Category Archives: musings

JBC: Virtual Sketching!

Carousel horses have always delighted, even in the midst of virtual games and E-ticket rides; most of us don’t stop and look at them, but are seduced by the Wurlitzer calling to us, and the color and the action and … Continue reading

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Washington State Flag

My rendering of the Historic Flag, above. Below, the Historic Flag in the State Reception Room. We begin the process of replicating the Washington State Flag originally made by the Washington State chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution … Continue reading

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Real Men Spit Tacks

Real men upholsterers spit tacks. After all these years, it still creeps me out a bit — I see his cheeks bulge a specific way while he is having a conversation with me and I’ll peer at him as if … Continue reading

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Quilts as a Microcosm of History

I am sure that more eloquent history writers than I have written on the role of quilts as historical objects.  I want to share my perspective on the single object that we: see the most distress over condition issues, even … Continue reading

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O is for Ode to the Upholsterer: A-to-Z Challenge

He’s stuffed a chair on every street, or hassocks on which to put your feet. A fainting couch for Ms Récamier, looking Grecian but really fey. A modern Egg for Madmen there, Took ten thousand hand stitches to be fair; … Continue reading

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Pins and Needles: Moving the Berkey & Gay Buffet

by DKP This one piece has nearly given me ulcers worrying about the move.  It weighs as much as an elephant, and while the backsplash comes off, it is still HUGE, bulky, and unwieldy. The men who moved her are … Continue reading

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Marguerite McLoughlin’s Sewing Cabinet Speaks

Marguerite Wadin McKay McLoughlin was John McLoughlin’s second wife.  She was born in 1775 in St. Lawrence, Quebec, to Jean Etienne Wadin and Marie Deguire, a French-Indian mix. She was the widow of Alexander McKay, a member of the Astor party, who died in … Continue reading

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STUDIO PEOPLE by the shop catz

Truth be told, we own the business.  They bring us the bacon, as they say (really it is chicken), and they complain that our hours are never billable. They don’t take enough breaks, though we constantly remind them by bringing them … Continue reading

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Memories in Shellac by DKP

How does one place value on memories?  What do we say when families ask us if a piece is worth repairing?  Usually they are trying to justify their expenditure by putting a value on something that will never be sold. … Continue reading

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