Home Improvements

So many things can be knocked out if one knows how to sew. I am using the most affordable material EVER to make curtains and other accessories here in our Florida home. Drop cloth fabric. Yes. Go to your local hardware or big box store and buy a drop cloth. The one DH brought me was less than $20 and I yielded 2 full length curtains from it.

The guest room window looks out into the lanai and it definitely needed window treatment. The panels here are the easiest type of curtains to make. Hem the bottom and create a channel at the top for the rod. Bing-badda-bing. Done.

You are also seeing how I use that one corner of the bed. I sit at the sewing machine right in that area, and the bed affords me easy access to the 1.5-inch strips I have paired up for the 9-patches. (see previous posts)

Another window treatment needing to be addressed was above the kitchen sink. I had blinds in place, but valances were needed, too. For these, I went to the scraps from last year's window treatments and found enough left over to make these.

Besides curtains, I have also made one set of slipcovers. My cousins gave me two very old and worn cubes - squares that can be used as stools. We have a low bar in the kitchen at which seating could be used, but had nothing in particular in mind for such seating. These were a perfect solution. DH and I added casters to the bottom of the stools and then I made easy-peasy slip covers for them. Awesome. I love how they fit so perfectly in that space. Here's a couple of before and after shots.

We slowly make progress on turning this double wide mobile home into our winter getaway. It has become more homey as each day passes, and we find we are quite comfortable. You see evidence there on the counter of DH's duck decoy collection. He has upwards of a couple dozen, I would say. They are pretty and will look nice grouped together on a shelf we hope to hang after we upgrade the lanai.

I have acquired a couple of sewing jobs from the cousins. One cousin wants valances made of drop cloth fabric for her dining space. Another cousin wants me to recover a bench cushion with some upholstery fabric that matches her curtains. I think I will knock those out this afternoon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

More Windows And Some Chit-Chat

A body-snatcher has apparently invaded me because I am tackling jobs that are absolutely uncharacteristic to my nature. I continue to window-clean.

The remnants of the master bedroom curtains were stacked neatly on my cutting table. I had 8 pieces that measured 4' by 3'.   I figured that a couple of them would be good for valances on other windows needing an update. (Let me clarify: nearly every upstairs window needs an update!)

And you know, if you are making new window treatments, then windows MUST be cleaned in that process.

We live in the country on a very secluded piece of property, and out every window we have trees and sky for as far as the eye can see. With such gorgeous views, it is a shame that I allow my windows to get so clouded with dust and grime. My resolve to correct this situation began in our master bedroom (see this post) and continues now to my sewing room.

This window is behind my sewing chair and looks out into the back yard. That roof is our screened porch which we added in '03. The curtains are not terribly old - maybe they have been up for 6 years?? More? I am not sure, but I know I didn't do anything special with them; just found some decent yardage from my fabric stash and stitched 'em up.

Today - down they came. And window cleaning commenced. What a pretty view when the sun comes out! The screen was in this window all winter, and it also got a cleaning. So much dust!

Then for new window treatments. I decided that the remnants of the drop cloths used in the master bedroom would make attractive valances for this room. I used one full width and half of another to make this double valance.

The window across the room got the exact same treatment.The curtain here is the same fabric with a stripe of coordinating fabric inserted. This is a shorter window which sits above the garage and looks out into the front yard. I had to get outside on that roof to wash the window and install the screen.

My total number of cleaned windows is now 6 - 4 done inside and out; 2 awaiting outside cleaning.

My total number of new window treatments is also 6 - 4 in the master suite; 2 in the sewing room.

When I am not stitching draperies, I continue making Ohio Stars for my Dreamy Stars quilt. I hope to be stitching rows together tomorrow.

And speaking of tomorrow, Sharon will be here to sew! We have begun to relax our quarantining efforts. A week ago, I spent Wednesday at Terry's sewing; on Thursday, Sharon came here to resume our weekly sewing time together. We never realize how special these sewing times are until we can't do them anymore! We all NEEDED to be together! The Frankfort girls will be resuming bi-weekly Friday get togethers at the end of next week. Slowly, normalcy returns. Hooray!

Further evidence of normalcy returning: on Sunday we went to DD Erin's, who along with her husband are relaxing their quarantine. We were invited for brunch, and  DD Emma came to join the fun! What a great Mother's Day treat! Since the quarantine began, Erin and Jeff have bought a condo in downtown Columbus and have moved. It was great to see them, and also their new home.

Later on Mother's Day we drove over to Hillsboro to spend some time with my dear momma. She has remained so upbeat through this long quarantine; even though I am sure she was awfully lonely at times, I never once heard her complain or bemoan the situation.  She enjoys watching her birds and other wildlife out her windows; loving on her cat Mike; and putting together jigsaw puzzles. She is a huge sports fan, and it's safe to say she has missed her Cincinnati Reds and all the NCAA tournament.

How have your been handling the stay-at-home orders these past two months? Have you begun to relax your efforts?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

I Do Windows

I have completed a pretty big job here at the homestead. Sometimes jobs are put off for so long that the thought of tackling them becomes increasingly daunting. That exactly describes this big job.

Take a look out my clean bedroom windows! Yes, this cool yet sunny Saturday sees me with sparkling clean bedroom windows.

I used my Norwex Enviro cloth to wash them and my Norwex window cloth to shine them. Inside and out. Well, three of the four windows got the outside treatment; one window requires pulling out the extension ladder, and that was too daunting for DH at this time. It will have to wait a little bit longer.

You know how one thing leads to another in most home projects? This is a perfect example of that rule of thumb. I only wanted new curtains.

I had the notion about a month ago that I needed to replace the curtains in our bedroom, and decided on drop cloths for the fabric I would use. Then the pandemic hit forcing me to shop online for drop cloths. I found a source that seemed perfect - a package of two cloths at a size that would require very little additional measuring and sewing. So I bought four packages. Two cloths for each window.

I laundered them to soften the stiff fabric; this proved to be a good idea, too, based on the massive amount of lint I cleaned out of my dryer screen. While laundering, I removed the old curtains, washed the windows inside and out and cleaned the snap-in grills - oh my gosh, the dust!! I couldn't help but think that I was destroying a myriad of dust-loving ecosystems. Embarrassing, really. (I have always been grateful that our children didn't suffered from dust allergies.) Below, see the old curtains, probably made 20 years ago. They are both faded and dust-coated. Ick.

Now, I have sparkling clean windows and spanking new curtains. It is such a beautiful sight!

This is DH's nightstand. This is the one window that requires the ladder. I did all I could do on the inside.

This is the window in our bathroom. Same window treatment as the three bedroom windows -  the actual 4th window. Below is a shot from our bedroom looking into the bath.

The three windows across the front of the house can be easily cleaned by standing on the roof of the porch. That's not something I do very often (never!), but I did it much more easily than I would have thought.

Let's take one more look out those clean windows. Gorgeous, if I do say so myself. Satisfying, too.

Now I have 8 pieces of drop cloth fabric that are 4' wide by 1' long. I will come up with some clever thing to do with it. It won't go to waste, that's for sure. I have seen some curtain ideas that I might be able to replicate. Windows in our guest bedroom, the long arm room and my sewing room are under consideration. Stay tuned.

In case you are curious about our bedroom paint color, many years ago we painted this room Cider Toddy. I am ready for a change; I don't have the heart to tell DH, the painter, though. All in due time, right? *wink*

Hope you had some happy accomplishments today!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Porch Curtains

For a long time now I have wanted to add curtains to the west side of our screened porch. I frequently sit out there through the morning and sometimes through the day, but evenings are difficult because of the direct sun that floods the porch. It is uncomfortably hot, even with the ceiling fan on. We love to have supper on the porch, and even if it isn't too hot, we have to maneuver our chairs to avoid direct sunlight in our eyes. Click here to see pictures of our porch from 2010.

From the photo above, you can see that I have solved the problem!

A few weeks ago, DH and I purchased two curtain rods, clip rings and a huge drop cloth. My plan was to somehow fashion a large curtain for the one wall of screened windows. Because I was still working out particulars and because the sun hasn't gotten overly hot yet, I have not been in a big rush to complete this project. I finally settled on a plan, so yesterday, DH helped me hook the hardware to the wall.

This morning, I took the drop cloth out the yard and stretched it out flat on the grass. I cut it in half and hemmed the raw edges.

The drop cloth fabric has plenty of imperfections, but that's the beauty of it. This tough, rough fabric suits me just fine since it is going to suffer some harsh weather conditions and exposure to bugs and spiders.

This was the easiest project! No pins. No iron. No casings. Only two fold-over hems. How simple to rely only on finger-pressing and eyeballing it!?

A seam runs through the width of the drop cloth; I was concerned that it would be too thick for my machine to take, but no! We charged right through it!

The next step was to clip on the rings. I measured out a 24" flounce and attached the clips at even increments across the panels. This allowed the curtains to fall just slightly above the porch floor.

Twenty-four inches might be a bit too much of a flounce, and I may end up taking these down, cutting off a bit, hemming the raw edge, and then rehanging. For now, I will leave them as is and think on it. 

Family Room Curtains

In keeping with my tendencies to drag out easy tasks forever and ever, I can at last share with you all our family room curtains. These have been up for about a week and a half, and I am just now getting around to sharing. *smh*

This addition changes the feel of the room quite dramatically. I have to say, I am glad of it, too. The wall was empty and needed both the curtains and the wall art to be hung. It feels much more welcoming in this room now.

We couldn't hang the art until the curtains were in place. Isn't that always the way with jobs around the house - they either bring on additional jobs or can't be accomplished until something else is done first.

Anyway, let's have a look at that wall art, for it is very special. Back in June of 1979, we received this counted cross-stitch sampler as a wedding gift from my Aunt Margaret - Maggie, as she was also known. With her untimely passing a year ago, it has gained importance in our home, so I definitely wanted it to be displayed. She was a very special aunt, no doubt about it. I will always treasure this gift from her.

One more job around the house complete, with these curtains hung. So what's next? I would love to replace the furniture in this room, and DH says he is willing to paint that television armoire - I'm thinking shabby chic white?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Making Curtains

Not all my sewing is quilting. Last month DH and I finally made a decision about drapery fabric and bought some over in Waynesville, OH, at Fabric Shack. It had to be ordered, and it came in just before Christmas. I knew I'd never get to it before the holidays, and there was really no great rush. I mean, we took the old curtains down a full year ago, and have gone without all this time. It would wait another month. (We live in a remote area on a good-sized property; going w/out curtains has been no big deal. Concern for privacy is not an issue!)

It might be hard to tell that this is navy, but it is. Giant buffalo checks. It really looks good, and this home dec fabric is a dream to stitch on! I am simply doing the most basic window treatment ever - two panels with a plain casing at the top and a hem at the bottom.

The DH and the DS were kind enough to hold the rod up for  me to see where my hem should be marked. This was as far as they could reach, but it will go all the way to the ceiling and fall to just touching the floor. This room has just this one window; on the left wall behind DS Adam is a French door to the screened porch. This is a long, narrow room that attaches to the dining area and kitchen - a great room concept.

I will snap a picture of the completed project - soon, I hope. DH will attach the hardware for me, and we are considering a different rod than what is shown in the photo above. A trip to the hardware store is not out of the question.

It is worth mentioning that Ohio had quite a weather event over the last 24 hours. The temperature yesterday morning was 51 with rain, rain, rain. All day the temps dropped and the wind picked up. By 6pm, the temperature had fallen to 32 and the rain had become sleet and ice. By 7pm, snow was falling. This morning the temperature was 13 with 6 inches of snow on the ground! Wind chill was minus 3. Brrr! C-c-c-cold! Gotta love Ohio weather!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

This Wasn't On The List

About a week ago, DD2 asked me to make curtains for her bedroom. This was just after I made my list called Ten Things This Summer, so of course, it was not on the list.

However, the Mom-gene kicked in and I got busy on them Friday while Amie was here. DD2 came home on Saturday, and was thrilled with them. As soon as she got back to Athens, she hung them and shot me this picture.

The fabric is $7.99 cotton from JoAnn Fabrics. It was simple enough to do, obviously - hem the sides and bottom and create a casing at the top. She likes them so much that I returned to JoAnn's this evening to buy 4 more yards for 2 additional windows. Plus pillows, if there is any leftover, which I am certain there will be.

We do get side-tracked from our lists from time to time. And most of the time it's worth it, right? This certainly was!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

No Quilting, But Still Sewing

regret to report that I have not had a whole lot of time lately to devote to sewing on quilts; however, I have still been busy at the machine.

Emma has gone off to college (2 full weeks now *sniff*), and she needed curtains for her dorm room. Voila! Ask, and ye shall receive!

I'm afraid this pic is the best I can do; she sent it from her cell phone, and it gets too fuzzy if I try to enlarge it. The fabric is called Honey Child by Jennifer Paganelli. 

The minute I saw it at Waynesville (on the day of the tea party about 3 weeks ago), I knew it would coordinate with Emma's bedspread, so I bought 5 yards of it. This pic was snagged from a fabric site, so it too is fuzzy, but Emma is very pleased. Now she says she needs posters. Sorry, that's not my department!!

Then, with her off to college, her room became free for updating! Take a look:

 I moved her bed from the window wall to the position above, and replaced her curtains. The fabric I used on them is a Joanna Figuroa fabric I had in my stash. The stars on the wall were put there by DD#1, Erin, when she occupied this room. I suspect that when DH retires in another year, painting might be one of the things he does not just in this room, but in a lot of the house.

On the opposite wall, I had to get creative. I ran short of the JF fabric, so had to add a purple JF fabric from the same line to give me (almost) enough length to look decent.

Now, in addition to making window dressing, I had some mending to do. Emma wanted to take 2 clothing items with her to school, but they needed minor mending, so I took care of that and mailed them off to her in a goodie box. Yes, brownies were sent, too.   :-)

Besides this sort of sewing, I've also gone back to school, myself! My adjunct job started up and I'm now 2 weeks into my quarter already! Time flies and sometimes it just seems like a whirlwind.

Off to a meeting - dinner meeting, and DH (bless his heart) was satisfied with 2 grilled cheese sandwiches! Easy night for me!! 

Happy Quilting, Friends!