Have a Seat . . . Needlepoint, That Is!

I love to needlepoint

My projects so far run to pillows

and Christmas ornaments

Yet, I admire needlepoint chair seats

In the 40s, 50s and 60s, needlepoint was popular

as a way to make chair seats for the dining room chairs

Most department stores (and even Woolworth's) sold preworked canvas

And you filled in the background

And let me tell you the background is the boring part

A lot of stitches which all look the same

And the pattern is done so you don't get to see your piece develop

I adore needlepoint chair seats

But I do not like to stitch them

But over the years, we have garnered quite a collection

of needlepoint chairs at Linderhof

The first one

Bought when we were very very poor

To go with the mahogany secretary in the living room

(It has the same feet)

At an auction.

I had my limit 

And I had someone bidding against me

Each time it was my turn to raise the bid, I did confidently

(Like I had all the money in the world and I would own that chair "no matter what")

At my top bid, I nodded like I had no intention of stopping.

A she did!

She stopped!

I had the chair

And it's a favorite

Currently, it resides in the guest room

And I use it as my sewing chair.

Besides the feet, I was smitten by the needlepoint seat!

An old rocking chair

I was in my favorite shop, Iron Star, in our little town

And there it was!

A great rocker and needlepointed to boot!

We had just gotten our second grand and I wanted some place to rock her

I didn't buy it when I first saw it

For it was a little on the pricey side . . 

But I was back there the next day when the store opened

For I didn't want anyone else to buy my chair!

It also came with a story which was on the price tag:

"The family moved here from Kentucky bringing the rocker with them

in the covered wagon which they used to make the trip."

But I don't know "when" that was

However, the rocker itself dates from the Civil War era

So it is old

I also learned that the needlepoint was done and added in the 50s

It is very fine needlepoint indeed and it was stitched by a skilled needlepointer.

It, too, resides in the guest room

To rock Piper (and Lucy if she so desires) at bedtime

I saw this piece in a consignment shop in Kansas City

"for a steal"

And again, I left it and then panicked -- just know that there were hordes of people

just waiting to snatch it up.

I called to reserve it (even willing to give a credit card number)

But alas, they did not do that.

What did we do?

Jump in the car, of course, and drive to Kansas City

to get the chair.

They called it "French"

But on the underside it says,

"Made in Belgium"

I found some examples on line

And it dates to the turn of the century

And the needlepoint is original to the piece

And the footstool matches!

A true treasure indeed!

It looks cozy in a corner of the sunroom.

It could be used for a seat

But I'm thinking that it rarely ever was

Which is why the over 100 year old needlepoint is in great shape!

In the breakfast room we had some Duncan Phyfe Chairs

with a nice colorful toile fabric

I liked it but I dreamed of needlepoint!

So I would troll eBay and Etsy 

Looking for just the perfect needlepoint to cover those chair seats

And four chair seats are hard to find --

sometimes you find singles, rarely you find doubles

hardly ever do you find four!

And years later . . . 

I found

A magnolia

It was buy it now and so I did!

because . . . 

I found two more magnolias

Which seemed to be the same background as the first

Similar but different

(And that I like)

So I "bought those now"!

Because of the way the breakfast room is arranged,

three chairs work better than four

But, of course, I have a fourth

Which is my "desk chair" in the living room

Alas, there was no burgundy background magnolia for that chair

But I did find a paper white on burgundy

(from the same seller as the big magnolia)

And once again "Buy It Now"

If I use all four in the breakfast room, I don't think it will be really that noticeable that one

of the flowers is not a magnolia!

And it works in the living room

At the desk!