This stained glass lamp is one of my favorite things. My dad made it, and I had the role of assistant. So it's special in two ways--the fact that my dad made it, and the fact that I have the memories of working on it with him. My dad was very artistic. He played several musical instruments, but favored the guitar and piano, and had a short stint in his youth playing professionally before it became apparent that was a good way to starve (like many artists, it's very hard for a musician to actually make a living doing it); he wrote novels and short stories (twenty of the short stories were published); he painted, and he learned to do stained glass. Before making this lamp, he did only a couple flat pieces, then intrigue with lampshades caught him. This is not the only one he did. I'll show off the other at a later "My Favorite Thing Friday".
My dad made this lamp for my maternal grandmother. She chose the colors. Stained glass lamp shades are made using a Styrofoam form. My dad cut the pieces, and I ground down the rough edges. We both worked on the soldering. There are over 1000 pieces in this shade. The shade is over 20 years old (unfortunately, I don't have an exact date). The lamp returned to us when my maternal grandparents passed away.
When we made the move to Nevada, we didn't have a house waiting for us. We were going to have to find one after moving. Consequently we held an estate sale and sold everything we couldn't carry in the back of one pick-up with a hard top. The bedroom furniture you see in the photo came with us because my mom's dad made it. So did the lampshade--but only because my mom put her foot down. My dad was not sentimental in any respect. His take was that he had the fun of making it, but it wasn't necessary to keep it. Got to thank my mother for not putting up with that reasoning.
After we arrived and got settled, she made this quilt specifically to match the lampshade. Every quilt that goes on this bed must have some green in it. She's made a fall quilt, and it looks great with the lamp too.
So there's my favorite thing for this week. Be sure to check out everyone else's favorite thing. You might find some neat stories, or a great idea.
