Nothing hanging on the line but...........

Look!! There's something new hanging in my sewing room!!! ............

I convinced my husband to pose after he finished hanging this chandelier over my sewing room table work area. Hanging the chandelier is something he's been willing to do for about a year but my fabric piles were so high that there wasn't even a path to get to the middle of the room so he could hang it!  But recently, I have been plugging away at organizing my fabric and finally cleared a path so he could hang this lovely chandelier. Here it is after I tidied up a bit............

There's a story behind this light fixture. If you are a regular follower of my blog, you probably knew a story was coming. :-) This chandelier once hung in the Arlington Haus restaurant in Arlington, MN. Shortly after we moved to Henderson, I decided to shop for groceries in the town of Arlington, just west of us so I could see what the town had to offer. I stopped for lunch at the Arlington Haus. The chandeliers were so pretty and while it looks like it's green and pink, it's actually turgoise and pink. Camera did something funny. Anyway, as I waited for my food to arrive, I took my napkin and sketched a little penny rug design based on the design in the chandelier. When I got home, I sketched out a full-size pattern. Then I began making the design in woolfelt. I made several of them in different colors. I entered a couple in the county fair and earned blue ribbons. Here's a little sample of the different colors but all made with the same basic design...........

I called the design "Table Grace" because I thought it would be a pretty little thing to "grace my table". Then I collected different versions of table grace prayers from friends and family. I always intended to put the design into a pattern and include a few of the table grace prayers with it. I just never have quite made that happen. Maybe someday. :-)  In the meantime, these pretties grace my table for the various seasons and holidays of the year. They make me smile. :-)

Oh, so back to the story. You need to know how I got that chandelier..........

One day, about a year or so after my first visit, I decided to go over to the Arlington Haus and take along a couple of my penny rugs and show them to the owner. I thought she might like to hear how the restaurant's light fixture inspired me. I entered the restaurant and immediately thought I was in the wrong place. I saw salmon colored walls and new sleek black tables, chairs, booths, modern light fixtures. Those pretty chandeliers were all gone!!! I was seated by a waitress and after she took my order, I asked if the owner was available as I had something to share with her. Her name is Denise and she came over to my booth and sat down and I shared how the chandelier inspired me. I told her I loved the renovation but I also missed those pretty chandeliers. And then she said........"Would you like to have one of the chandeliers? We're going to be putting them out on our garage sale but you can have one if you want one." Well, of course, I said "yes" and we arranged that I would come back later and pick it up. I couldn't believe I was going to take that chandelier home. Denise said that as I shared my story about stitching that I reminded her of her mother. It was really sweet the way she said it. So, I came home with the chandelier and showed it to my husband. He was actually quite fond of it and thought it would look good in his office. I thought differently. Life got busy and the chandelier sat wrapped in batting in a large box in the basement. I had this idea that it would look good in my sewing room. However, as mentioned, my sewing room was total fabric chaos until just recently. But when my husband could see that he could get a ladder in place and hang it, he got right to it. In less than an hour today, the chandelier was hung and I absolutely love the way it looks!!! Plus, it gives me much needed light that a little ceiling fixture could not provide. I have some more organizing to do and then I can take a few more pics and show you just how cool my room is looking. In the meantime...........

Here's hoping you all have a good Monday. Going to be a rainy Monday here but I love rain, so very refreshing and much needed for the spring that is to come!

Sandi