December 13, 2004

• And Sew It Goes...           If someone asked me to describe my talents/training/interests, the description that would most fit me best would be "Jill of All Trades, Mistress of None". I think I have been like that most of my life. I am interested in almost everything , but there is no one thing that I have ever been interested in to the exclusion of all else. I enjoy building and repairing computers, building websites, gardening, herbs, woodworking, sewing, quilting, designing and decorating, culinary arts, baking, photography,  writing, drawing, antiquities, painting, crazy quilting, bird watching, hiking, camping, biking, music, singing, genealogy, scrapbooking, reading, volunteering, theatre, crocheting, knitting, costume making, etc. etc. etc. I could probably go on for quite a long time, but the above pretty much form the core of my interests. Looking at that list makes me look quite scattered...     Yes, it is a good thing to have a broad range of interests, but on the negative scale it means that there is no one thing that holds my interests intently enough for me to truly master it. I do many things well, but there is no one thing that just grabs my interest and holds it tightly. One thing I consistently have interest in, yet it varies by what I do with it, is sewing. I love to quilt, sew clothes, household items, crazy quilting, curtains...I have frequently made curtains for friends, family, and even acquaintances *nice way to supplement my income!*. Right now, I have 1/2 dozen sewing projects in the works. Christmas is a goal for finishing some of them, and New Years for what I don't manage to complete.   This house has 23 windows, most of them quite large. The curtains on all of them have been purchased from thrift stores over the last 3 years. Not a thing wrong with that, because I have gotten some VERY nice curtains, expensive curtains, at great prices because I have purchased them used. But now that we are tightening up the design elements in the downstairs rooms, I am replacing a good number of window dressings.   My living room isn't yet painted. Face it, with 13 rooms in the house, it is going to take a while. Not to mention the fact that I am ANAL about painting. It has to look exactly like what I see in my head, or mama ain't happy. p Pitiful I know. That is the reason that in the three years we have been in this house I have only painted two rooms: the dining room and the breakfast room. Both took incredibly long to paint: the breakfast room because the walls are tongue and groove paneling, and oh MAN ALIVE did it take forever to paint all the spaces on the walls AND ceiling! The dining room was started right after New Year's last winter, but the plaster walls were so cold that the paint WOULD NOT ADHERE and dry correctly! We had to wait until the end of March to finish. How LAME is that? But the red looks AWESOME in there. It durn sight better, considering including primer it took about 6 coats. Whew. No more red painting for me. Enjoy it folks!   The ceiling we painted a metallic gold. You can _just_ see the gold in the picture to the left.   Ok, sounds strange, but it looks gooood! I will take pics and post them tomorrow. I bought a sheer gold fabric to put on the windows as sheers, and I am planning on buying saris to make into curtains for the windows. Obviously, the theme in there has leaned towards the East. ;o)    The living room will probably be the next room to be painted. I would like to have had it done before Christmas, but I knew better than to try it! lol I settled for getting some really pretty burgundy tone on tone panels from Tuesday Morning, fro $17.50 a panel. They are similar to these, but I just have the panels not the toppers, and more burgundy than purple. Pictures will be taken when I finish lining, hanging, and steaming them! The regular price through J.C. Penney were $70 per PANEL!!! EGADS!!! They weren't even LINED! I am in the process of lining the third of 4 panels right now with a thermal lining fabric.  I made crinkly gold sheers for the room, like these in this image below, and will eventually make balloon shades for the windows.    The windows are probably 150 years old, so the more layers of fabric to insulate those puppies the better. )         Yesterday I bought some sheer burgundy fabric for $2 a yard at Joann's *SCORE!!!!*.Similar to this, but the color is more burgundy than purple:I will be making a scarf swag for the top of the curtains, and I want to edge each scarf with a beaded fringe. Something like one of these would do it for me:.      If it is too blasted expensive to buy 12 yards of beaded trim, I guess I will buy beads and make my own! Sounds like a winter long project, eh? Lessee...36 feet of beaded fringe made by hand...errr.... whew. Ok, maybe I will scrounge and hunt til I find it on the cheap. **hopin** So that room should be done by Wednesday, save the beading fringe and the balloon shades. Joann's has a pretty off-white moiré fabric for the blinds, but that is another $60 or so, so that will have to wait til after the turn of the year. I should finish the other projects first anywho.   And then there is the family room. The carpet is dark green, the walls will eventually be a textured tan/gold *think sunny but not overly so, I want the room bright*. So the colors for the room will be the green, add sage to it, purple, and an off white. The love seats we picked out are a light tan, nice and neutral. The two chairs we picked are an eggplant color, all in a micro suede fabric. This is similar to the chair, not exact, and of course I want it upholstered in the eggplant colored micro suede..mmm ..buttery soft! I can't find an image of the chair online, but it is from Bassett furniture. I can't wait until we can afford to buy them! Right now all we could afford to do was get the fabric for the window coverings. I found some sheers that are white with leaves scattered on them, and over that is going a nice, rich, purple Dupioni silk. UMMY! Those panels I will also line when I make them. I want some sort of topper over them too, but I haven't planned that out. I need to get the panels made first as we need insulation on the windows!       And sew, er...so...I am sewing. And sewing. And sewing.   Did I mention that I am making gifts for my mother in law, and sister in law? I will post pictures of the various projects as I finish them. So include with the curtains for my house  the table runners and place mats that are slated as gifts for the two aforementioned ladies, and I have quite a bit of sewing to do...THIS WEEK! EEK!!!   OH...I DID get almost ALL my Christmas cards done TODAY! I love doing stuff with the computer printers!  HOW many days is it until Christmas???? !!!!!   I better get moving...but first to sleep, perchance to dream **probably about sewing...ya think???**                                   Til later...                                                      Kathie

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