FINALLY finished livingroom curtains!

After going through blog after blog, I finally settled on how to do the curtains in my living room.  I knew I wanted to use drop cloths.  I like the style, texture and even more the savings they offer.  I was hung up on how I wanted to do them.  I like the contrast of having dark and light.  I happened upon an extra long table cloth in the clearance section at Walmart.  I used it for the top.  I wasn't sure if I wanted the contrast material on the top of bottom of the curtain.  The more I thought about it, the more I thought having them on the top was the best option.  Mostly because of the weight.  I wanted them to hang well and in my mind I thought having the lighter material on the bottom might keep them from hanging as I wanted them to.  I could be way off on that, but I didn't want to get them all made, only to discover I should have gone with my gut.  By using the contrast band, I was able to make both sets using one 6'x9' package.  This was great! I later found this to be even more important since I discovered they have a slight variance in color from package to package, even when you use the exact same brand.   I am really happy with how they came out!!  I purchase the tiebacks at Lowe's as well.  They were a whopping 2.00 a piece!! YEAH!

Now get this, in my search of saving the almighty dollar, and blog searching I discovered a tutorial of how to make your own curtain rods!! Yes!! It cost me a total of $5.00!!! That is for BOTH rods!! You have to measure exactly how long you want them since you are cutting them and they are not expandable.  I painted them with oil rubbed bronze.  I purchased 2 pkgs of clip rings.  Each had 14 clip rings for only 7.00!

I plan to make another set.  I will post a tutorial on how I did them when I do.  I was too nervous making these to have been able to document each step as I needed to.  I was also not all that sure how it would come out.  Now that I have made one set, I feel confident enough to tackle another! Maybe even improve on it a bit!.  

I cannot recommend this enough! I was able to make the curtains and curtain rods as well as buy the clips, brackets and tiebacks all for under $55.00.  That is BOTH windows complete!! There is nothing that looks home made about them! This is the first set of curtains I have ever even attempted.  Keeping in mind I have been sewing for all of a year! If I can make these anyone can! So get out there and get your DIY ON!! Step back and see what you can do.  Feel that overwhelming sense of accomplishment that YOU did it! Even saved a bundle doing it! My DH is so proud of them! I think he may have even been shocked at how well they came out.  I was too to be honest.  Now I cannot wait to tackle my next project.  

Have a great day!!

Erin

FINALLY completed the living room curtains!  After pouring all over blogland, in search of a DIY plan that worked for my livingroom (and pocketbook) I finally settled on a hybrid of several.  I made my own curtain rods using metal 3/4" conduit, some wood dowels for the ends to give my screw in finials something to grab onto and the finials I purchased at hobby lobby. I was a bit nervous going in, but with the cost being so low, I figured if it was a project that failed, I could afford it.  Turn out GREAT!

You would NEVER EVER guess these were DIY rods! They look as good as the 20.00 rods you buy all the time for 25% of the cost! The curtain clip rings really make these even better.  I painted mine oil-rubbed bronze  but you can paint them black, white, antique white, or so many other possibilities.  Especially with all the different metallic paints they have now.  They are held up with one hole hose brackets and 1.5" L brackets connected by a nut and bolt.  You can make them in a double rod set too by using 2 hose brackets and a 2.5" L bracket! Like I said, it is really an easy thing to do for very little cost.

I used drop cloths.  I went with the 6'x9' set.  This was enough to do both windows.  Because I added some additional fabric to the top I was able to make them over 90" long.  With this exceptionally high wall, the height was needed.  I kept them plain so they did not compete with my fireplace as the focal point on the wall.  As you can see it is a very elaborate fireplace and I felt having curtains 

Versatile Blog Award

In my last post I received a  comment telling me I had been nominated for the Versatile Blog Award.  Being new to blogland I had never heard of anything like it.  Me? Award? No WAY! lol.. I checked it out and it is more of a blogger to blogger kind of thing.  A way to get to know the other bloggers and share with your readers (no matter how few that may be) a little about yourself as well as introduce them to the blogs you read regularly that inspire you.  You are to nominate those 15 blogs for this award.  Kind or like a chain letter thing but without the "if you do not send this out you are either not a true christian or you will be struck with bad luck for X number of years" you know the ones I mean.  It isn't like that.  It is more of a get to know other bloggers and let them know that you appreciate the time they spend and information they share.  Some of the bloggers on here are just so amazing aren't they?  I mean Super bloggers! I cannot imagine ever reaching that level, but I am glad to have discovered this outlet of creativity as well as being able to share with others the things I find.  I have these "Super bloggers" to thank for teaching me all I have learned in sewing and crafting.  http://www.thestonybrookhouse.com is the one that nominated me for this award.  I will be thanking her on her blog.  You should go check it out.  It is a really cute blog! The hardest part of this award for me is to limit it to only 15 blogs.  So many of them have been an inspiration to me.  

The 15 blogs/bloggers I discovered recently (since I am so new to blogland pretty much all of them are recent) that I wish to nominate  are as follows. Many I am sure already have receive this nomination but this is more about sharing than anything else right? Some are new bloggers and some are Super bloggers and in between the two.  I wanted to take this opportunity to show the blogs that really help inspire us. They are just incredible blogs! I also wanted to include the blogger that nominated me. However, that would make it all pretty redundant wouldn't it? Regardless, you must check out these blogs if you haven't already. Many I am sure are too busy to follow through with this.  However, that is again not what I wanted to do with this.  It is more of my own way of saying "hey, you inspire me and make me want to create! Thank you so much for all the time you spend on blogging and sharing your knowledge with us".  That and to let anyone that reads my blog know you have GOT to check these sites out!

sisustellen

Judy @ gracioussouthernliving

Cheri @ the curtain lady / custom home decor

Staci @ Craftifyit

Ellen @ thelongthread.com

Maryann @ domestically-speaking.com

Alisha @ snugasabugbaby

Johnny @ savedbylovecreations

Erin @ http://lemontreecreations.blogspot.com

Becky @ infarrantly creative

Whitney & Ashley @ shanty-2-chic.com - these sisters have been completely responsible for so many things I do, including the need to now purchase my very own power tools! yep, that is right.  I even have my own compound sliding miter saw, all because of this very blog!

Pamela @ pbjstories.com - another fantastic blog that you must read if you haven't already

Gail @ cantstopmakingthings.com

Diane @ inmyownstyle.com

Ada @ adasinteriordesign.com

As I said, please go and check them out! You will waste at least a couple of days just going through them all and thinking to yourself "man, I have to make that!" or "I have always wanted to make one of those!".  Well worth your time reading! Mr Nana isn't all that thrilled with my discovery.  I have tripled my crafting allowance.  But he is really tickled that I felt the need to include the purchase of power tools in that allowance.  Oh and that I am willing to share! 

The final part of this nomination requires I tell 7 things about myself.  

1. I discovered my creative side only recently. I am disabled and not sure if it was more that I simply never had time to feel creative or the need to rediscover myself after my life changed so drastically.  Regardless of the reason, I am thrilled with the final result.  I found a quote recently.  I don't know the author, but I love the sentiment.  It says "Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, she became a butterfly".  It really fits me.  I may have lost many things because of Lupus.  I have also found many. Love of my family and how truly loyal they are as well as the feeling of not battling this alone.  As well as discovering a side of myself that had been dormant for so long. A creative and artistic side that I know was there, but because of the need to be rush through life, it was stifled. Not any longer.

2. I have 5 children and 3 grandchildren.  All of which I adore obviously.  Not only that but I am so proud of them.  My oldest daughter is the best mother I have ever known.  I see her and I am filled with such pride in her.  When I see her with my grand daughter and see just the incredible woman she is, it is then that I know that I must have done something very very right raising her.  I mean I cannot take total credit.  She is the person she is. But lets face it, if I had been a lousy mom I could have screwed it up.  It is nice to see your children grown and know all those things you were working so hard to instill in them took.  It makes it all worth it.  

Me and my oldest daughter at her high school graduation

My daughter and my oldest grandchild Avery..She is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on.  She is my doodlebug.  Once not long ago she came to spend the night.  We played as we always do.  Then as we were laying down to sleep she turned to me and said "Nana, you have not called me doodlebug all day!".  It was then I realized how much my pet name for her meant to her. I have never made that mistake again. 

3. I live in Mesquite TX.  It is a suburb of Dallas.  Lived here almost all my life.  I love it here and love Dallas.  I did move away once but hated it.  Came home as soon as I could! 

4. I am a strange mixture of Irish and Choctaw.  My grandfather always told me it meant I liked to drink but couldn't hold my liquor! lol.. He was joking of course.  This was from a devout Southern Baptist man that never drank a drop in his life! I am not a drinker either.  Not because of any deep religious beliefs but more the fact that I just never liked the taste of it.  Even as a teen when my friends would do the normal rebellious thing and get some alcohol.  I never drank.  I tried it of course but hated it.  As I got older I drank only when I went out to a club.  Then it was more to loosen up and because of being so thirsty when dancing. 

5. I am a devout Christian.  This is something my mother is so pleased about.  When I was really sick and things were really not looking good for a while her biggest fear was not only my life but my afterlife.  I knew this and more than anything wanted to offer her the comfort she needed.  I know that the hardest part about dying is not the person that dies, but those they leave behind.  So it worried me that she was so upset over my lack of faith.  However, I also felt strongly that I couldn't be a hypocrite and proclaim faith I simply didn't feel. I tried. Lord knows I tried.  I prayed 3 times a day begging to be shown the way.  Nothing.  Then one day it was there.  I felt it as strongly as I know my own name.  That day after church I felt it so strongly I cried.  I called my sister and she took me to the pastor and I was saved.  He has been in my heart each day since and has gotten me through some very very hard times.  My mother is also happy I found my way.  As much as I would love to say I found it for her.  I didn't.  He found me.

6. Because a picture can say a thousand words, I am including a few of my own home pictures. Some of my kiddos are a bit camera shy so I don't have any of them. Then I have some that take pictures daily and I have tons of those.  I am just sharing a few of what I have.

 We must have the bluebonnet pictures taken each and every year.

 Isnt this just beautiful.

 My oldest daughter and I at her High School Graduation.

 Avery Pooh Cheesin'

 My youngest daughter and her baby Maci

 Another that I love.

 I love this picture of my granddaughter Avery. One of my absolute favorites

  This is my second oldest daughter competing in the Miss Teen Texas USA

 My youngest daughter and Avery playing around.

 My mother and my oldest grand daughter Avery

 Me, my senior year.

 My Second oldest daughter Ryan at the Miss Teen Dallas I think? She won so many it is really hard to remember.

 This is me at 15 mos.

 My Wedding day

 My daughters were requested to hand out the Country Swing Music Awards 4 years in a row.

 My daughter, her fiance (wedding in a few months in Gulf Shore Alabama) and Avery

Avery and I 

7. I love crafting, sewing, woodworking, DIY anything, burlap! Quilting and pretty much anything creative.  I have taught myself to sew, quilt and teaching myself woodworking.  I have learned so much this past year and am learning more each day.  I have one child still at home.  He is 12 and pretty much lives to play video games.  He is still his mom's boy though. I am aware each day that our time is limited and I never take one day for granted.  I try to live this way with all of my family.  I hate the reason I feel this way.  However, I have to appreciate that fact that it has opened my eyes to see that each day is to be appreciated and loved.  That life is short and speeds by in the blink of an eye. One day you are changing diapers and the next you are attending their graduation or wedding.  I live each day in the hope that that day I made sure my family knew they were loved deeply by me.  So when I am no longer here to tell them, they will feel it in their hearts and it will comfort them each day.  

That is all.. Hope it wasn't too long of a post.  I will get back to posting more creative projects.  I am working on a few.  I actually made some but didn't remember the cardinal rule of blogging and get some pics! Oh well I have so many more to do I am sure I can make it up to you somehow!

Till next time, I hope you have a great day!

Erin

aka Nanasrcool

Here are the rules for the Versatile Blog Award:

• Thank the person who gave you this award.
• Include a link to their blog.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
• Tell 7 things about yourself.

There are also a few add-on rules: 

• In the same post, include this set of rules.
• Inform each nominated blogger of their nomination by posting a comment on each of their blogs

Randomnous

Hard to post in your blog about sewing projects when you have not stepped foot in your sewing room all week.  Not sure how many of you that read this are aware of it, but I have advanced lupus.  I actually originally had included it in my blog title because it is unfortunately a large part of my life and is actually the thing that brought me to sewing and quilting in a round about way.  However, when I started posting it came to me that I didn't want my blog to be about a person Lupus that quilted.  I wanted it to be about a quilter that just happen to have Lupus.  It is of course a part of my life but it isn't my LIFE.  It is only a small portion of it.  It has definitely made a large impact on it.  Shortened it I am sure.  But then many things could have done this as well.   My main goal is to try to keep it on the sidelines as much as I can.  There are times I am successful it doing that.  Others, not so much! Especially recently.Not sure if it is the Lupus that has been giving me so much hell lately of the Fibro.  It can be hard to make a distinction sometimes.   Then again, does it really matter which one the culprit is?  Don't really think so.

I try to use this time to research and find great patterns and tutorial.  Come up with plans to do things around the house... you know, that kind of stuff.  So that is what I have been doing.  I have been hoping to find some fabric that I can use to make some quilts to donate to some of the tornado victims.  Not any luck so far, but I still have some hope.  I never really know how long the down time will last but I try to wake up each day and do the body check.  I usually don't put much stock in how I feel in the morning.  Lets face it, as any Lupie can tell you, mornings are generally pretty crappy.  However, on a good day the crappiness is only temporary and will fade in an hour or two and you can get moving around.

Today is my youngest grand daughter's birthday.  She turned a whopping 1 years old today! My daughter brought her over for a visit.  I asked her to since the regular on the phone "happy birthday" just doesn't have the same wow factor for a 1 year old as it does say a 3 or 4 year old.  My daughter had some homework to do for a college class.  Mr. Nana was a sweetie and agreed to watch my grandbaby while my daughter used my laptop to do her homework.  They were playing and we could hear them both laughing up a storm.  Then we both noticed it had gotten really quiet.  I then bet my daughter that they were asleep, laying on the couch. I was HALF right.  She came running back to my room and grabbed her cell and got this adorable picture which I absolutely adore! Can't wait to frame it and get it hung!  But mostly it just shows how much Mr Nana adores our youngest grand daughter.

There he was, with our grand baby all snuggled up in his lap, wrapped in his favorite bathrobe.  Both of them sound asleep! Gotta love it!

Till next time, have a great day!

Sincerely,
nanasrcool

I have been working on several projects at the same time.  You know what that means.. lots of small things done but nothing big finished.  I tend to like to work that way though sometimes.  Sometimes you just need some projects you can finish up quickly.  Kind of like an instant gratification thing.  That is one reason I was never keen on online shopping.  I mean you find great stuff but then you have to WAIT!! OMG!

I remember as kids when my mother was raising us on her own. We really had it rough at times.  When she went grocery shopping that twice a month and actually bought those snacks.  Me and my sisters would eat them up within a few days! Woosh....Gone! So patience was never a strong point for me.  However, now I have found online shopping to be my best friend.  I no longer can drive so it is my only way to shop.  Now, that I have had to use it, I have really come to appreciate it.  I mean how many times have you gone shopping and would be going through the sale stuff finding something your really like only to have the rest of the grouping sold out or not in your size? I hate that! lol  Now if one online shop is out, I simply locate the rest at another shop! Simple!

So I made a few things.. first I made some place mats to go in our breakfast area that actually match my kitchen.  I made most of the stuff in there and so I guess it is only right the place mats needed to be made by me as well...

They turned out pretty good I think..What do you think? 

I am working on a table runner to go with them

I also made a pin cushion to decorate my sewing room.  I got the instructions from DIY Dish.  .  I am not extremely happy with how it turned out.  Not because of the design.  That part is great.  But mostly it is probably my sewing inexperience.  I plan to make another one and see if it will come out better.  I am holding off till I can get something for the head part like they suggest.  They suggest a small Christmas ornament like a glass ball or glitter one.  So I will hold off til I have make a Hobby Lobby run (which thank goodness did NOT get hit by the tornado that touched down withing only a few hundred feet from it) and pick one up! The Kwik Kar Lube shop next to it is history and nothing but a pile of cinder blocks now.  But my favorite store in the world is still there and in full working order! yeah!

I have a few more things I am also working on that are larger projects.  But will have to post them at a later date.

Hope you are having a great day! Keep quilting and sewing!

14 Tornadoes in your town can make you go HMMMM

While this post has nothing to do really with quilting or sewing.  This blog is also about my life. My experiences and feelings about them. To not include a post about something which effects me so profoundly and has certainly scared the beejesus out of me would be crazy. It is also why I have not posted. I was just unable to find a way to post a happy, up beat and fun blog post about sewing and quilting. Right now I am busy working on quilts, yes.  But quilts that will give comfort.  Quilts that will let someone know their pain is not forgotten.  Quilts that will let a child hold something that is theirs and not lost.  As you read this blog post you will come to understand why this means so much to me right now.  It feels like I must do this.  Call it survivor guilt or simply compassion.  Call it what you want, but it is something I feel very strongly that I need to do.

Not sure if any of you have heard.  I live in Mesquite TX.  This is a suburb of Dallas.  My family, and when I say my family I mean ALL of my family with the exception of my oldest daughter and my youngest daughter, live in Forney, TX.  My mother and daughter specifically live in Diamond Creek.  This is a subdivision there.  My sisters live in Forney as well but in different neighborhoods.  Forney is a small town.  They have one 4A high school.  One Walmart and a Brookshires.  That small.  My mom's subdivision is one like many of you know.  Small surrounding an elementary school with about 125 homes.  Not large by any means.  Now, it will never look the same again.

On April 3rd the Dallas/Ft. Worth area had a really rough weather day.  We had 15 tornadoes touch down from 1pm to around 5pm.  Two of them in my town.  There was some damage done.  It was very scary.  But the scariest time of all was when I was on the phone with my mom. She works from home about half the time.  My daughter and grandson were there with her as well.  We had just had a tornado touch down here.  The second one in a couple of hours.  I must have spent half the day in my hall! lol..

While on the phone with my mom, I was telling her it the storm cell was headed to her in Forney.  She was outside looking at the sky, as most of us in tornado alley are prone to do when we hear there is one coming our way.  I hear her say "oh yeah, there is tons of circulation! I can really tell with the dark and white clouds! Wait, there is one coming down now! Oh and it is not going back up! That one is staying down on the ground!"  Meanwhile I am on the phone with her telling her to get the he$$ in the HOUSE NOW! My mother is a VERY stubborn woman.  By the time I was done, I found myself screaming at her at the top of my lungs "Mom for the love of God get in THE HOUSE NOW!!!! PLEASE GET IN THE HOUSE!!" She finally did go in the house and get in her hallway.  I could hear on the news that one was on the ground in Forney.  I heard Walmart had been hit.  I said as much to her on the phone.  Her reply was "Something sure did because there is nothing but tons of insulation in my pool and back yard!" The total of the true devastation had not yet become known to her.  Only after walking outside did she get the full picture of how much devastation had happened.  Also how truly lucky she had been.

There were fortunately no deaths in the Dallas/Ft Worth area that day.  By some miracle for sure.  One woman in my mother's neighborhood was home with her grandchild and babysitting 2 other children.  She was huddled in a bathtub with a 5 year old and two 18 month olds.  After it stopped she had no home around her.   Yet no injuries.  I am attaching a video of my mom's neighborhood.  It looks like a bomb went off! This is the footage someone took of the tornado going down the street.  This is headed directly for my mothers home.  Yet it took a turn here, just a small one and missed my moms house by only a very short distance.

I feel so fortunate.  Those that I hold so dear are alive and well.  My mother's home, while definitely damaged, nothing in compared to the other 75 homes in her neighborhood that had severe damage and in most cases demolished.  Some actually GONE. Yet no deaths, not even a severe injury.  I have been busy with life that sometimes can get in the way with blogging.  I am working on trying to gather some donated material in a "free-cycle" group in our town.  I am making some quilts for my mom to take to her neighborhood church and give to some of the effected families.  Mostly the children who lost so much. My son went to the school in that neighborhood.  The school itself was actually hit.  The roof was peeled off.  There was a woman that came to pick up her children (the tornadoes hit right when our schools let out). A teacher came running out to her car and said a tornado is coming. The woman instead chose to go into the school to ride out the safety. Her car was found across the field mangled and almost unrecognizable.  Another woman came to pick up her child and went into the school as well. Moments later the car was picked up and thrown into a home across the street from the school.  These woman should have ran out that day and purchased a lottery ticket for sure! The video below tells some of the stories I mentioned as well as shows some of the aftermath.

I feel so fortunate and in many ways a bit guilty.  While my own home has been adjusted by the insurance company.  I have a totaled roof, gutters, screens and fence.  But compared to many, it is nothing. The thought of those I love so much being lost is enough to stop me in my tracks.  I would have lost my mother, daughter and grandson in one foul swoop. That is a terrifying thought for sure. I choose to look instead at how fortunate I am to have them safe and sound. I am sure many in my area feel the same way.  With so many tornadoes that day, I am sure many feel EXACTLY as I do.

We are in for some more rough weather tonight and tomorrow morning.  Right now Oklahoma City and other towns in tornado alley are being hit.  They tell us we have a slight chance of ours becoming tornadic as well.  That is what they said on April 3rd as well so not going to feel much comfort in the word "slight" again.

You know I had to give my room my own stamp!

I forgot! I managed one other finished project. lol I have been VERY busy this week!  I gave my room my own stamp!

 The letters are chipboard for only 1.00 each.  I had to make the apostrophe from card stock..  I used some wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby and mod podge the wonder stuff!

Make something beautiful today!
nanasrcool