it was supposed to be easy

a simple red curtain to go with the quilt I made for my nephew for Christmas last year. 

He had lived with blue butterflies for far too long, so as part of his Christmas present I told him and his mum that I would help them re-do his room.  We finally got around to that a couple of months ago, and up went some really cool checkerplate wallpaper, grey painted walls and chalkboard painted closet doors.  Much more appropriate for an 11 year old boy!

wall paper up, end wall still to be painted

Alex likes red, and thought it would be the perfect accent colour for his room.  We measured the window, I wrote it down.  Because he gets a lot of morning sun through his window, he wanted the curtain to blackout the light.  No problem, I picked up some blackout cloth, and another red IKEA sheet and some grommets.  Quick and easy, and I'd be done.
Sewed it all up, put the grommets in.  Hmmmm.  It doesn't look wide enough.  Okay, to avoid having a visible seam I'll just piece a strip using the leftovers from his quilt, and then add a red strip down the side.  Easy, and it makes it look a little more interesting.  Of course, it was a bit of a pain to have to add to the blackout fabric, but done, and off to my sister's.
I get an email.  The curtain is lovely, Alex loves it, but, ahhh, it's too short.  And, by the way, it's crooked, too!  What was I drinking that day??

too short and crooked - but it does block the light!

So back it came, with new measurements.  Today, after a major cleanup yesterday (more on that next time!) I tackled it.  Started by cutting off the offending crooked bottom.  Pulled out what was left of the quilt fabrics, and proceeded to piece another strip - this time to go across the bottom.  Pieced on what was left of the blackout fabric.  Hmmmm. Not enough to go right to the hem any more, but it will completely cover the window, so that's good.  Measured.  Measured again.  Pieced.  Measured.  Sewed it on. Measured.  Hemmed.  Measured.  Okay, this time I think we're good!

widened and lengthened - we're good!

Hung it up in the kitchen to get a picture.  Alright, it's definitely long enough, and it's definitely straight!  Now to get it back to my sister.  Hopefully redeem myself.  It sure wasn't nice to have Alex laughing at his poor Auntie Janet!
Have you had any projects lately that just have not gone as planned?

Happy quilting!