I had a hard time getting up this morning. I was up late last night working, my husband is away in Minneapolis on a business trip, and it was densely foggy, but bright outside.
I made a deal with myself to work on the Sea House Warming Hut fireside chairs in short segments interspersed with my *real* work. This is a downside of having one’s office and one’s studio in the same place. Chairs won. And that’s what’s bad about me.
I decided to build Jane Harrop’s “Utility Fireside Chair” from her book Thirties & Forties, with just a couple of changes.
I located all the stock, cut out the pieces and labeled them, and put them in a project tray.
Then I did a whole hour of *real* work. What happened after that is kind of a flow blur, but I realized the light was changing outside.
Here’s the chair frame, unstained. I added the little crossbar to support the back. The legs and stretchers are only 1/8-inch (3mm) square, so the whole assembly is held together with wee pins and glue. I opted to leave the heads on.
And here it is stained, with the beloved Minwax Classic Gray 271.
I could not resist adding some self-leveling gliders, because after all, these chairs will be moved around the fireplace a lot.
With the upholstered cushions, in luscious peacock blue linen.
I brought the new chair up to the living roof (moss don’t mind) along with a sketchbook to continue my *real* work, while watching the sun set into the foggy horizon. Sometimes there’s a fine line — or no line at all — between work and ideas and how things get done.
nancyland.com 
Work gets in the way of life sometimes. So glad the chairs won. :)
Thanks for the validation! I’ll gladly play hookey with you any day!
Are those regular straight pins in the chair? That’s brilliant!
They’re sequin pins, about half the size of regular straight pins. I wish I could take credit for the idea, but it’s a well-used technique for hinging and doweling.
The chairs are beautiful! I love Jane’s patterns, her books just make you want to make things. But then I turn on Netflix and forget my good intentions.
Thank you, Kat. I’ve learned so much from Jane, too! Hmmm, Netflix. Maybe you could watch and build at the same time? :)
Look at those snugly babies, how could you leave them in bed by themselves? Though minis are a good reason, the chair turned out great.
Some days it’s nearly impossible to extract myself because they pin me like pattern weights. And we all know how cats become impossibly larger and denser as they sleep.
Minis are a good reason! And a very good antidote to the stressy stressing of *real* work. Thanks, Keli!
A project tray? Man, you’re organised. I love that fabric – such a pretty colour.
Now get back to work ;0P
You honour me, Pepper. I have the best intentions *and* many systems, but my studio almost always looks disheveled. The project trays are just dread styrofoam containers that aren’t recyclable. They work well for keeping bits together on a messy worktable.
The fabric was a remnant I picked up a few years ago, because of the color. I love the dense weave and light weight of fine linen, such a good scale for miniature upholstery.
Guilt and rapidly approaching deadlines are marvelous motivators for getting me back to work. Thanks for the encouragement :)