piping to the back side of the chair - no photo of that. I'm debating on whether or not to add upholsterer's tacks to the back. I probably will since I have them on hand. I replaced the foam in the seat with 2 layers of "NuFoam" and added an additional layer of batting to give the seat more cushion. It's very comfortable now. Now to get around to reupholstering the other chair!

DD#1 and I took the day off today and took a field trip to the St. Louis Art Museum. The idea was to take time and do some sketching of the exhibits for art class. The museum is under construction right now and some of the exhibits are not on display. There were enough exhibits of paintings and artifacts to keep us busy for 3 hours, though. This is a photo of the lake from the front of the museum.   This is the hill that leads from the front of the museum to the lake. DH and I would sit on this hill the first year we were married and watch people fly kites. There was also an annual hot air balloon show that was launched here. About 30 years ago, DH and I lived across the highway from Forest Park where the St. Louis Zoo and the Art Museum are located. We were dirt poor, just married, and I was finishing up my last year in nursing school at the hospital across the highway from Forest Park. For fun and entertainment, we would spend hours at the St. Louis Zoo and the Art Museum s...

After searching on the internet for 2 hours yesterday, I finally found a place where I can order the spring straps that I need for the vintage rocker. I'm really anxious to get the reupholstering project done so I can move on to other jobs. I'm still searching for a set of night stands for the bedroom and an area rug. Then it's on to projects waiting in other parts of the house. Rooms need painting, bathroom floors need replacing, hardwood is waiting to be installed in living and dining room, etc.

I started reupholstering the vintage chairs today with my Grandmother's chair as my first project. I finished the back and am pretty happy with the way it turned out. The seat is another story. This is what I found when I took off the old fabric. Several of the wires have been broken and need to be replace. That should be a difficult task, though. I just need to find the same guage wire and replace the broken pieces. You can see a clamp that DH placed on the left side for me. The wood was cracked here and he added some wood glue and clamped it to stabilize it. The new foam for the seat is cut and ready for the upholstery. It will be next weekend before I get back to this job. The photo below is of the bottom of the seat of the rocker that I just bought. The damage here is more severe and will take more work to fix. 3 of the 4 springs in the seat are broken. Two of the broken springs have had some attempts made at repair, but they aren't holding. So I have to find 3 springs...

 While on a day trip yesterday, I stopped by an Anitque mall to stretch my legs and look around. I left with the chair on the left. The chair on the right has been in my family for ages. It was my Grandmother's chair and I've had it since the late 1970's. It has been reupholstered several times, and as you can see, I'm in the process of reupholstering it now. The fabric laying on the seat is what I've chosen to reupholster the chair with. I'll have to find something to coordinate with it to reupholster the chair I just bought since I bought the end of the bolt. Finding something to coordinate shouldn't be too hard since this is a neutral color - it just needs to go with the new paint color in the room. Both chairs need the padding replaced, too. So I have my weekend project to work on. The reason I bought this chair - actually it's a rocker - is because the turnings were the same as what my Grandmother's chair is made with. I don't know the ...

More blocks from Jerri's sampler quilt.

I try to quilt something different in each block of a sampler quilt. I just completed quilting Jerri's sampler quilt that is a beautiful quilt in creams. Here are a few of the blocks.