the plus side of arthritis:
Called in 'broken' to work this morning--I probably could have made it through the day, but between the miserable cold, rainy weather this week and just general overdoing it, my back was hurting pretty bad. Once the thought was in my head, it didn't take much to convince myself that putting my feet up for the day wasn't a bad idea.
So I had plenty of time to browse online for patterns and fabric and stuff. I bought some map print fabric to make new cushions for the rocking chair I've been meaning to spruce up. Been meaning to do that for, oh, three or four years now.
I had a variety of map-themed fabric to choose from, so I tried to involve Bob in the selection process. He was unimpressed with the choices available. Since the patterns repeat, any project I make will have duplicates on it--two Australias, for instance. This apparently offends Bob's engineer sensibilities.
Alas, real maps printed on fabric are rare. I did find some cool Rand McNally maps made of cloth, but they are small and limited to street maps--the Las Vegas strip, NYC theater district, and the like. It occurs to me that such maps might be used to make nifty travel-themed throw pillows. Someone is probably making a killing selling 'em on Etsy even as I type this.
There are WWII maps printed on silk that were supposed to help pilots escape from behind enemy lines, but that's not the kind of thing any sane person would want to cut up. Oddly enough, one can buy leather bomber jackets, replicas of real military-issue jackets, with the lining printed like those antique maps. I was originally hoping to find a source to buy yardage so I could line a coat of my own with cool map fabric. A whole lotta searching yielded nothing, so I got the idea for reupholstering the chair instead.
Still going to make this jacket, (the three-quarter length version) just not with a map lining. I've got both brown fabric and some yellowish-tan that are just crying out to be made into a nice princess-seamed coat.
