RETREAT!! (happy dance, happy dance, happy dance!) Why do we have to pack up half of our sewing room and run away from home to enjoy hours of guilt free quilting time?!? (None of the above stuff contains clothes or toiletries...almost forgot to pack them!) I did not take a sewing machine...no room!
Before I left for retreat, I tasked myself with getting my main floor bedroom sewing area organized.
I have no room in my downstairs quilt cave for my quilt books, so I keep them in the bedroom. It is very convenient.
A homemade beautiful doll from Ola and an art glass piece from another dear friend. I also have an embroidery piece from Mary in my downstairs sewing room. Memories of my Michigan home...sigh.
I keep my Featherweight upstairs for mending, whatever THAT is. This is a custom sewing cabinet that Steve's grandfather made...I just LOVE it! It used to hold an old Necci machine.
There is an exercise machine...also known as a clothes tree. I am trying to make myself use it a little when I am sitting for a long period of time. I can't help but see it as I work. Getting on this beast is is the hardest of all the life changes for me...
I have decided to do my doodling, drafting and applique piece-prepping upstairs, along with my stitching. My computer is also in the bedroom.
Look at this lovely framed picture given to me at the recent Huntsville quilt show! It was hanging where my quilt was originally hanging, I think. Then they gave it to me...what a lovely memento!
So, since I was a good girl and got my sewing area organized...I left for retreat! Yahoo! Off to the Red Rooster Inn, just west of Cullman, Alabama.
Sue organized the retreat (below, on the right). Thank you, Sue!
We were a jolly party of fifteen industrious quilters from all over the southeast and Ohio. I slept down this long hall, just past the dining room, and to the left. There were more bedrooms upstairs. I think this place will sleep up to twenty-four with plenty of bathrooms. We were all very cozy and well fed from Wednesday to Sunday.
If I had not been so eager to work, I would have gone around the whole place and counted all the roosters and chickens...pictures, quilts, knick knacks, sculptures of various composition, salt and pepper shakers, WOW!
In the following picture, we are just the last few that had a hard time leaving on Sunday morning...
There was a great balcony for show and tell finishes. They eventually stretched across the entire area! I totally missed getting a picture of all of them, together. It was quite impressive. Here are Marge and Kim holding Marge's beautiful completed top.
The place was lovely...I spent almost every morning after breakfast stitching on this elevated porch, rain or shine. Smith Lake is at the bottom of the hill. I spent a lot of time water skiing on that lake when I was in high school, eons ago...
Steve was away near Philadelphia, visiting his dad for a couple of weeks, so it was nice to have somewhere to go myself! I will share what I worked on next post.
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
Yippee, I think I am finally comfortable in the quilt cave! It's all clean, shiny, and ready to drag all kinds of stuff out to play and make a mess! It was a good time for pictures before I destroyed it.
It's still sort of a stained glass studio. My cutting station is over the glass work table, there is glass equipment stuff behind the shelves at the end of the room, and all the larger pieces of glass are in their rolling wooden containers under where I rotary cut.
The wooden door connects my room to the walkout family room, the metal door goes outside.
I have to close the wooden door to get to my "desk" to pick bits for applique or dig through patterns in my filing cabinets. Having the door closed makes it harder to find me, hee hee.
The lighting was designed for doing stained glass, so the room is definitely bright enough. I can open the blinds to a big picture window to let in natural light. That softens things a bit.
I did buy the black plastic shelves from Lowe's, but most of my other fixtures are recycled, reclaimed items I collected when I lived in Michigan.
The four wooden cubby hole structures were found among discarded items on garbage day (three of them cleaned up and cheered with a lick of paint), my chair and filing cabinets were plucked from the U of Michigan Property Disposition Center, my "door desk top" came from a second hand lumber yard, and my colorful, spongy child's mat on the floor under my cutting center came from a garage sale.
I like to sit at the "desk" to sort out the little bits for my applique. I have small containers of little scraps, segregated by color, and containers that hold slightly larger pieces.
This allows me to chose bits for a scrappy applique project without dragging out bigger containers all the time. I keep replenishing the containers as I need from my stash.
Steve mounted a plug strip to the wall and ran the cord over the door so I can use my mini iron (and charge my phone) right where I am working. This is where I press down all those freezer paper patterns.
My Dad put so many plugs in this room when he built the house, but I managed to cover up the ones on this outside wall with my gigantic stack of fixtures, hence the need to have the extension cord snaked over the door.
Those of you that saw my posts about my Michigan quilt cave, or read through the organizational tutorials on my blog tool bar, recognize my fabric containers. I collected all these over about 20 years of using my weekly JoAnn's coupons on plastic storage containers.
This is my cutting area, where I am also currently saving my batting scraps. The wooden strips on the wall are a part of a storage system my Dad made for Mom's glass samples (for reordering.) We took down all the others around the room and forgot these...now we can't reach them!
The glass fits well under the homemade glass work table. The work surface is just the right height for cutting fabric as well as assembling glass.
The cabinets and counter top were second-hand as well. My Dad found them, installed them, and put in a huge, deep sink. That is all the hidden storage I have for other crafts and quilting clutter. Visible storage is clear or opaque so I know where stuff is located.
The TV and blue ray player are a must! There is no cable or network connection in there, but that is fine with me! That means no commercials. I am currently re-watching the 10th season of "The Big Bang Theory" before the new season starts next week.
I decided a long time ago that I was tired of maneuvering heavy plastic tubs of unsorted fabric. That was hard on my back and hands. I could never find what I was looking for. It made me very cranky and wasted so much of my quilting time. That is why I use multiple smaller containers...better on my back and hands, and I can find EVERYTHING!
It makes it look like I have more fabric than I do, but I like that the containers aren't so packed and crammed. I can fondle the folded fabric with ease.
Of course, a large 3-person "quilter's garage sale" and moving out-of-state after 20 years culls the stash nicely. I don't miss anything I got rid of, and I made lots of other quilters very happy.
I encourage everyone to realistically look at their stash and give away, donate, or throw away stuff you will never use. It is very freeing (and then there is room for new purchases).
Everything has to have a place, or things will be perpetually cluttered. I like to pull out stuff for a project so that it looks like a tornado blew through, then clean up and put things away before I move on to the next thing.
I am totally OCD!
Steve installed the nice blinds...the sun really intrudes late in the afternoon.
My sewing table is another fixture my dad built for stained glass work...it is so solid!
Flexible labeling is key and helps me target the correct container right from the start. After new fabric is washed and folded, it is filed.
I would love to have this huge sink ANYWHERE but in this room. It is taking up precious counter space and there is a sink, in the bar area, in the next room if needed. I have been storing things in it (the water line is turned off).
Steve cut me a sturdy scrap of plywood to cover it up, temporarily. I painted it with the paint I had left over from painting our exterior front door in Michigan, so it is a nice reminder...and it sort of matches the room. Sigh.
I can't quite get everything in the room. There is a utility/mechanical closet not far from my door where I store things I don't access every day. It's kind of rough, but it reminds me of my unfinished basement quilt cave in Michigan. Again, sigh.
I also store hand quilting hoops, hand quilting poles, backings, and newspaper print in here. There is a chair in here...and a door. I can hide in here as well, hee hee.
There used to be a huge mountain of quilty stuff that needed to be put away right outside the door of my quilting space. Now there is only a table and a few stray things. I hope to sort all that out this weekend, put the table away, and put my design wall up, neatly, over that window...for now. I don't know where else to put it.
Then I can stop using the top of the pool table for my design surface...
I always dreamed of having one of those huge, fancy quilt areas that you see in the quilt magazines from time to time. I don't think that is going to be possible...I am here for the duration. I am so very thankful for the space I have and it has been fun to make it happen in my parents' house as frugally as possible. It is not fancy or brand new, but it is functional. I think I can be happy in there.
Oh, and I put a FABULOUS reed diffuser in there...so it no longer smells like a workshop.
AND, I have 2 of 4 outer borders on my Little Treasures top...including all those circles...
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
I have spent the past two weeks really working hard to transform my step-Mom's stained glass shop into a combination glass shop and quilt cave (that is why I have not posted...). As you all know, my family moved from Michigan to Alabama late last summer to be caretakers for my parents' house and property after their fatal car accident of May 2014. I co-own the house and acres with my six siblings.
Mom's shop was a dedicated work area exclusively set up for her beautiful stained glass windows and for storage of her glass collection. My dad had been making fixtures for her...a 4 ft x 4 ft light table, a 39 x 99 work table, a table fitted with her lead came stretcher, and a table mounted with her curve cut glass cutter. Dad had also built large rolling storage bins for her big pieces of glass and mounted racks on the wall for her glass ordering samples.
They had adapted a recycled piece of kitchen base cabinet with a sink for washing glass. Dad had paneled the room with good quality plywood and finished it with a light stain and varnish. There is a beautiful large window with plenty of natural light and a scenic view out one end of the house.
The whole move-in process has been hard and sad as I have methodically worked through the house the last six months. I knew their shops would be sadder still, both with unfinished projects laid out on tables and equipment (my Dad had a wood shop). I keep thinking about what it would be like in my quilt cave if something tragic and unexpected were to happen to me, God forbid. There are UFO's everywhere and so much of my spirit and personality are represented there.
Some day I would like to learn enough about stained glass to finish the projects that Mom had started...there were windows for the house and a couple of projects for my sisters.
So I knew I couldn't just remove all the glass stuff from the room. I needed to find a way for the glass and fabric to co-exist. This worried me because I pretty much had the run of the basement in the Michigan house (there are pictures of that set up in the tool bar under my blog header...no judging). I did cull the stash pretty seriously before our big pre-move quilter's garage sale in Michigan, but I did wonder just how much treasure I could get into this new room and keep the glass in place. I hate working in a cramped and cluttered environment.
It helps that I am also establishing a sewing area in our bedroom upstairs as well, but more on that later.
I started by removing most of the sample rails from the walls and storing the little glass swatches carefully in a box (there were strips of white poster board behind the samples to show off the colors properly). And there was quite a bit of glass grit to vacuum up and extra debris and unused fixtures to remove. There were even packing crates with new glass that she had not even had the chance to unbox and put away. God, that made me so sad...
Well, there is definitely tweaking left to do, but here is my progress thus far...ta da!!
We placed the heavy work table and light table against the inside wall. I put the curve cutter away and am using that heavy table for my sewing machine and storage for six big bins of fabric. We moved this table, built by my dad, under the window so I can enjoy the view and the occasional deer wandering by (I need to hang a curtain or blinds to help with the late afternoon sun...and remove the sheets of porch lattice that are leaning up against he house, LOL...).
I have some of my UFO project boxes in the corner, along with half of my little draw units containing tiny tools, etc. I stacked two of those drawer units by the window and brought the other two upstairs to our bedroom. It was complicated trying to segregate all the little drawers between floors...what would I use downstairs and what would I need upstairs...I'm still not sure I have that all figured out!
I moved two of my filing cabinets from Michigan and my old door (that I have had since college!) to put between them. Then I have my larger plastic drawers for storage of tools, etc. against the wall, on top. And of course, more storage bins of fabric underneath.
I find myself still moving all this stuff around, so I'm sure I will tweak this area more. It is a work in progress. It took 20 years to get my quilt cave to the state it was before moving...
I moved two little carpets from Michigan and now I need to go to Lowe's and get one or two more. The concrete floor is hard and cold! If it was just a quilty area, I would install nice carpeting. That is not practical when I will probably do glass in here at some point.
Some day, this may just be a glass shop again and I will adapt another space in this huge house for my sewing area. I still pin pictures in my Pinterest account of lovely sewing spaces and dreamy sewing areas. One step at a time. This may not be very pretty or fancy, but by using fixtures and storage things I already had, I spent no money on setting things up (except for the little carpets I will buy).
The black plastic shelves by the door to the rest of the walk-out basement hold more project boxes and small containers of fabric and scraps.
I like labeling my fabric containers, which are all opaque or see-through, with index cards placed INSIDE the container. That way, I don't have to use sticky labels or tape and can change the labeling and contents very easily.
I do use my label maker to label drawers and hanging file labels, but I am obsessed with the label makers and the labeling tape peels off the plastic drawers fairly easily when I change things on a whim.
With drafting original applique patterns, I'm sure I will use Dad's homemade light table as a light table at some point, but with a cutting mat or so to protect the heavy glass top, I can also use it as a work surface until needed for it's real purpose.
The working surface on the big project table is recessed by a quarter inch, so we have cut plywood pieces that span the top to enclose the large transom window that is in progress. Some day I will work to finish that window, but it will be safe, protected and out of sight until I can face it. I have placed two cutting mats on top of the plywood and will use this taller table as my rotary cutting station.
The large glass rolling storage bins are still housed under the table.
I am using Mom's little colorful foam squares on the floor between the carpet and the table to save my joints.
There is a large wooden crate of glass in the corner, to the left, out of the way.
There are more black plastic shelves of fabric containers against the outer wall...
...and more shelves hiding the skinny table mounted with the lead came stretcher (this long, skinny table also holds drawers and shelves of glass tools. lead came, soldering supplies, and small glass storage...when I want to do glass, I will just move these two shelves 90 degrees, up against the other shelves, so I can access what I need).
I have cleaned up the kitchen base cabinet for storage. I am not sure I will use the sink...right now the water is turned off to it. I may get Steve to cut me a piece of plywood to fit around the faucet so I have more work surface. I also need to hang a small quilt on the wall above the sink!
And here is the view toward the back of the house...the door to the rest of the downstairs (great room, bedrooms, bathroom, and wood shop on the opposite end) is on the left, and the door to the outside is as seen.
GEEZ, there are a lot of UFO's in this room! No judging...
Now, don't hate me...this is what is through the heavy outside door...a back patio under the wrap-around upper porch, leading to the pool and the woods, and beyond the tree line, the 30-foot drop-off into the valley. There was a chilly rain on the pool cover today...definitely NOT swimming weather.
And slightly to the right up the hill, the barn...
...and out the end of the house (what I can see out of the window)...we are deeply fortunate to live in this magical place that my parents built with their bare hands. :o)
I don't know what to call this quilt space now, especially since it is locaed in a walk-out basement. In Michigan, "quilt cave" fit because I was, indeed, subterranean, underground. In Michigan, there was a sump pump and a hole in the floor in the corner and roly-polies/spiders everywhere. Oh, and the laundry...calling my name...
I need a new name for the space now...any ideas?
This is the view, through the door from the patio, back into the quilt cave.
I still have some more things to fit into the room in places. Maybe then it will feel more like home. It's too new and too shocking...and too clean, LOL!
And too disjointed. Some things are upstairs...like my entire quilt book library, Grandmother Rawson's sewing table, my Singer Featherweight (for mindless chain-piecing and mending when my husband is whining about me not being upstairs...), my computer and scanners, and all my drafting/drawing/applique/mending stuff.
Right now, beading, buttons and general crafting stuff are downstairs in the quilt cave. Scrapbooking and photos/archiving are upstairs. More big bins of fabric will be in another storage area downstairs (backings, etc.)...things that don't fit into the cave. Maybe some day I will get everything where it is supposed to be...and actually know where it is!
I will still store patterns and other paper media (8.5 x 11) downstairs in the filing cabinets in the cave. I love office supplies...can you tell? Sheet pocket protectors, hanging files, and proper labeling make me very happy. As Ola always tells me, I am a complete whack job...and she is right!
And my design wall has no home yet. Stay tuned!
I'm sorry this post was so long! There are still quilty things in the great room downstairs which need to be sorted out and stored...my 3rd sewing machine, my patterns awaiting shipment, tubs of quilt backings, etc. But it is definitely better...last week it looked like a quilt store exploded down there. I still remember what a quilt store looks like...
Now I need to finish setting up the bedroom sewing station...and the large flatbed scanner next to my computer, which I need to make my music patterns available for digital download. I have found the missing musical pattern masters, which was worrying me to no end!
Have you ever put something really important somewhere for "safe keeping," only to totally forget WHERE?!? Moving cross-country is so disruptive!
I have finally gotten the most important elements in place...somewhere to sew and to receive my fabric therapy, which I have missed desperately. I am a much more centered person when surrounded by 100% cotton.
When I am losing it, I just run downstairs, open a fabric bin and breathe deeply! Now if I could just transport all my quilting friends down here...I miss them so much!!
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
