Two Purple Pillows

One of the things I love about fabric is that - for the most part - it's completely adaptable. There's the odd piece that stubbornly refuses to be anything at all or insists on being only one specific thing but for the most part, fabric is flexible and willing to become whatever you're willing to sew it into.

I originally purchased this purple basket weave for a coat. It may have originated in the home decor department although I'm not sure because it was bought a VERY long time ago. Last week, I purchased some fuchsia cushions (50% off) to go with the green love seats in the new living room and on Saturday I sewed these two purple cushions to go with. I really like them. Purple is one of my favourite colors.

The weave was slightly loose so the fabric is backed with a tight cotton in a yucky yellow that wasn't going to be used for anything else anyway. I love the challenge and the satisfaction of using up my stash. Unfortunately, I didn't have any purple zippers which meant a trip to Fabricland.

This floral chair and ottoman were a gift to my husband from an elderly woman who lived down the road from where he grew up. He used to help her with lawn work and groceries and other chores. My in-laws recovered the chair in a tapestry fabric as part of our wedding gift and we recovered it again about fifteen years ago in this floral.  I'm not sure if fifteen years is how long the fabric lasts or whether that's the boredom factor. All I know is that I am SO DONE with anything floral-country-ish and this chair is not going into the new living room unless it gets a make-over.

Knowing that the choices were reupholstering or the garbage, we got a quote for labour and fabric yardage - 10 meters and a lot of money - and Howard and I discussed whether the chair meant enough to him to spend that amount to have it recovered. It sounded like a big number but really "that much" is the difference between buying a new chair and having this one recovered or in this case about $350.00. He said it was worth it to him.

For several months, I shopped for purple or lime green love seats for the living room. They were impossible to find so I talked about recovering the love seats in a purple or lime green fabric and then decided that was too expensive and instead revamped the darker green love seats that we already own. I'm happy with that choice especially as I can now use purple in other ways - like these pillows. Whenever I asked Howard what he thought, he said he trusted me to pick things we'd enjoy just as I always have. SUCH a nice man.

While buying the zippers at Fabricland, I found this upholstery fabric that looks far more purple in the picture above than it does in our living room. In real life, it's more fuchsia with shots of brown that go well with the woodwork on the chair. It was regular $24.00 a meter on sale half price which means I got it for $12.00 a meter. The fabric that I was looking at in the upholstery store was $37.00 a meter for a difference of $15.00  x 10 meters or $150.00 plus taxes which means we're only paying an extra $200.00 for sentimentality.

Imagine my surprise when - after thirty-one years of marriage - my husband tells me he doesn't really like purple! It's only the color I wear more often than black. LOL - I guess that's how you keep life interesting. Don't share all your secrets at once.

He later told me that the purple pillows were "actually" not "too" bad and that he was sure he'd like the chair when it was finished because it was only certain hues of purple that he didn't like. I was impressed with the color terminology but - IMHO - this is another case of speak up or forever hold your peace... like when after twenty-five years of marriage he casually mentioned that he didn't like onions or garlic... which I love... and now use less of.

Ann awarded me the Versatile Blogger award. THANK YOU! Ann is someone that I've met on-line and in-person. We first connected in a discussion forum at Stitcher's Guild and then both took a workshop with Ron Collins in Nanaimo. She lives about an hour away and a couple weeks ago we met for breakfast before fabric shopping. VERY fun.

Now to follow the rules:

• Add the award to your blog.
• Thank the blogger who gave it to you.
• Mention seven random things about yourself.
• List the rules.
• Give the award to 15 bloggers.
• Inform each of those 15 bloggers by leaving a comment on their blog.

I'm not sure that I can come up with seven random things that I haven't already talked about but perhaps they won't be old news to everyone.

1. I get a lot of emails about this color - my absolute favourite favourite color is lime-green and in particular Benjamin Moore 543 or Woodland Hills Green, a blue based lime that is currently the color of my studio, the kitchen, and our bedroom and will for sure be somewhere in the new house.

2. I want my children to memorize that paint number so they can paint my room in the old folk's home - even if they paint a sheet of gyproc and prop it up against the wall - because I do not want to die in beige room and they insist I'm not living with them but I think they're kidding - VBG.

3. I have two brothers, one older and one younger, which is why - if you study birth order - I act like both a first born and a middle child.

4. I have a teeny, tiny, predominately black wardrobe that has room to stretch out in a four foot closet and a LOT of really colorful jewelry.

5. About fifty percent of what I sew never gets worn regularly because I sew a lot of one occasion garments, muslins, and experimental things. I'm okay with that. I'm having fun. I had to learn how.

6. I don't dye my hair and it keeps getting darker.

7. While I'm not at all sentimental, I am incredibly (let's not use the phrase overly) sensitive and often intuitive. In particular, I strongly feel emotional pain which is why I never vote for best of show or choose winners in anything and is why I am not passing this award on to fifteen bloggers while leaving out the rest SO... if you read my blog five times a week, thank you and consider yourself awarded. Please leave a comment and a link to your blog and I'll visit you. YEAH!

Tomorrow is my surgery appointment so I won't be blogging Tuesday or Wednesday. I may be back on Thursday depending on how things go. If I'm not here, I'm lounging on the couch. Since I've booked appointments for Friday morning, I fully anticipate feeling better by then and the Sewing Room Sale is on Saturday so I'll definitely be functioning that day whether I am or not - LOL.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - melting snow and chirping birds

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Personal Growth - Whenever I am willing to ask "what is necessary next" I have moved ahead. Whenever I have taken no for a final answer I have stalled and gotten stuck. I have learned that the key to career resiliency is self-empowerment and choice. - The Artist's Way

There are times when even though you know the right answer, you are still stuck, most often due to fear. Making a decision, and doing the one thing that you can do, moves you forward and allows that one thing to lead to another. Almost always God only shares one step and we are required to move in faith. My failure to move keeps me from doing the work that He has for me. I'm a big picture kind of person. I want to know all the answers first and it rarely happens that way. Learning to create my art step-by-step without knowing the end first also taught me to learn to live more fully, one step at a time. LOL - I'm still working on that. I think it'll be a lifetime task.