Happy Accidents

I haven't written in 5 days so I have lots of news. Okay, I have three things to tell you. But that's two more than usual.

The front door curtains are... drum roll please... finished! And guess what? I like them! Cutting them into two parts was a life-saving maneuver. I was nervous that by splitting them I would lose width to the point of not having enough material to cover the window. But it magically worked out and I am pleased. This was my second (well technically my third) attempt at making curtains. Last year when I took a sewing course at NSCAD I became over-zealous and tried to make curtains for my bedroom window. They ended up 2 inches too short and were so wonky that when pulled to, there were one inch gaps between the panels. I've learned a few things since then it seems.

Once I decided to turn my single panel into two, my next idea was to tie the curtains during the day. But when I did that, I thought they looked too much like candy - and not in a good way. Also, on a practical level, having them tied 10 hours a day makes them rumpled and they don't hang properly when you let them down. So now I simply push them to the side and it's working for me. The little ties that I made? I think they'll make lovely scarves for a plushie some day... :)

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Today was my day off so I made my way down to Fabricville. All the quilting fabric was 50% OFF!!! In my opinion, this was nothing short of amazing. I had one particular project in mind (that's foreshadowing tomorrow's post, by the way) so I had a loose idea of what I was looking for. But mainly I just walked round and round the quilting section and picked up any of the fabrics that called my name.

At the check out I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't be over 100 dollars and luckily it was only slightly over 60. Whew! I think triple digits would indicate a problem... happily, I'm not afflicted. Although I did warn Dennis that it might not always be a good idea to let me go to a fabric store alone from here on in! :)

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I started a photography class this past Thursday. It's called Photo 101 and is being offered by Carsand-Moshers. I took a black & white film course last fall and it really got me turned onto taking pictures. Although I absolutely adored being in the dark room, I decided it would be wiser to invest in a digital camera. I bought a second-hand Nikon d70s and was stoked to finally own a digital SLR.

Well, there is definitely a difference between shooting film and digital. I know the basic rules are the same, but a digital camera has so many settings and buttons to fiddle with. Even though I had this awesome new-to-me camera, I found the quality of my photos was sliding. So I signed up for this course so I can unleash the power of my SLR. I've never been worried about the content of my photos, but I am always worried about the technical side. In ten weeks time, this shouldn't be a problem - hah!

This week we're only allowed to shoot on automatic. And never, ever with a flash. And of course, absolutely no computer alterations - not even cropping! I need to have 30 prints by this coming Thursday so today I was out and about with my camera. In fact, I intend to have my camera with me everywhere I go for the next little while... this will be a grand adventure!