Kitchen Curtains

I finished my kitchen curtains last night and hung them up. They are made from IKEA tea towels I bought a while ago.

There are four panels with two towels each.

I stitched the towels together using embroidery thread and what I think is called the fagotting stitch. I think it has a lovely country kitchen look. I made fabric tubes using my new tube turner from yellow gingham fabric for ties at the top. I enjoyed making the tubes and like how they contrast with the tea towels but I'm not completely pleased with the end result.

The problem is that the curtain rod is just plain UGLY. It ruins the whole thing. Not to mention the poorly painted wall behind the curtain rod. I think I need some sort of valance that will cover the curtain rod and the wall. I knew that the curtain rod was ugly but I think I believed that the curtains would be so lovely that I wouldn't notice the rod anymore. Well, I notice it even more than before! I'd like to keep the curtains basically as they are and just add a valance. But it's a project for another day.

I do so many projects that I imagine will be GORGEOUS when finished but then the actual execution is not how I imagined. It doesn't upset me too terribly. It's part of the process of design. You have to try things out, see how they look and then make adjustments until it's right. For me, the process is just as important as the result. The process - the making, creating, designing part - is the fun part.

I do enjoy my creations when they're done but there are many projects stuck in drawers waiting for fixing. And even though I don't use those imperfect projects, I don't regret the time I spent on them because I learned something from each of them. I enjoyed my time with them. I don't throw them away because one day I may find the solution that will finish the project the way it was meant to be. A project can't be forced. It has to wait for it's time to become what it was meant to be. Kind of like life.