Drapes in progress

Drapes? Is that an old-fashioned term? Curtains? Whatever you call them, I'm currently trying to awesome-up our old drapes into something for our new apartment (moving day, T-27 days).

Back two apartments ago (or about 7 months), I had tried to inexpensively decorate our 'industrial' styled apartment [cheaply exposed ductwork and concrete floor]. It was a fun place, but definitely not our style. Anyway, in order to make our first-floor loft a little more homey, we purchased eight panels of curtains from Ikea on sale. They are/were just plain thin tab-top cotton drapes, but they did the trick. Here's what one looks like strung on our current vertical blinds.

I kind of / really wanted to class it up a bit. This next place will be home for a while, and I want it to look that way. I am using the eight basic panels to create four mega-gathered-drapes, with horizontal gather lines every 10 inches and rod pockets in place of the tab top. Here's a glace of what that looks like...

I finished the first panel (of four) today. Yep, it took the better part of two days. But hey, spending all this time on them really solidifies their long-term place in our home, right? And they seem a bit heavier and thicker...good for those chillier climates.

Finish photos to follow at our new place :)

Herringbone: finish

Linking up to Quiltstory's Fabric Tuesday today.

I think the finish bug bit me...!

(pardon the rainy-day-indoor-only-pre-move photos!) I steamrolled through the beginning stages of this quilt, but I only completed a few straight lines of quilting before adding the binding. You see, the back of this big guy is a very soft and cozy yet eager-to-shed micro-poly blanket. My living room floor was begging me to finish off the edges of the quilt, and once that was done, it went straight to the bed on the first cold night we had.

Thankfully it warmed up this week, so I set to finish the basic straight-line quilting along the herringbone frames. I especially like the way that the quilting looks on the back of the quilt (and I think the quilting is just enough to serve its purpose but still let the micro-poly backing be soft and cozy).

If you look closely, albeit very closely, this photo also shows the little light gray and polka-dot fabric details added in the binding.

stats
size: queen-ish
pattern: variable framed herringbone
fabric: Habitat by Jay McCarroll full collection, Kona Ash, Kona White-ish, random dark gray pillow cases
quilting: criss-cross straight lines at the foot of the quilt, straight lines following the frames on the herringbone portion

One more detail for fun :)

Now all we need are some more chilly nights, and maybe a cup of hot cocoa :)

Happy Tuesday!