Log Jam

Some might be aware that one of my other obsessions is logs and/or twigs. A few years back I purchased a number of ebay footstools and one of my favorite finds was a stool made from a log. I envisioned it with a chenille bark cushion, taffeta ribbons...



More log items followed... bolsters, more stool covers. Who doesn't love their logs soft and huggable?



So when I was contemplating an entry for Lark Book's 500 Tables last month, I turned to logs for inspiration, naturally. I started two tables about 2 weeks before the submission was due (good planning). I was felled by the flu for about a week, I rallyed and completed one of the tables for the photo and got the entry in the mail. Pphew! (Table #2 is in a dormant state, as yet unfinished.)

This is how Table #1 log table happened! I laminated layers of 2 inch think dense foam for the logs and then I whacked away at them with one of my favorite tools, the electric carving knife. I stitched together the bark fabric by layering flannel fabric, stitching on the bias, slashing through all layers, then stitching the stacked bias strips onto a backing, then finally washing and drying it. I wrapped the bark fabric around the whacked foam logs and hand stitch them closed or secured them with velcro. (The pictures below are the ones I take along the way just to record the process for myself and to get a different view of the piece through the camera lens).





Table #1 was tentatively put together the night before I had to photograph it. The next morning I couldn't balance it when I tried to position it in front of the seamless paper. A few hours later, sanity restored, I solved the problem by flipping the base log upside down!



We'll see how Lark responds to this soft log table.