Yesterday was epic. I have been looking forward to craft day for about 2 months. From the moment Diana announced it at church. And it finally happened yesterday! Now, I just hope we do another one....and soon! Mary and Diana (2 ladies from church) had it on their hearts to get all the women from our church together (ie- different generations together) so we could build relationships, hang out, bond, etc. They decided it would be done through crafting- yeah!

Mary hosted the event (and what a generous host!) and Diana put everything together and organized the event-- one of her many strengths. All we had to do was show up and have fun and maybe bring our own crafts if we wanted to do something other than what they had set up. And they had SO MUCH set up. They had a stamping area where you could make your own cards- I think there may have been more stamps than Hobby Lobby's stamp aisle, for real! Mary had also purchased TONS of knitting needles and yarn--- and each person got to keep their needles and yarn. So kind and generous.

We started the morning off with a crockpot demo that would end up being our lunch. So. Good. Then, the knitting lessons followed. And lots of fellowshipping. LOTS. It was amazing. A little while later, Mary did a breadmaking demo. Then, a whole group of people went to the Granary and bought bread making supplies. I stayed at the house to work on crafting but I will definitely be going to the Granary soon!

There were a few reasons I was so excited for this weekend. First, who wouldn't be excited about getting to hang out with awesome ladies and fellowship? I also have one of my best friends come up and stay this weekend and come to craft day. Yeah Bobbie! And, I have been planning what I wanted to get done on this day for quite some time. I am trying, little by little, to make some decorating changes in our casa. So, where did I decide to start? The laundry room! I have been wanted to make some curtains to go over the shelves that hang above the washer and dryer. Here is a before picture of the laundry room:

I really love our laundry room. Behind where I am taking this picture from is a shelf where I keep my stockpile. I just love how big it is. I know some people have full size rooms as a laundry room but this one is just perfect for where we live. This room really makes me happy, is that weird? And no, it doesn't always look like this. Normally there are piles of clothes that I have folded (and not put away) on the dryer. And there is a pile of clothes for the cleaners also. When I have more guts, I will put on a real picture of our laundry room. Just not there yet, sorry!

When Bobbie got up here this weekend, we headed to Jo-Ann's to get some fabric to use to make a curtain to go over the shelves. I found some on sale, figured out how much I needed (I was going to have to make 2 panels) and took that to craft day. I sewed a few things on craft day. The pictures Diana took of me (thanks Diana!) are of working on my quilt. I needed to get the binding on- now I need to handstitch the back. I will get there.

After I finished the binding, I got to work on my curtains. Got my fabric out and began making my cuts (after I measured of course). But, as luck would have it- I cut something wrong. I had my cutting board turned the wrong way and I needed 47" in length so I used to cutting board to do 18", 18", then 11"- then cut there. Didn't realize I was actually doing 12", 12", 11". After I cut it, I though there is NO way that is going to cover the shelves. Then, I realized my mistake- oops! I cut the next panel correctly and had to figure out how to fix my mistake. I didn't have enough to do a whole new panel and I couldn't go buy more fabric. I had just enough in our household fund (envelope!) to cover the fabric and a tension/shower rod. So, I cut another 12 1/2" to make them the same length. If you are adding it, it would make the new panel 1/2" longer but that is because when I stitched the two together, I used a 1/4" seam.

Anyways, stiched them and I can hardly tell they are two pieces. Yeah! I am really glad it worked out and next time, I will double and triple check my cutting board. I am used to making small cuts for quilt pieces, so using it like this was new for me.

I made the 2 panels, stitched up the sides and bottom, then made a 3" fold-over for the rod to go through. After craft day, Bobbie and I headed to the store to get a rod. When we got home, I tried it out and its looks SO GOOD!!!! Here are some after shots of the laundry room:

I am very happy with how it turned out and now my laundry room makes me even happier! Our bathroom is painted a creamy purple color and that color is in the fabric a little too. So excited with how it turned out.

After I made my curtains, I helped Bobbie sew a few more quilt squares (wish I had gotten some pics now!) and then we headed out. Craft day was SO much fun and I really hope we have one soon. Mary thought maybe a spring one and we could learn about gardening and such, but I kind of hope we have one sooner-- maybe next weekend??? Who's up for that?