Sewing Room Before and After

In early December, I realized my sewing room was so messy and cluttered that I really didn't enjoy being in there.  I had been avoiding it and that meant I hadn't been doing much sewing.  I had to give it a good clean out.  Here are some pictures of the room in its "before" condition.

Piles of projects in various states on the bed and bins of fabric on the floor.  

We have a 4-bedroom house and my sewing room is the smallest bedroom, about 10' by 11', and furnished with orphan furniture from our prior houses.  The house was built in 1917 and though the closets were probably considered generously sized at the time, they are small by today's standards so I can't pack everything into the closet and call it a day.  I packed some stuff away, including two tubs of fabric that went up in the attic, and found a place to keep my two design boards when I'm not using them.  

Now much neater and more welcoming.  The challenge will be to keep it this way.

During the cleaning up, I identified nine projects in various stages of not-finished.  To be truthful, some aren't even started; I just have all the materials for the project gathered together.  I've got each one packaged up in a separate zipped project bag or shopping bag and stored away; my goal is to get them out one at a time (to avoid clutter and chaos) and finish at least five of them before I begin anything new.  

Wish me luck!

Organizing My Sewing Space

Have you ever been to Target and bought something that wasn't on your shopping list, just because you liked the look of it and the price was right?  Ha!  Do birds fly?  Here are my latest impulse purchases.  First, this wire basket (only $3!).  I thought I could put it on the floor under the table and use it to collect scraps, the ones that are too small to re-fold but too big to throw away.  Good idea but it is filling up fast.  Temporary solution but not long term scrap storage.

I also found these baskets that look like they are knitted but are made of plastic.  Also very inexpensive so I bought a few.  This smaller one is holding leftover binding I'm saving for a future unknown project where I just need a short piece.

I'm using the larger version to hold fabric I pulled from stash for a planned project.  I have two of these going now (but I have about 12 projects planned in my head).

As you may have surmised from my destash sale, I've been cleaning out and re-organizing my sewing space, or sewing "studio" as I've begun to call it.  Studio sounds so active and professional.  The gym I go to refers to their facility as the studio, which certainly sounds better (though less accurate) than torture chamber.

Getting fit and strong at OTF

Pulling my stash fabric out of the closet, refolding it, and putting it back in the closet was quite the workout.  Next up, the space around my sewing machine table.

What A Find!

I guess I could have clled this post, "Storing and Displaying Quilts, Part 3."  I was doing some errands on Saturday and my route took me by a furniture consignment store in Princeton.  I have plans for an update of our living room and dining room so decided to run in and see what was available.  I didn't find anything for the living room or dining room but I did find this:

 

It is a brass quilt rack, designed to hold three quilts.  It was priced at about $80 (with sales tax) so I decided it had to come home with me.  It is perfect for our mostly traditional decorating style.

 

Here it is in the bedroom with some of my quilts...and a view from the top. 

 

Right now, it is in front of a window so I need to do a little rearranging so I can move it out of direct sunlight.  I think I can even squeeze a couple more quilts on it.

 

 

Storing and Displaying Quilts

How do you store or display your finished quilts?  I am looking for ideas.  I've accumulated quite a number here at our house on Main Street, even though a good number of the quilts I've made were given away as gifts.  I have several for every bed, usually with one quilt on the bed, maybe another folded at the foot, and the rest stored in old pillow cases under the bed. 

I have a space in my kitchen where I hang a rotating collection of wall hangings and several lap or throw size quilts that stay in our family room for snuggly TV viewing. 

Still, I have "extras" without a place to call home.  I would like to get some kind of standing quilt rack for the bedroom, one that could hold three or so throw size quilts and look decorative in the process. 

Then, on Pinterest, I saw this:

It is from Robinson's Woodcrafts.  Not sure where I would put it though. 

I'd love to know what you do with your collection of quilts.  Please leave a comment.

Cleaning Up

One of my quilting resolutions for this year was to get in the habit of cleaning up my sewing space after each project, to start the next one out in a neat and tidy space and not let chaos take over.

I've been doing well, so far.  Between projects, I've tidied up my work table, put any leftover fabric away, cleaned the lint from the sewing machine, and inserted a new needle. 

This time I went a little further.  I had dragged all my cream neutral fabrics out of closet storage to cut the backgrounds for the quilt in yesterday's post, so I decided to tidy up that shelf when I put them away.  I refolded all the fabrics, with a stack of 1 yard plus pieces on the right, less than a yard but more than a fat quarter in the middle, then a bin of FQs and smaller pieces.  Much neater than the shelves above and below.

I would like the whole closet to look this neat but the idea of taking all the fabric out and refolding it in one go is too daunting.  I might try a shelf a week though. 

Studio, Transformed

Before:

After:

The bed looks more inviting.  Someone could actually sleep in it!

Piles of "stuff" gone and one leaf of the table down, to make more floorspace.  I must confess, some supplies are hidden under the table.

Tubs of fabric.  One of my goals is to whittle my stash down so I don't need to keep these plastic containers in the room.  But for now, the closet shelves are full of fabric and I have the five bins you see here, plus three more in the attic.

This shelving unit is on the wall opposite the bed.  It holds quite a lot, including most of my quilting books and magazines.  The cabinet at the bottom holds fabric.  I'd like to put the magazines there, but need to use the fabric first.  The little white dress is a vintage embroidered baby dress hung on a small hanger; just for decoration.  I need to start a shelf-o-joy.  And I need to make a wall hanging for the wall behind the bed.

Sometimes I refer to this room as the orphan furniture room.  All the furniture had a different purpose originally.  The shelving units, curtains and shams came from my bachelorette condo, the sewing table was my dining room table in my first apartment, and the chair was my husband's childhood desk chair.  Sometime, I'd like to get a "real" sewing table, the kind where the sewing machine sinks into it so the sewing surface is flush with the table.  But that will have to wait until I have a dedicated studio, that does not have to double as a guest room.

Storing Tops Before Quilting

When I finish a quilt top, my usual practice is to give a good pressing, then fold and hang it on a hanger.  I then piece the back, press it, and hang with the top.  That way, they are ready to go to the long arm quilter or ready for me to quilt (I usually hand quilt the small ones) when I am ready for them.

If I have the fabric for binding, I hang that up along with the top and backing, so I don't accidently use the fabric for some other purpose.  Below, you see the backing and binding for Cider Mill, a quilt top I finished a while back but have yet to quilt.

I've found this method keeps the top from becoming too wrinkled and ensures the backing and binding fabrics get used for their designated purpose as they are taken out of stash so not in circulation for use elsewhere.  It is also a good way to store the unquilted tops as I have some hanging room in the closet in my studio, whereas the shelves are stuffed!