Feb
29
Yep, I know, it’s about time! I redid the sewing room um, well I forgot how long ago. And here, for your enjoyment (or amusement) are the photos.
Most of my ideas for changing the room were inspired by a book: Creating Your Perfect Quilting Space by Lois Hallock. Not that I’m much of a quilter. I mean, sure a few here and there. But not really… I needed more of a multi-purpose crafty space. And I’m super anal about neat and tidy shelves.
One of the best suggestions from the book was about drawing your room and it’s furniture to scale and playing with the pieces until you found a furniture arrangement you could live with. When I did this, I realized that the daybed had to go. It was taking up too much room. So it was off to craigslist. It lasted all of about 4 hours on craigslist before it sold. With the “profit” from the sale of the daybed I managed to buy the Murphy bed you see in the above photo. So now my mother-in-law (who I love dearly, really) has a place to sleep, that isn’t too comfortable, and I have floor space to spread out all those quilts I’m supposed to be making.
Underneath the daybed there were boxes. LOTS of boxes. Most of them filled with fabric. First order of business, empty the boxes and get rid of anything that I wouldn’t buy off the shelf today. That was most of it. You can see all that remained on the two top left shelves of the bookcase. The book also gave great instructions for how to fold all that “quilting” fabric uniformly so that it stacks neatly. So neatly that I felt I could stand to have it out on an open shelf. Which actually works out well, because now I can see what I have without crawling under the dust ruffle and pulling out six other boxes to get to the box with the fabric that I think I want.
One thing that I wanted to do that actually got done, was moving the Bose iPod dock thingy into my room. Woo hoo! Tunes while I work. Trust me, it’s better than my whistling.
I love that my serger and sewing machine are just an arm’s reach away. And all my thread is stored either on the keyboard tray of the desk or in that drawer you can see. And I love the new lamp from Ikea that lights the machines as I work. I wonder how I ever worked without it. That little appliance bulb in the sewing machine puts out about as much light as a firefly.
The closet. Which here looks over stuffed and unorganized. Really, it looks much better in real life, but perhaps I should consider some curtains. You can’t even see my most ingenious idea which involves Ikea pants hangers and yards and yards of fabric. All of my Etsy inventory is stored on these shelves. Most of it in the two red baskets on the bottom.
And you get a glimpse of the big fabric covered board on the wall. This is one of those pin boards that everyone seems to be making these days. Not even one of the tutorials on these things mentions what a pain in the butt it is to find homasote. We had to drive clear to Georgetown to even find a piece. And on the way back, with the damn thing flapping on the roof, I had to sit there and pull DOWN on the string going through the cabin of the car to keep us from literally sailing off the highway.
There is the rest of it, with the one lone pinwheel block leftover from the quilt on the back of the chair. Cool thing was, the blocks stick to the linen covering the board, and I laid out the entire quilt on the wall. No more crawling around like Gollum on the floor rearranging block after block until I get a “random” look. Yeah, I know I need help.
And you can see my easel. With a really roughed in sketch of my friend, Sarah. I haven’t touched it in at least 6 weeks. Maybe this weekend. If I can get enough crap done at work. The easel is great though. It’s beautiful on it’s own, and as an added bonus, I can lower the “shelf” enough to sit on the floor and work. I don’t know about you, but sitting on the floor is usually more comfortable than a chair in my experience.
You can see the little tiny part of my magnet board which holds a few pieces of inspiration cut from magazines. What isn’t showing is my medal from last year’s danskin.
I absolutely love this new room. I love the color on the walls (it used to be YELLOW… like really really yellow). I love my new furniture. I love all the storage. But most of all, I love that it is my room where I can go and hide out. And THAT is why there are no plans for another baby anytime soon.
Feb
28
The weekend’s spoils.
I know when I started liking pink and pale green/turquoise together. When I was about 12, my gymnastics team got new uniforms. Previously we’d been wearing all lime green leotards with two diagonal stripes. One gold, one white. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much say in the design of the new uniforms, and they ended up being a dark green, a minty blue green and pink. I was sure they would be hideous, and they were, but most leotards (or leos as we called them) were pretty hideous in the mid-eighties. Still, the colors bring back good memories.
But, I digress. I spent the weekend making this new needle roll because my first one was already falling apart. That, and it really wasn’t well designed anyway. I actually sat down this time and measured everything I wanted to fit, and planned and drew sketches to scale and finally cut and sewed this sucker from 2 1/2 fat quarters. And I’ll tell you, all that’s left of the blue floral is the selvage edge. I managed somehow to squeak out all the pieces I needed. Which is actually a miracle in itself as I really didn’t plan the cuts.
I love that everything I need fits neatly inside, and I don’t have to go running down the stairs juggling a ball of yarn and knitting on the needles in order to fetch a crotchet hook to pick up a dropped stitch. I love the little zip pocket that holds those end caps and size tags perfectly. And all of my needle tips and DPNs fit, with room to grow. I also added a couple of strips near the top for hanging stitch holders and stitch markers (on binder rings – Target has the coolest colored ones!)
So, it’s not the really cool needle book idea I had planned out before. I’ve been working on that, but I might give it up as it is kinda cumbersome, even if it is really neat. But it works, and I like just looking at it all rolled up. Maggie Righetti, who taught me to knit through her book Knitting in Plain English, says to always take time to stop and admire your work, because it will give you satisfaction, and encourage a job well done. And there really is nothing more satisfying than seeing something completed.
Jan
25
As of Sunday January 21, 2008
Jan
16
Hop Skip Jump…
Filed Under Crafting, Quilting, Sewing | 3 Comments
I skipped out of work early yesterday with a bit of inspiration. Besides, I was feeling yucky. What is with the allergens in Austin?! And lookie what I got!! I’m not telling what it’s for just yet, I’m afraid I’ll jinx my idea. But I am so disgustingly pleased with the colors.
I’ve been going back and forth on this project for a while. First I thought red and white. Then I bought some lovely fallish colored fat quarters from JoAnn. (I got a great deal on them too, because they were packaged together and I had a 50% off coupon!) I suppose I’ll have to come up with another idea for those. Or I could just keep looking at them in the cute little tin they came in. C’mon, I know I’m not the only one who does that. Pet the stash. Love the stash. Never EVER use anything from the stash. Ok, really, I’ve been working on that last one, and I have actually been using stuff I bought ages ago in NEW projects. Gasp!
For you Austinites who haven’t been to the Honey Bee Quilt Store, buzz your butts over there and check it out! I could spend all day just browsing in there. And it’s one place Alexis actually likes to go. They have a really neat little toy corner that keeps her entertained long past when I’m ready to leave.
Jan
9
Monday I got 2 lbs of dried flower buds in the mail. TWO POUNDS. Do you have any idea how many flowers that is? Or how much volume it takes up? OK, not as much as I expected when I ordered them, but still, about 2 shoe-boxes.
I immediately whipped up these little sachets. Lavender. YUM. I also got Chamomile, another favorite, but doesn’t come close to my love affair with lavender. I suppose I’m going to have to come up with a lot more ideas for dried flowers.
Speaking of ideas, I got the best idea for storing all my knit picks needles – and yes, I just took the plunge and ordered some of the interchangeable circulars. I really dislike their cases though, and I have come up with what I think is going to be a great solution. I’ll show it to you when I’m done. (I know, I know, I’ve been promising the same thing about the sewing room for months now! Someday it will be either clean enough to show you, or I just won’t care that day).
And I got my new yarn for someone’s birthday present. I should take pictures, but that would ruin the surprise. I mean she already KNOWS I am making them, I’m not giving away the entire picture before I gift them. It’s not bad as far as cotton blends go. In fact, it really doesn’t have too much of that sticky cotton feel at all. I might’ve had to trash it if it did. Cuz knitting with that kind of yarn is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.
I also figured out how to wind centerpull balls. Do I need to get a winder? Is it better than using your fingers? I know my thumb starts to go numb after a while, but no pain, no gain, right? At any rate, centerpull balls is SO much better than using balls or knitting straight from the skein. For one thing, they stay put. Um, well that’s pretty much the only advantage.
So, as usual, I’m way too busy. So busy that I’d like to just crawl back into bed. But I can’t, because I have to go to the dentist now.