Saturday, April 23, 2011

Chuppah completed...wedding celebrated!

A while back I posted an entry about a chuppah (a traditional Jewish wedding canopy) in progress. I was commissioned to do the piece for two dear friends (Leslie Winner and Jerry Postema) who were about to be married.

Well, the chuppah got done in time to make its debut at the wedding.

You'll see, from the picture that the chuppah was held above the couple's heads, suspended from four wooden poles. As is traditional, the poles were held by those closest to the bride and groom - in this case their children and other beloved relatives.

I solved the problem of attaching the chuppah to the poles by sewing a fabric loop (heavily reinforced - but easy to remove at the end of the wedding) to each corner of the chuppah.

I threaded a binder ring, first through each fabric loop, and then through the "eye screw" found at the top of each wooden pole.


To pretty up the attachment, I passed streamers - made with fabrics used in the chuppah - through the ring binders.

The wedding itself was a joyous occasion...a celebration of two people finding each other, and love, in the 2nd half of life.


Here's the piece now...both the front and labels on the back.




I took off the loops, placed two sleeves on the quilt --- one for the hanging rod and a second on the bottom for a "weighting rod" (to keep the quilt hanging flat).

Of course, I'm looking forward to seeing the piece in Leslie and Jerry's home. But even more than that, I'm looking forward to watching them enjoy their lives together for many happy and healthy years to come.

Mazel tov!

Debbie

3 comments:

  1. Oh, this looks wonderful, Debbie! So fun to see this piece as it was used in the ceremony, and I know they will love having it in their home.

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  2. Thanks Susan... as you can imagine it's a particular honor to know that the piece will be part of their wedding day memories.

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  3. Debbie, this is terrific. Loved seeing how it was used in the ceremony and the labels on the back to commemorate the joining of lives and the role the art work played. Nancy

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