Designer

…………………….Something many people didn’t know about Jac is that she was an AVID needlepoint maker!……She made countless pillows, and different objects, even a carpet, that are in almost every room of the house….Every night, as we watched TV, she would have her basket beside her with her yarns and beads and her chart and work away……She ordered many of her canvasses from England….She worked from BLANK canvasses….NOT painted ones, so she had to start from the center and count each stitch according to the chart!!!…..She even had me make a few pillows, and I have to say they came out very well. I even did some BEADED ones, but I just didn’t have the patience, and I couldn’t manage needle pointing and watching TV at the same time!!! Jac was great at multi tasking. The pillows in the photos are all in our living room…….All of the crochet throws in the pictures were made by Jac’s mom…..When she was finished, and after she blocked the pillow on a wooden board, we went into the city to buy trims and have a pillow maker finish it, but many times her mom would make the pillows up…..sometimes adding velvet borders the way many Victorian pillows were finished. The borders would show off the needlepoint beautifully. I love to have Jac’s pillows all over, and remember the many many evenings we sat together and talked and watched TV……as she needlepointed away.

………….All of the couches and armchairs have pillows……Jac was a busy girl!

…………All of these pillows represent characters from one of Jac’s childhood story books…..We still have many of the books!

………….The theme for the Dining Room is BLUE, WHITE, and SILVER……with GREENS and RED ACCENTS in the way of BERRIES and CARDINALS……What I did was take what is normally a summer theme and WINTERIZED it….I had seen a beautiful Christmas table scape in VICTORIA magazine that was all blue and white and Christmas foliage…..I new I could easily make that happen…..With all of the silver vases, place settings. salt cellars and pepper shakers, plus all of the silver objects….like the crystal and silver biscuit jars, the silver candy dishes in the shape of leaves and the silver glass Christmas trees….plus my blue water glasses and my Simon Pierce wine glasses….I knew I had enough elements to create a pretty table. The Delft center Ginger Jar and the small Chinese blue and white bud vases added just the right touch……At night I light all of the tea lights and candles. I spray painted the pine cones silver The picture lights and the chandelier give just enough light to add the right atmosphere.