Jenn and Lewis’s Table

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It’s not that I haven’t been working……………..I’m working but not finishing.   I’m giving it up to Chris today because he’s working and finishing and this is what he finished and delivered today.

Live edge, slab wood tables seem to be popular these days, everybody wants one.  Jenn and Lewis wanted one too.

Chris had more big leaf maple in the shop………….3 big pieces were cut up to make the top.

This stack of small scrap is just enough to cut all the pieces for the base…………..believe it or not.

He used the band saw to cut these shapes.

The two ends are roughed out.

There is still lots of shaping to do, but he’s starting to glue it up.

I bet you were wondering what he’s going to do with that big flaw you saw in the rough table top…………..sutures……………reminds me of the stitches they took out of my knee last month.

What beautiful grain in this wood…………..it will really be pretty when the finish goes on.

The base is finally all together.

And the top is on……………the underside looks as good as the top.

It takes many coats of finish.

They haven’t chosen their chairs yet……….. they wanted to wait till the table was in place.

I love the way the other light woods in the room relate to the table and the way it sits on the darker floor.

Did you notice how the ends of the table have a gentle curve?

 

 

Good job, Chris………..another very happy client!

Kathi

Betsy’s Door

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Betsy called Chris last year when she saw his door at Monsoon East in Bellevue.  You can see a picture of that door and the post I wrote about it here.

Chris made his proposal to her with this model………….. and she accepted.

Chris chose to use reclaimed wood as veneer.  The horizontal panel in the center is  patchwork of 3 1/2″ squares that he cut from a 4 x 4 that he found floating at the edge of the ocean on the beach at Ocean Shores.  In the sidelight on the left is a fold formed copper panel.

Chris has the sidelight built and is laying out the pattern of the small squares.  First he cut the 4 x 4 into a perfect shape then sliced it into thin chips.

He was happy to see that this wood was white oak and cut from the center of the tree so you can see the center of the trees rings.

The wood is glued to the door frame that Chris built and it’s ready to go into the veneer press.  After spending a few hours in the press he flipped it made the same on the other side.

The fold formed copper was so great on the Fang door that Chis was excited for the opportunity to do it again.

Heat and hammers.

He made 42 of these 3 1/2″ squares, 21 for the exterior and 21 for the interior.

The copper panel is installed in the sidelight.

You can see in this picture that the white oak squares are not set and sanded flush………..  I really like that effect.

So cool………….to see the tree rings!

It’s a big door………….

This is all Chris is doing for now, he delivered it to storage for Betsy.  We’ll see it again later this year when the house is nearing completion and they are ready to install.  The wood frame has no finish on it yet, I don’t know what they have planned for the glass panels in the sidelight………some art glass I’m guessing.

Kathi

This Weeks Lampshades

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Now that I’m back to work I’m playing catch up.  There were several lampshade projects that were on hold and I’m glad to be able to get back to them.

My client sent me one of a pair of Lalique lamps from Colorado.  The lamps are very delicate and even with the lamp right here in front of me it was difficult for me to get the size and shape correct.  I won’t even tell you how many frames I ordered…………

But finally they are complete and I shipped them yesterday back to my client in Colorado.

This is another Mary Hansen lamp design project.  The ceramic was purchased from Jane Piper Reid in Seattle and wired by our friends at Landbridge Lighting.

We decided to enlarge the pleated linen trim which I cut on the bias.  Mary picked a few colors of the wool yarn I had left from my embroidery.

Mary chose a light weight wool for this lampshade.  After I picked the fringe I embroidered dots and made french knots and tied off little wisps.

 

The leather lampshade…………..I put it off and put it off.

I’ve never made a leather lampshade, so when my client asked me if I could, of course I said I would.

I made a test.  I had a frame that was slightly the right size and an inexpensive hide that I could use to experiment.  It turned out very well and I was confident that I’d be able to do it.

When the hide arrived I realized that this buttery soft leather was very different than the one I had used for my test.

I’m making this just like I make a sewn shade but instead of using pins I’m holding it together with clothes pins.

This is all glue work.  I found a roller downstairs in Chris’s shop that he uses for veneer that works well to press the trim pieces.

These two are shipping to Laguna Beach tomorrow.  The fabrics on this lampshade are all Chelsea Editions.

Kathi

Long Distance

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I make things to ship every week but this group is going especially far away.   These are fedexing to Aspen today and from there in Ricki’s suitcase next week to her beach house in New Zealand.

My client, Ricki, is a designer and owns the McHugh Gallery in Aspen.  I was introduced to her in 2001 when she was looking for someone to make lampshades for the lobby of the Hotel Jerome.  I had been making lampshades for a couple years here in Seattle and I convinced her that I was up to the task, even at such a distance.

She shipped the lamps to me and I made several beaded masterpieces.

In 2002 I needed to take a leave of absence from Seattle and I thought that since I had established a connection with  a design business in Aspen I might move there and set up my shop.

I’ve never been shy about trying something new, I didn’t think twice about packing up all my stuff and heading east.  I drove my car and Hess drove the moving truck.

This was my studio where I worked for 2 years in downtown Aspen.

Ricki and her husband own a lovely home high on a slope above the town of Aspen.  And they have a guest house……………guess who got to stay here for two years?

Yeah!……….What a beautiful view!………..two summers, two falls, two winters and two muddy springtimes.

Ricki was very supportive and let me create lamps and shades for her gallery.

 

 

 

Shorty and Tiny were less than a year old when we moved to the mountains.   My best memories are walking with them in the woods.

This photo of us was taken in June……………I love the freakish weather.

We had so much fun!

After walking in the snow they were covered with snowballs that melted in the car.

I also showed my lamps at the Frette store in Aspen.  This was one of my lamp bases that I made by wrapping with beaded wire.

I met several clients that I still work with every year.  I’m grateful for the time I was able to spend in the mountains and for the lifetime friends that I made while I lived there.

One afternoon after taking my groceries in from the car, I went back for another bag and found a bear in my driveway.  By the time I went in for my camera he had walked down the road.

Too great!!

Kathi

Prime Time

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For me prime time is between 4 am and 8 o’clock when Chris and the dogs get up.

I started this blog almost a year ago, december 31st.  The first day I published a blog post was maybe a year before that but it was difficult for me to build the foundation for it.

I’ve always been an early bird, always up way before dawn, and this last year the prime time routine has been latte and blog reading and commenting.  I thoroughly enjoy blogs, the opportunities to be inspired are endless.

Prime time changed when this project came to me three months ago.

My friend Keith Miller brought me an antique chair because he knew he could ask me to take this on.

He wanted to know if it would be possible to remove all the grey background stitches and replace them with another color.  Why not?

Not impossible, it just takes time and patience.

A blank canvas now.  You can see in the centers that I couldn’t remove the background color because it’s petit point.

We chose seven colors to test, ordered the samples and made swatches.  Keith chose one of the greens that was a perfect match to the upholstery.

I made a test on the canvas……….it’s perfect…………..I ordered eight skeins.  You can see that there is damage on this old canvas so I backed the whole piece with a new light weight linen.

I proceeded with the needlepointing and finished a 6″ x 6″ area on the back.  At this point we all looked at the color of the finished piece and decided that it was, in fact, not a perfect color match at all and we needed to darken it just a bit.

I filled the bath tub with Rit dye……………….now it’s perfect…………..the left skein is original, the right is dyed.

I’ve always enjoyed needlework but never in my life have I done so much.  With the embroidery I did in october and november and the needlepoint I’m working on now I’ve clocked about a million hours.

The back is finished and the seat is started.

We are looking at the pieces now and we feel that there should be another color layer added to the edge of the center medallion.

Since I way over ordered the yarn I have plenty to do more over-dying.

I tied 20 small skeins of the same green yarn and mixed the dye colors.

I can’t wait to start this part, the embroidery on top of the needlepoint…………the colors are fabulous!

Kathi

The Fang Table

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Chris has several table projects that he’s currently working on.  This one he finished and delivered last week.  The Fang family hasn’t moved in yet, the house is almost finished and waiting for the final inspection.

Our friend Yuval Sofer is building a development of five new homes in Bellevue, east of Seattle.  This house is second of the five.

Chris also built the front door of this house, I wrote a post about it here.

I love the models that Chris makes for these new projects.  He only started to make the models recently, I hope he’ll continue to make and keep them all in a collection.

The top was fabricated from three pieces of big leaf maple.

He’s starting the many coats of finish.

The base is made of wenge, the angles and joints were complex.

The base is getting the finish here.

Chris has a very happy client.

Kathi

Living In a Different Time Zone

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Recovery time is different than regular time. It’s almost like a vacation but with pain involved and no airplanes.   No one expected anything from me and I don’t mind being waited on at all.

I had six weeks to spend on the couch so I did a project that I never would have started on regular time.   I had just gotten some wool needlepoint yarn and with a couple yards of rustic linen I sketched out some floral patterns.

At week seven in my recovery I can walk around the house without the brace on my leg and it feels good.  I still slept with the brace till week nine but now at ten weeks I put that thing away.

The world is a very different place outside now, every step is carefully considered.  I can hardly take my eyes off the ground.  Wet leaves, moss, icy sidewalk…………..treacherous terrain everywhere.  Walking the dogs has always been the highlight of my day, now I’m constantly worried that I’ll trip over them.

What a pleasure to have this time to create.

Totally free…………

I had some silk velvet on the magic shelf that I quilted and washed to make the backs.  I’m not doing any edges, no flanges, cording or trim.  I want these to be totally simple.

I finished the sugar balls that I started the end of september.  The first part took a few days, I made these shapes.

Then I made the balls.

I made the little drops but ended up not using them on these ornaments.  I’ll save them for something later.

I made twelve and I’m giving them to my friends.

Kathi

Six Weeks Cabin Fever

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I love my home.

I’ve been four weeks house bound since I broke my knee cap.  No driving, needless to say, no dog walking, no grocery shopping.  But at least I’m not confined to bed.  I can hobble around dragging the vacuum cleaner and I’m doing most of the prep for dinner.  I can manage the stairs and hobble around the yard to pick up the dog piles.  The leaves are falling but I won’t be able to rake this year.

It’s not difficult to hobble around but standing still is uncomfortable.  Standing at the cutting table is not easy and sitting at the sewing machine for more than a minute is not possible.  The leg needs to be up so the couch is where I’m spending most of my time.

I hope this is not too gross………..I find it fascinating.  I had the stitches taken out last week and now I can take a shower without the brace and a big plastic bag duct taped around my upper thigh.  I thought it would feel fabulous to take a shower without the brace, but it was terrifying…………It feels like my leg is a fragile twig.

When I finished the lampshades last week for the Debra Fritts sculpture lamps we decided that since we liked them so much we would do it again.  Mary brought me another lamp and luckily we found another oval frame in the storeroom that fits perfectly.

 

We had just enough left of the Henry Calvin linen sheer to make this.  I made the trim piece a little wider and the embroidery just a bit bolder for this trim.

We are still working on the color samples for the needlepoint chair and until I can start on that project I need something to do on the couch.

I’ve been thinking about starting another embroidery for a lampshade and now seems to be the perfect time.  I’ve made a few lampshades with crewel fabric and I’ve made a few lampshades with linen that I’ve embroidered.

So this being wool on linen, I’m calling it crewel, and since it’s my first like this, I’m excited to be experimenting with new stitches.

The wool yarn is heavier than embroidery thread so the work goes pretty quickly with these bolder stitches.  I crocheted some twine and sewed it down to the linen to make the vines.

 

Every time I get up, Shorty takes my seat, it’s the warmest spot in the house.

I’m doing many little woven bits to make these floral shapes.

This is the lamp for the new lampshade.  And actually I’m going to do something very new for me.  I’ve never made a hardback lampshade, this will be the first.  That’s why my linen is a big straight rectangle.  I’ve bought the styrene backing and I’ve ordered the rings for the top and the bottom.

I understand the theory of how it’s done and I’ll be giving it a try probably next week……….I’m screaming along with the embroidery.

Some more projects this week………….

Magge sent me one of a pair of Lalique lamps from Boulder.  We’ve designed the shape and I’m ordering the frames for them.

Another first for me………..a leather lampshade.  The leather has arrived and that frame has been ordered also.

And in the wood tray………………..

I’ve been thinking about an idea for some christmas ornaments.  I made a giant batch of royal icing with the intention of making floral shapes.  I didn’t realize how difficult it was going to be.  I’ve never done cake decorating so I watched some youtube tutorials.  I didn’t like the pretty and pure colors I was getting at first so I mixed and remixed the frosting in the bags as I worked.

I didn’t end up with anything floral at all but kind of star shapes………..maybe that’s OK for christmas.

The next step is to make sugar balls which I’ll apply the star shapes to.

We’ll see……….I have no idea how this will turn out.

Kathi

 

Lampshades For Sculpture Lamps

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The frames arrived last week for the sculpture lamps and I couldn’t wait to get started.

Mary Hansen has designed these lamps for her client’s bedside tables.  The sculptures are by Debra Fritts and were purchased at the Pacini Lubel Gallery in Seattle.

Mary chose a linen sheer from Henry Calvin.

I gathered the linen on the oval frame for a shirred effect, tightly at the top and less full at the bottom.

Then I sewed in the lining and trimmed it close.

I trimmed the top and bottom edges with the same linen, folded and pressed about 1/2 inch wide.  I could have stopped there with the self trim but we wanted to elevate these plain lamp shades to a work of art worthy of the sculpture they will be illuminating.

First I cut a bias piece of the linen about 1 3/4 inch wide and shredded the top and bottom edges.  Then I sewed irregular and random stitches with embroidery thread.

All finished.

I’m looking forward to seeing them in the clients home.

Kathi

 

Needlepoint and Kneecap

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Last monday, a week ago today, I took Shorty and Tiny out for their afternoon walk about four o’clock.  Half way down the block I slipped on a mossy patch of sidewalk, my right leg went up and I came crashing down on my left kneecap.  Luckily there were three men close by who heard me screaming and came running to my rescue.

Harborview Hospital is the major trauma hospital within four states and a five minute drive from my house, I was at the emergency room within a half an hour and in surgery first thing the next morning, barely twelve hours later.

Half of the bone of my kneecap was crushed and had to be removed.  They were able to sew the ligaments back to the remaining small piece of bone.

You can see in the x-ray clearly what I did.

This is my first broken bone in my life.  And I’m so darn healthy I know I’m going to heal very fast.  I’ve been home for five days on the couch and I’ve had way to much time time to ponder the meaning of life.  I’m so grateful that I didn’t break my arm, for one thing!!

I’m so grateful for my children and my husband and my friends and my dogs.  Hess slept on the chair by my bed for two nights and didn’t leave my side for 48 hours.  The doctors and the nurses at Harborview were like angels in a dream.  My friends are bringing me food and cleaning the house………..I’m so grateful!

And work, let me tell you about my project this week!!

 

I’ve told you about Keith Miller before and the window cornices we made in a previous post.  Keith brought me this antique french chair about three weeks ago. His client would like the chair to fit into the color scheme of her home which is not blue.

Keith wanted to know if I could take out all the blue background stitches and replace them with green.

Why not?  There’s nothing I love more than a challenge!

First I took off the back panel and spent one day, about ten hours removing stitches.  From there I felt that I could estimate that it would take me about 50 hours to take out all the background stitches of the needlepoint.

 

This is what I finished before the fateful day.

I’m about to be released from the hospital and it’s time for the drain to be removed!

I think blog-writing people save their most flattering photos of themselves for the world to see……………..this may be the first photo of myself that I’ve shared.  Certainly not the best I’ve ever looked.  Getting old is hard.

She didn’t tell me it was about ten inches down in my leg!!  What a surprise when she yanked that thing out!!  Looks like I’m having fun, doesn’t it?  That’s a morphine drip for two days that I could access every eight minutes.

I’m grateful to be home and on the couch.  My friend Macklin came to visit and he brought me some really good homemade cookies.

Three more days of stitch picking and all the blue is gone.

I’m going to see Keith, hopefully today, to look at the green choices of needlepoint yarn.  We had an appointment on friday to meet but I passed out and had to cancel.

What a week!!

Kathi