Cleaned up sewing room

It has been a while since my sewing room was built, but it has evolved since I last shared pictures, and mostly it is a mess. I was cleaning up for a small quilt group get together, so thought I'd take a few pictures while it is pretty picked up.

This spot hasn't changed too much, my Koala and my Bernina 200 reside here. There is a pull-down design wall that covers the window when I need it. I used it to keep the charms for the bag I just finished in order.

The center of the room has my cutting table/storage units. There are two on the left, back to back to create a large cutting area. You can see the drawers are mostly filled with thread, but also my Marti Michell templates, presser feet, and cutting implements. In back are open shelves with my rotary cutting rulers and file boxes. Underneath are the boxes with fabric for current projects.

By the outside door I have peg board that holds my quilting templates.

The table on the right is often covered with current projects, but somehow most of them are finished now and could get put away. It should be a space where I can prep for applique. Maybe I can get some of those projects back on track now.
The unit on the left is where my Bernina 630 normally resides. The back of the unit flips up to give me a large area when quilting my quilts. The drawers hold embroidery units and stabilizer. The top drawer is a mess, but holds extra needles and bobbins. Perhaps some drawer dividers are in its future. I open it and put a mat/board on it when quilting to help with the weight of large quilts.
I use the 630 a lot, maybe because the TV is right there! I can watch and sew at the same time. Fabric overflow is under the TV. Fabric overflow is everywhere. I really need to make and give away some quilts. I do, but more are in my future.

The white cabinets are supposed to hold all of my fabric. They are full, hence the fabric overflow. They do have bins inside, with labels, and are sorted. When I need something, I pull out a bin, then can fairly easily tidy things back up again. Except what I have pulled out of the bin for a current project. That goes into a smaller, project tote.

new sewing room

All of the pieces are in my new sewing room! Not all organized, but they are here. Got the Kvartal room divider up today that will hold quilts to be photographed or a felt design wall (as needed).

Bernina 630 and computer center - up until recently this was the only sewing station in here.

But now I have a new sewing cabinet, delivered shortly after Thanksgiving, which houses my Bernina 200. I haven't been sewing on it lately since I hated moving it in and out of the Koala cabinet, now I don't have to do that anymore. I have the center of the Quilt Show 2009 block of the month cut out and ready to sew next to the machine. I want to get it done this year!
Then I have a prep table, with a pressing board for preparing applique ala so many people! Pearl Pereira, Karen Kay Buckley, and me . Want to get back to that too. Pearl's Christmas Baltimore is waiting for me to start! Before that I am going to practice on a block with larger pieces, a gingko leaf design by Jill Rixman, a designing woman. Pearl's pieces are small, want to practice first!

A Christmas present was the TV that is now mounted on the wall, can be swiveled to watch at different places, and has a Wii attached (so I can exercise in here too!) I had to move a few things around to make room for that, but think it will work out great. The Wii Fit platform is stored under the Hemnes cabinet to the left of the TV. You can also see a few more plastic storage boxes that didn't fit into the storage cabinets, more under the prep table too. Need to use up some fabric before I can get anymore!

The outside entry to this room, still need to clean up the stuff in the driveway (which you can't see, thank goodness) and my corner cabinet.
The armoire that is now holding clothing fabric and large bits, lots of backgrounds, but a few other things too. On top is more storage, the lightbox should get moved to the applique prep area, where it will be used.
And finally, the cutting table, pretty large, so now I can cut out clothes! Not making too many right now, as I am also trying to lose weight. 35 pounds are gone, at least another 30 to go. Once they are gone I will see where I am size wise. Weight Watchers, in case you are wondering. A bit stalled over the holiday season, but with the New Year I am re-motivated to get rid of this excess flab.

Placemats and shutters

Placemats are ready to be quilted! I made two variations, four each. Now to decide how to quilt them. I decided to bind them after all, rather than flip inside with a turning hole. Still debating on the binding fabric, but it could easily be the lightest fabric, which is also the napkins. Need more wooly thread for the serger, it takes two and I only have one spool each of two possible colors (which aren't quite the colors either). The checked fabric is the backing for six of the placemats. Need something for the other two.


You can barely see my new mats (from Martelli), gotten at PIQF. They cover the table nicely (moved the Alto cutting system to the old cutting table). they have different colors on each side, yellow for dark and purple for light. So far I like them a lot.
The shutters are installed! Now I don't live in a fishbowl when in the sewing room. It is a converted garage, so faces the street, and cardboard in the windows was getting old. Also have the track lighting installed. You can't see it in the dark picture at the bottom, but it goes around the room, lighting the work areas and the storage cabinets, with three different controls, which are also dim-able.


Last night I was looking at Annie Smith's blog (http://simplearts.com/blogs/), and she said it took her two weeks, 40 hours per week, to sort through her stash. So I figure it will take me to the end of the year, since I also have a day job. Which I better get to!

Sewing room usable

Progress has been made! While not everything has been sorted and put away, OK, very little sorted, and a bunch put away, I can actually start sewing in here. The cutting table has been cleared, the Alto has a space, along with the other mats on top of the new cutting island. I'd like the mats to fit better, but they will work. You can see the old cutting island (buffet) in the back of the picture. You can see it is taller than the new island, but DH says he can lift the new one to be the same height. At some point the buffet will turn into a pressing station, I think. The plywood on top of it will be trimmed and turned into a large pressing board.
The quilt hanging from the cabinets is trying to inspire a quilting design. Finished the top ages ago, but never quilted it.

Right now I put my pressing board on top of several project totes, which is close by the sewing station. A couple of things are actually there now, the pressing board and a June Tailor Square n' Block, which doesn't really work for pressing all that well (too cushy), but I do use it for a small design wall. The hole between the totes gives access to the plug outlet in the floor. My Civil War Diary and Baltimore Christmas stuff are in the small satchels between the totes.

Sewing station with easy access to the computer. I watch DVDs on it now, someday will get a TV in here too. Still need to bring in the printer. In back of the monitor, more totes with projects to be started.

The back side of the cutting table, finally found a spot where the file boxes can go. Thread on the floor was displaced with the boxes, it needs to find a new home.

The room is shaping up, now to sew a bit!

Sewing Room coming along

The room being filled with fabric totes, and my treadle base I use as an end table. I do have the machine, but need to work on it to get it to sew. I actually have another working treadle, but it is staying in the living room for the time being.

The entry way to the room, the rug will be moved closer to the cabinets when they are done, and will have my rocking chair on it. Right now it is being used as padding while my DH assembles furniture.

My DH has been very busy assembling furniture from IKEA. One of the first things he built was the VARDE kitchen cabinet with all of the drawers. It has another piece backing it with shelves and will be my cutting island. The drawers have a lot of thread in them so far, and my Bernina accessories, manuals, Marti Michell templates, other specialized templates, and two empty drawers.

You can see the fabric storage cabinets, one more to go, then I need to figure out how to store all of the stuff I want to keep in this room. Some will have to go . At the end of the storage cabinets is a HEMNES bookcase. Another one, with glass doors, is at the opposite end of the room.
Too many magazines, will be purging them too, keeping anything that looks interesting in sheet protectors in a binder. Haven't done that for about 7 years, time to do it again!

Sewing Room update

Yesterday and today we got doors! They are not finished yet, still in the raw state, but there are locks on the outside doors and I can now walk from the house into the sewing room without going outside.
New front door, we have been wanting one for a while, new light will replace the dangling one... We are replacing the ugly rock with brick and stucco, so far only the rock has been removed. Soon you won't see the old insulation coming out of the framing.

This is the side door into the sewing room, where my friends can come without going through the house.

This is the door from the porch to the utility room, not exciting.

Finally, a door from the house into the sewing room, so I can sew in my jammies.

The room was also painted a lovely shade of blue, precious dewdrop. But, they neglected to prime the old wall, and it needed it. So, we will see what they do now.

Sewing Room Status

Still no doors, but they did get delivered on Friday and I have hopes that they will be installed next week. And also the walls and ceiling should get painted. I picked out Precious Dewdrop (Kelly Moore) for the walls, and Swiss coffee for the trim and ceiling. Storage shrunk a little with the extension into the room that is around the electrical box. There will be a bookcase in front of it, and then the high cabinets (probably from IKEA) that will hold all of the boxes of fabric that are currently in back of my couch. Lots of boxes.
Right now I am thinking about switching the orientation of my sewing cabinet, so that it faces the room, and the TV. Will need to play around with the layout to see if that will work.

Sewing room status

I was hoping the new sewing room would be farther along than it is by now, but I do have a sub-floor.
There has been progress, from DH old shop, where the remnants have been staying for a while, and this was taken after a concerted effort to get the junk out!

to a mostly cleared out garage


To a room with windows instead of garage doors

To insulation under the flooring (which isn't there yet!) This picture was taken from the corner where an outside door will be, so friends can come over without tromping through the house. The opening into the house isn't there yet, but will be next to the utility room (in the sewing room).

This is the current state of the room. You can see a new wall, one of two, that will be built to enclose the heater and water heater (aka the utility room). The hanging silver ventilation ducts will be providing heat and air conditioning to the new room.


As you can see, there is still a ways to go! Walls, a hole punched through to the house and made into a door, one of four new doors in this space, a ceiling, flooring, and more electrical work, among other things.
Then comes the furnishing. It will get the furniture from the old sewing room, but also needs storage cabinets. I am still trying to decide what to put where. The long wall without windows will be the primary storage wall, with sliding design walls in front of shelving. My Koala sewing table will be against the new wall (small window to my right as I am sitting at the sewing machine). I want to put wall cabinets above it (like I had in the old sewing room), with under cabinet lighting. That worked well before. I know basically what I want, but not where to get it! Still deciding on that.

Been Too Long

A lot has happened since the last time I blogged, a quilt retreat, a trip to Ashland to the Shakespeare Festival, and some sewing. But the biggest news is I am actually getting a sewing studio!
DS got out of the Marines, and is home and going to college. So, the extra bedroom/old sewing studio got reclaimed as a bedroom. I spent much of May packing up the sewing room. It is now being stored in the living room, and not much space to actually sew. But I have a little cutting area set up in the living room and my sewing machine set up in the kitchen.
Some progress is being made on the Farmer's Wife Sampler, 75 blocks done now, here are a few of them.



Then I also got some Civil War Diary blocks done, up to 18 now, plus a few more cut out.
And a baby quilt! Plus another one that is pieced but not quilted. So, I guess I have been busier than I remember :)

Sewing Room

I have been using an extra bedroom off and on as a sewing room since we moved into this house in 1992. It is ~12' x 14' (but that includes the closet space and door swing next to it). It is a good sized room and I am lucky to have it. Soon, however, it needs to be turned back into a bedroom. And we are converting our old garage into my new studio. So far, it is all just a paper dream, but we do have a contractor and I hope to be totally in it by June. The new room will be 19' x 21.5', except we need to remove part of that for the room where the furnace and water heater are located (~8.5' x 7'). So a lot bigger, but it will be an empty room, no closet. I currently have quite a bit stuffed into the closet. So I will be prioritizing what I will keep before it goes into the new room. What I still need to figure out is what to use for storage along the longest wall. I'd like something about 15" deep, with doors. I plan on having a sliding design wall in front of the storage cabinets, but want doors anyway. Anyone have some wonderful cabinets that can go floor to ceiling and handle the weight of fabric they can recommend?
For comparison, here is my current space: I sew on a Bernina housed in a Koala Outback Plus, unfortunately no room to have the extension raised on the back.

We installed kitchen wall cabinets so I have storage over the machine. Right over my head is some of my thread (machine embroidery and hand applique)

My design wall is attached to the closet doors, works pretty well unless I have a very large quilt! Right now my finished Farmer's Wife Sampler blocks are on the wall. Hanging on the wall next to it are my embroidery hoops (in the white hanging thing).

In the center of the room is my cutting table. It is also holding my printer right now, and some of the rulers. I can walk around it on three sides. Off to the right you can see my computer and a small bookcase, which does not hold all of my quilting books. It will be nice to have them all together in the new room.

I have an embaressment of riches when it comes to fabric.

In back of the door is a pegboard which holds my hand quilting templates, lots of my rotary cutting rulers, and the occasional bit of mending (or pants that need hemming).

The armoire has several large pieces in it, along with some specific things (a few PIGs, bilaterally symmetrical fabric for kaleidoscopes, and background fabric).

The closet used to be sorted by color, along with some plastic totes with PIGs and UFOs. Now it is less organized.



Not exactly a showplace of a sewing room, but I do manage to get things done in it.