The move in continues and more Quilty Fun

After putting up the design wall on Sunday the move into the new studio space has begun. Though there are still a few things yet to be squeezed in, I am super happy with how well things are fitting. I did lots of measuring furniture and playing with floor plan arrangements on paper before we began in, though I must admit that there needed to be a few adjustments to the plan as I saw things in the room. That huge space sure shrank quickly. So, here is a little tour of my new studio space while it is still clean and tidy. First up is the fabric storage and longarm area. The wire drawer units are from IKEA. I have used these for a few years now and just love them. I sort most of this fabric by color but some of the drawers are filled with projects that are ready to go. The top is a MDF board cut to size at Home Depot. Since I am only 5'2" I decided that I would only go 2 high so that I could use the shelf for my Lonaberger baskets which hod mostly small accessories or fabric scraps. On the other side of the longarm are the IKEA cube shelves. I store my wools, silks and some projects here but they really need to be reorganized now that I have everything in one room. Behind those are stacking plastic drawers each filled with fabrics pulled for a project. These were used when I moved to China several years ago as I needed to make sure that I had everything I would need for a particular project with me. I would like to replace these with more of the IKEA cubes in the future. You can also see my cutting table in front of the longarm frame. This was made many years ago using wire basket frames from Home Depot, long before IKEA stores were here. It is sporting a new top obtained from the IKEA "as is" area and in the background you can see the old top against the wall. That is going to be covered to use as an ironing table and will be set up right behind the cutting table.

In this picture you can see a better view of the cutting table in relation to my sewing machine. After many different room configurations in the last few years, I have discovered that I love having the cutting table right behind my sewing machine. Those wire baskets hold rulers and cutting accessories in the top baskets and mostly hand dyed fabrics in the lower baskets. And that little ironing board gets pulled up to my sewing table when I am sewing so that it is right next to me and is at the right height for me to press while sitting. It was purchased in China and was the biggest one I could find. The best thing about it now it is it's small size and that I can adjust it quite low. I covered it in a fun fabric several months ago and I love it. Next to the cutting table are the shelving units I mentioned in my last post. Those laundry baskets hold fabrics including most of my brights and the cloth boxes are mostly UFO's. Seeing all my fabric in one space after over 8 years of separation is almost frightening. I really need to get busy!

Looking from the other side of the cutting table you can see my table space. My main machine is in a Horn sewing cabinet that I have had for almost 20 years - love it. I do not like sewing with a table pushed up against a wall so this is in the middle of the room. I have IKEA tables and rolling shelves arranged into a large table space so I can spread out. There is a walkway between the main table space and the table in front of the window. That table is my appliqué prep area and of course you can see the new completed design wall on the left. The second machine that is set up and covered is the machine that I have been using for FMQ while my longarm has been in pieces. The longarm still needs to be fully set up so it is good to keep this machine available.

Finally from this angle you can see the right side of the appliqué prep area which includes my copy machine and light table. Another cube shelving unit with more projects and under several table areas are rolling drawers for pens, fabric paints, free motion quilting accessories and paper. A filing cabinet under the light table hold patterns and books are stored in book shelves in the adjoining sitting room.

My Quilty Fun quilt is awaiting borders and is hanging on the design wall.

The original quilt pattern included mittens in the bottom row but I decided to draft a bird pattern to use instead. I was inspired by a few bird blocks including the chick block that Lori Holt included in her new book "Farm Girl Vintage" and came up with this little bird. I think it works well in the quilt and was a fun easy block.

Thanks for joining my on my studio tour, hopefully I will be back to more sewing soon.

 

 

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