And Sew On: DIY Subway Roll

I love the look of vintage subway rolls hanging on the wall. In their purest form, these are black pieces of heavy linen or canvas that were printed with all the stops on a certain line. The driver would turn the crank or press the button to turn to the next stop on the list. I was once at a baby shower where they had a 12ft. roll with all the stops on the Queen St. car listed. Drool! Here's an example I found on Apartment Therapy of a vintage trolley roll from Melbourne, Australia:

Original vintage subway rolls are very expensive. I love the look, but I figured I could make a contemporary version myself that was personalized to our family. I also wanted something that I could print at home so that I wouldn't incur an extra cost there. Here is what I came up with :

Three 8X8 photoshop files with the names of cities where we have either lived or visited. Most of them are places we've been together, but not all. The background colour was sampled from a photo of Hawaii I took last year. I bought the frames (3 for $20) and spray painted them white with an old can of spray paint I've been carrying from house to house, waiting to use.

I thought I'd tell you the details about each city:

Toronto: Home!

Kailua Kona: The city on the Big Island of Hawaii where we've been twice.

Venice: I traveled to Venice by myself on a trip when Q and I were broken up for a bit. I was there during Carnivale and it was magic

Key West: Our first little trip together when I was touring with "Beauty and the Beast"
Vancouver: Where Q lived growing up, and where we've all been many times.
London: Together and apart, we've loved the vibe of London.
Beijing: When Q was a young dancer they went on tour to Beijing. Q is a very picky eater and he lost 15lbs in two weeks.
Washington: Another city where Q danced.
Boston: I toured here twice, and Q visited.
Fort Lauderdale: A touring city for me.
Holguin: The Cuban town where we had our honeymoon.
Los Angeles: Another touring town.
Paris: My favourite city.
Cincinnati: The city where we first met.
Victoria: Where Q was born.
San Francisco: My very favourite tour city.
Chicago: My second favourite tour city.
Saint Lucia: The romantic trip we took together before Lily was born.

Looking at this now, I realise I could do at least one more of these, if not two. For instance, I forgot Ottawa, where Audrey was born, and Montreal, where I was born! Hmmmm.... I wonder if they still have those frames on sale...