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!

Making Shady Progress

You may recall that I am in the process of making curtains for my front door. The original plan involved red and white fabric and the phrase "think bright thoughts." Well, you may have already noticed that my fabric choice has changed. When I was at Wal-Mart marveling over their funky fabric designs, I picked this one out for my front door. I thought it was a little more me.

My embroidery plans didn't change. I thought the pattern really suited the phrase so I kept it. My colour choice did though. I did the black wording when my fabric was to be red and white. The new colour scheme involved yellow wording.

I was pleased as punch during the creation of these two panels. I must say, everything was going swimmingly and I didn't run into any unexpected problems. Until I hung the darn thing in the window. Guess what? I don't like it - not one bit! (Scroll down, brace for the dissapointment...)

Now THAT is an unexpected problem. The curtains turned out exactly how I had envisioned them. And that is precisely the problem. They just don't look right. Also, there was a slight design glitch: I didn't line the white so when the sun shines through the window, you can see either a glow of yellow or a shadow of black shining through from the other side, depending on which side of the door you're on.

This means that I am now in rescue mode. The season premier of Heroes came on tonight so this is as far as I got (yes, I really did cut them down the middle). Here's hoping something good comes of this!