Clean Sewing Room

Almost!!!  It is not quit clean, but the sewing room is presentable enough to take pictures. Since I featured my daughter's sewing room while I was in Fargo, thought it was only fair to show mine.  So here goes ---

View as you walk in from the kitchen/living room area:

To the left, as you walk in, is my design wall.  I have two rods from which the design wall hangs and it works like sliding closet doors. The center and largest piece of foam slides on the front rod.  The two smaller pieces of foam slide on the back rod. (This idea came from sliding closet doors my Mother had on her closet)  There are cabinets behind the covered foam insulation boards which hold fabric and projects. The panels easily slide to expose any section of cabinet I want.  ** You can see a section of Bonnie Hunter's Scrappy Bargelo in progress in the center.

This picture shows the cabinets behind the design wall panels. I also have storage up above the cabinets.

 

Moving around the corner of the room is my ironing area. I have a big board on the top of a shelving unit. (If it takes up space, it has to have storage. An ironing board provided no storage.) There is a covered idea board on the wall above the ironing station.  My laptop is on a rolling cart which can be moved any place in the room.

On the same wall as the ironing station is the first sewing/embroidery station. In the corner, I have a tall bookcase that holds books, magazines, and my TV. 

Moving around the corner, is the second sewing station. The cabinet was made by a cabinet maker when I bought my first Bernina in 1984. There are french doors behind the cabinet which I never use. The room is suppose to be a formal dining room, but who really uses a formal dining room very often? Sewing takes priority -- doesn't it??

Going around the last corner, I have my cutting table which is on the same type of shelving unit as the ironing station. The shelving units were on sale and very inexpensive. I did purchase a ruler rack for on the wall. It holds a lot of my rulers and my spinning cutting mat. My templates are stored in a bag hanging from the shelf bracket for the wall shelves.

Last area is my sitting area. Have to have two chairs because my children often join me in the sewing room when they are home. (Dad only watches westerns and my son likes a lot of the same programs that I watch.) The girls like to see what I am working on and check out current books and magazines. There is a little blue shelving unit made with wooden spools to separate the shelves behind the chairs. It was a find at an occasional sale. They are so much fun. The table between the chairs is half of my grandmother's sewing cabinet. She had sawed the center section out and made end tables. I only got one of them.

The room is 12' x 14'.  Thought it was going to be large enough to hold everything but ----  IT DOESN'T!!!  I only keep what is current in this room. Other projects, fabrics, and supplies are stored in a walk-in closet in one of the bedrooms. My mid-arm quilting machine on a frame is kept downstairs. Gives me an excuse to get some exercise by going up and down stairs. This room is always in transition because I am always thinking there is a better way to arrange everything, hoping to get more into it.

Beth

Home Again in Hillman

It was fun to stay in Fargo and have a private retreat for a week, but it is sure nice to be home. I came home a day early because the driving conditions didn't sound very nice for Sunday.  Hubby was pleasantly surprised and happy when I arrived home a day early. My daughter and her husband arrived home from their trip on Saturday evening, so Chipper only had to be on his own for a few hours between when I left and they arrived home. Needless to say, he went absolutely wild when they walked in. Here is Chipper resting up for their arrival!!! 

On Friday, I went to "Fun & Finish" at Rae-Bon in Fargo. Arrived at 10:00 am and went home at 9:30 pm.  I did go home at 5:00 pm to feed, water, and let Chipper out. Met many nice ladies while I was there and, of course, there was a lot of good food to eat since everyone brought a dish to share. Since I was working on parts 3 & 5 of Orca Bay (which is a lot of repetitive sewing), it was great to have ladies to talk to and see what they were working on.  If I am at home, I listen to audio books when I have a lot repetitive sewing or piecing to do.

The shop is very nice. They carry a nice selection of fabrics, sewing machines, and machine embroidery supplies.  Two of the employees (Claudia on the left, and Kathy on the right) let me take their picture. I am still a little bashful about asking people to be in pictures for my blog, so that is all I have.

Claudia & Kathy

On Monday, friends are coming for open sewing. When I arrived home, most all the quilting supplies I had with me were just dumped into the quilt studio. Now I need to clean it up a little before anyone comes.

Since I have put pictures of my daughter Natalie's sewing/craft room on the blog, I will need to get my studio cleaned up and put some pictures on for you all to see.



Beth



More Fargo Stay

I am still in Fargo and Chipper (the sad dog) has cheered up and is back to his normal mischievous self. He likes to head over to the neighbors to see what they have put out for the birds. Right now he is resting after his hard day at the office!!  Yawn!

 The weather in Fargo is very cold right now and I am only too glad to stay inside and sew (and be on the computer).

In preparation for my stay, my daughter Natalie very nicely cleaned up her sewing craft room for me to use (now there is a picture record of what it looks like cleaned up --). Last year I did sew there, but this year I am doing a lot of cutting and her cutting surface is just too high for me. She is almost 6 inches taller than I am. The kitchen is working great because the counters are the right height for a cutting surface and the floor is laminate which is easier to clean up all the threads.

Here are some pictures of her sewing/craft room (her husband has a different name!!!  HeeHee). She has fixed it up cute and it is very functional for her. She likes to do mixed media, but she does do some quilting.

This is the view as you come down the hallway.

 

She found the desk for her sewing machine and the comfortable wing chair at rummage sales. The spice cabinet up on the wall, is a cabinet my mother made years ago.  The shelving units were originally taller units which Natalie cut down to her height for cutting/working surfaces and she put counter tops on the units.  While the guys are watching the football games, she can curl up in her chair and watch her own TV. It is a very nice cozy space to work in.

The rest of the pictures are working around the room clockwise. 



 

This shelf was from a place that does a lot of funky junk type of furnishing. It was originally meant to stand upright, but it works better to hang it side ways. That way it fit a lot of her stamps and supplies better. 

 

I am still working on my Orca Bay mystery quilt. Have completed all the cutting for parts 3 & 5. Skipped over part 4 for right now.  I wanted to have all the pieces cut and ready to go because I am going to a "Fun & Finsh" sewing at Rae-Bon quilt shop in Fargo on Friday. Did a sample of part 3 & 5. They have to fit together. 

Part 3 (only 350 of these units)



 

Part 5 (Adding wings to Part 3) - need 350 of the finished units.  They are all cut and ready to sew on tomorrow at the sew-in. 

 

This has been a productive week so far. Haven't had to worry about cleaning up after myself or cooking (weight loss TV dinners work just great).

Lunch on Wednesday with my daughter's sister-in-law was very enjoyable. We went to the Old Broadway in downtown Fargo. The food is great.

Received some text messages from my daughter and it sounds like the weather on the cruise has not been very enjoyable but they are having a good time with people they have met.

Well, back to sewing ----

Beth