Sailing Trip -- Oct. 2011

My husband and I went on a sailing trip recently. We spent 5 nights on the boat, sailing to Cedar Creek and then down the ICW to Beaufort. Our friends on Cavalle sailed along with us. We had a great time. The weather was perfect...high of 75, low of 45. No rain and lots of sunshine.

Soft Cornices

A very good friend gave me lots of upholstery scrap fabric. I used some of it to make soft cornices for my husbands office. I think they turned out really nice. Enjoy!

Tenara Thread & Boat Canvas

I decided to bite the bullet and purchase that expensive Tenara thread. Everything I read says it will last longer than the sunbrella. I decided to buy black and use it on a mainsail cover that is docked right next to us. It turned out super. I had to do a bit of fine tweaking but it is definitely the stuff to use. Check out the main sheet cover I made too....sweet.

Naugahyde Bench Cushions

I love my animal friends and when I brought the 2 kitties to my vet I noticed the exam rooms were being painted. The main lobby area is now a nice blue and the exam rooms are a beautiful light eggplant color. The benches were forrest green and awful! So.....I recommended a new color vinyl and VOILA....they have been recovered and look super. When I went to take photos I happened to see a friend there who had "Brutus" with her.

I LOVE KITTIES TOO

I helped rescue these 2 siblings about 3 weeks ago. They are brother & sister (Cairo & Sydney). They are Lynx Point Siamese with bright blue eyes and tiger cat markings. We may end up keeping them. They are doing really well at Lake Waccamaw. We brought them to New Bern for about a week and they didn't seem to mind it too much. Girl kitty hid under the bed for most of her day but would come out at night. Boy kitty is all over the place. They are under 2 years old and were given up by a woman that is now in Phase IV Parkinsons and cannot keep them. Her daughter tried to keep them but one of her children is allergic. I didn't even have to pay a re-homing fee....freebies and I love them!

Sail Bags

These were made out of an old windsurfing sail that was my mother-in-laws....no joke! She was an avid sailor, tennis player and all around great person. I decided to turn that old sail into something useful. Getting ready to market them on Etsy. ENJOY!

Sailing Stuff

As you all know, Bill & I have sailed for years and I am now sewing canvas, sails, etc. We decided to tackle the sacrificial cloth on our head sail a couple of weeks ago. What a job! HUGE! Really HUGE! But it is done and we test sailed it this past weekend. Here are the photos along the Neuse River in N.C.

Henrietta III Riverboat

Over the last 3 weeks I have been diligently sewing up a storm......34 jabots & swags for a riverboat located just 3 blocks from my shop in Wilmington, NC. I literally walked some of them to the boat. These were made out of an embroidered sheer fabric lined in a sheer batiste. They turned out gorgeous. The riverboat was purchased in the mid 80's in St. Louis, MO. They brought her to Wilmington, cut her in half and lengthened her. Originally a casino boat, Henrietta III is now a cruising riverboat that serves lunch, dinner and offers lots of themed cruises too. Narrated cruises are available with Captain Daren and First Mate Dustin.....both great guys. Captain Carl Marshburn (Daren's dad) owns this beautiful boat. I worked with Helen on this project. She wanted the window treatments updated so more weddings would get booked. They also replaced the carpet, painted a bit and bought new seating chairs. Helen wanted jabots & swags and wanted a sheer so the light could come through. The angle irons were already there but too low and mounted into steel. No moving them......so Daren & Dustin built small 2 1/2" blocks to sit on the angle irons.....voila! 68 blocks of wood later and they are raised to the ceiling. A gal came by the workroom a couple of weeks ago and said they looked like wedding dresses. Mission accomplished!

More Sailbags--Colorful Ones Too!

I'm still at it.....using up some old sails and upcycling them into duffel bags and such. Great fun cutting around windows and words, jib hanks, luff & leech lines. I have already sold the orange duffel shown here. More to come soon....it's almost sailing season in N.C.

UPCYCLED SAIL BAGS

I have thought about making these for about a year now. Finally got an old sail from a friend and put a duffel together. This is a gift but the next 2 are for hubby & me. Then it's probably 2 for the girls. Perhaps I'll have enough sail left over to market a few.