Great Intentions

Sometimes I don't do what I had planned. I didn't make it to Hancock Fabrics or anywhere else for that matter (well, I don't count the grocery store). We spent Saturday afternoon working on the hall. My husband did the sanding and staining and I painted the trim out on the back patio. A lot of trim. As in 144 feet of trim. It was quite hot (upper 80's) and I had to work quickly because the paint dried very fast. I did eventually get some sewing in. I finished another block of the quilted wall hanging and have one more paper-pieced one to do, then I just have to cut out the usual sashing and binding pieces and sew it up.

Today is even hotter, in the 90's, and I didn't even feel like sewing. Besides finishing the wall hanging, I would like to work on some curtains for the spare room. I've been planning these for a few years now. But the fabric is packed in a box and I think it's in the trailer. I'm not going out in the heat and definitely don't want to go into the trailer, which is I'm sure as hot as an oven, to look for the box. Actually I didn't buy fabric for the curtains, I bought table cloths. A few years ago, I wanted to buy curtains for the room and wanted a bright print to go with the light green walls. I couldn't find any curtains to purchase but I did spy the perfect print in the table cloth section. I bought one round table cloth to use on the bedside table and two rectangular table cloths that I intended to turn into tab top curtains. I'm pretty sure this was before I was sewing again, which is why I didn't set out to make the curtains in the first place. Later, I found a coordinating solid fabric to use for the tabs and bought big white buttons to put on each tab. I'm not so sure I'll use the buttons now, but I will still make them tab-topped.

Since I started sewing again, I have had ideas that I would make curtains. When my husband and I were in Paris about 4 years ago, I had just been sewing for a few months. We visited the fabric shops in Montmarte and when I calculated that one store had great prices on upholstery and drapery fabrics, I decided that I must buy some for curtains. I remember we left and went to a small park for a break and I sat there trying to calculate how much to buy. When we went back, my husband translated for me. The clerk was trying to tell my husband that I needed more fabric to allow for the repeat. Since I wasn't used to making drapes, I hadn't thought about this. My husband eventually figured out what the clerk was saying and we bought our fabric. I bought three pieces, but once I got back and really thought about what I wanted to do, I realized I don't have enough of any of them to make decent drapes. On top of that, one piece was bought to make roman shades for the French doors we were going to put in the family room. But we ended up putting in a sliding patio door instead. Another piece was bought for a valence for the dining room window but the color scheme has changed and now the fabric won't work in there. The last piece is for the living room. The color will still work for what we have planned but I know I don't have enough for proper drapes, i.e., the drapes won't cover the windows, just accent them. This was actually what I had in mind at the time but now that we have moved the sleeper couch into the living room, any guests won't be able to block off the light or have complete privacy (not that they could have privacy in that space anyway). So, my lesson is, beware of buying fabric for projects too far in advance.

And then there are the two cuts of fabric that I bought for the dining room windows. I bought one during a trip to Florida for work. There wasn't much to do after work there so I opened the yellow pages and sought out the nearest fabric stores and created a mission for myself to find the perfect fabric for the dining room drapes. I finally found the fabric at Boca Bargoons, a discount upholstery and drapery fabric store. I was looking for a specific shade of sage green, but I didn't want red in it. Most of the florals had a true green and most also contained red. After looking at nearly everything in the store, which was a lot, I found something that met my liking. So I bought it, stuffed it in my suitcase and brought it home. But not a week later I saw an even better fabric on one of my favorite on-line stores, fabric.com. So I bought that too. And I have not made the drapes yet. I haven't really decided which fabric to use but I also don't know what to do with the one I don't use. I guess I could sell it on eBay or something.

My stash is full of fabric bought for specific projects. Since I cannot devote enough time to make everything I want to, many of these ideas are already out of style or at least out of favor with me. But that doesn't stop me from buying more, does it?