May 25 2011 Newsletter

I love May. The days finally warm up and we have more hours of sunshine. I definitely feel more energized. I also hate to sit at my computer this time of year. I have been juggling four projects: finishing the child-safe shade for the guest room, making Roman shade Sample Kits (these are sold on my web site), sewing a pieced Roman shade for my Family Room and planting a new perennial garden. The first three projects can be called work-related. The perennial project is definitely a “free-time” project. Well, I run my own business and that means work and play activities don’t always follow the traditional 5-day workweek, 2-day weekend schedule. The spring weather in Colorado justifies planting on a Monday afternoon if it happened to rain over the weekend.

I remember a conversation I had with my brother-in-law several years ago. We were at a family gathering and I was discussing the weather for the upcoming week. I was trying to schedule my exercising activities (swim indoors, bicycle outdoors, do nothing, etc). Mike commented that he never bothered about the weather. That could wait until he was retired. It seemed like a strange remark. Later I realized what he meant and that I’m sort-of retired, in the sense that I set my own schedule. And yes, the weather is very important to me. I want to be outside as much as possible. I work very hard at my business and much of my work is done on the computer. If the morning is cold, that’s when I’m tapping on my keyboard. If it’s rainy, I’m in the workroom sewing or in the garage making shade mounting boards. If it’s warm and beautiful, I’m on my bicycle or digging in the garden. There is always too much to do. I’ve sure lucky that I get to choose between activities I love.




One Shade or Three Shades





A very common window type is a large center fixed window with two narrower side windows that open. I usually make one large shade for a multiple-window. I find it much easier to raise one shade rather than several. This photograph shows a Classic Roman shade made by SS of Angola, New York. She made one 82.75-inch wide by 42-inch long shade. You can see more photographs of SS's shade in the Gallery Section of my web site.

There are situations where you will want several shades. Let’s say this type of window is in your bedroom and you want to let the fresh air in at night. Three shades will allow you to open the side windows while leaving the majority of the glass covered. RD of Rockville, Maryland made these three shades for her large window. You can read more about RD's shade in the Gallery Section of my web site.

You have to be very precise when sewing multiple shades that will be mounted together on a window. You cannot overlap the shades. You won’t be able to raise the shades properly if you do this. You should mount them on the board so that they butt up together. Yes, the shades will raise and lower correctly even if the sides are touching. You should expect to see a light leak between the shades. This may not happen along the entire side of each shade, but perhaps only part of the junction.


Multiple Shades on One Mounting Board

If you have two shades on one window, you will usually have one shade pull up on the left and the other shade pull up on the right. The mounting board for a window with three or more shades takes a little more thought. This drawing shows a schematic of the mounting board for three shades on one window. The left shade pulls from the left. The center and the right shades pull from the right.

• The board is mounted “Projected”
• The cords for the left shade (blue) pull to the left. The pulleys or screw eyes are placed at the front of the board.
• The cords for the center shade (red) pull to the right. The pulleys or screw eyes are placed at the front of the board. There is an extra pulley or screw eye at the far right, front side of the board. This directs the cords over to the right edge so that you can raise and lower the center shade.
• The cords for the right shade (green) pull to the right. The pulleys or screw eyes are placed at the back of the board. This keeps them out of the way of the center shade cords, which also exit on the right.
  
  You can read more about a multi-shade mounting board in the FAQs of my web site.