Friday Finish: Studio Redo

I've wanted to show pictures of my studio as a Friday Finish ever since I moved my space upstairs, but before I could take decent pictures, it would either get messy again or I would rearrange it.  I'm constantly repositioning my sewing table, ironing board and cutting table.  I think I finally have it where I like and now our house is on the market ;-)  My studio is as picked up as it's ever going to be, so let's take a look:

planning area

to-dos and inspiration board

Right outside my room is an alcove with a desk, shelves, bulletin board and an extra design wall.  This is where I sit when participating in online guild meetings which happen about once a month.  There's also room for a laptop, printer and quilting books.

Design wall

Usually the latest quilt project(s) is on this design wall as it is easier to stand in front to rearrange blocks and then step back to get a better look.  The design wall has been taken down temporarily so as not to overwhelm prospective buyers....ha!

the left side of the room

When you walk in my studio, my sewing machine in on the left as well as another design wall and a bookcase.

my Juki, Janome, and Featherweight

There are also some lovely handmade gifts from friends all around my sewing space!  More gifts have been added since this picture was taken....I'm still going through my mail and unpacking from retreat.

the right side of the room

On the right when you walk in is my fabric stash, directly in front is my ironing surface and then around the corner is a small closet.  I love looking across my machine and seeing the lovely fabric eye candy and more handmade quilty goodness from friends.

closeup of shelves

Most of my fabric is folded around comic book boards and "filed" on the shelves by color.  Additionally, I have shelves dedicated to precuts, novelty and favorite fabric lines.

Pegboard

My pegboard above my ironing surface is a favorite feature of my studio.  There's a container to hold my Flatter spray, various size baskets for notions and patterns, a magnetic board, and pegs for rotary cutters, scissors, rulers and small artwork.

small area for displaying notions

Under the ironing surface is more storage.  I also have a foldout cutting table that I rarely use.  Now that my fabric is on mini bolts, I find I can cut yardage on a smaller cutting mat right on my ironing board.

one of several turquoise rolling carts

Several aqua Ikea rolling carts hold WIPs...the idea being each bin holds a different project.  If that were the case, I would need twice as many carts!

beautiful minis gifted to me (other than the far left)

Above and below are updated pictures of my mini quilts after rearranging to accommodate my sister's latest gift!

wall hanging made by Michelle - pattern from book Paper Pieced Modern

Now that summer is almost over and school is about to start, I am spending more time in my sewing space, and I love that!  The hard part is keeping my area clean while creating....I'm a messy quilter!

currently on my design wall - two different MCM Bee quilts in progress

I'm linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.  I like seeing where others create so I hope you don't mind me sharing my little creative area.  Thanks for stopping by,

Welcome to My Lab

A laboratory is a place where experiments and testing are done. (noun)

My oldest can be credited with dubbing my sewing room "The Lab".  The name is rather appropriate as my design wall can attest!  The results of quite a few experiments and testing (still in progress of course) are displayed.  If you look carefully, you will see my first experiment with Dear Jane, two OMQG BOMs which were successfully tested, two or three Priority: Alzheimer Quilts still in the research stage, a failed scrappy Dresden experiment, along with my Peace, Love and Happiness and Cowboy and Cowgirl quilt blocks being assembled.  

  As I spent some time cleaning my Lab this weekend I thought I'd share a few photos.  (Next week I get my camera back and I can't wait.)  Sometimes I feel like the arrangement of my Lab itself is an experiment.  The furniture placement and room layout is constantly being tested ;-) 

I read a great article (there's that research coming in again....ha) that a creative space needs to generate energy.  This article explained several techniques of quilt studio arrangement and how these can impact inspiration.  I utilized some of these suggestions such as placing my Juki in the center of the room facing the door and my design wall.  

My fabric is stored in open shelving units visible as you first walk in the door as also suggested in this article.  However, I am not patient enough to fold my fabric neatly as suggested.  This is as neat as it gets folks!

Can you tell there is another design wall rolled up above the larger design wall?  I found the idea on another blog, but I can't find the link.  I use this smaller design wall for blocks that I am making using the Leader Ender method and in no hurry to finish.  There are about 7 or 8 36-patch blocks and 6 postage stamp blocks rolled up there.  When I want to use that design wall, I can just untie the ribbons, and it drapes over the main one.

This quilt top was draped over my chair getting wrinkled....now it hangs here waiting for its turn to be quilted.   I took the curtains down a long time ago but kept the hardware.  Now it is serving a purpose.

   This basted quilt top is also waiting its turn to be quilted and keeping the coin quilt company.  I can push each one to either side of the window to let in the sunshine.  

This is the next area ready for a makeover.  

My featherweight and laptop rest on temporary tables at the moment.  

Hope you enjoyed this tour of my Lab!  

I am constantly rearranging .... who knows what it will look like on your next visit ;-)

Just in case you were wondering....there is no animal testing done in this lab ;-)

Happy experimenting stitching!

Switcheroo

Remember when I made my new ironing station....I was so proud of my mad handyman skills....I couldn't wait to use my staple gun again...

Thanks to an extra board and unwanted home decor fabric from my friend Heather, I made a desk for my daughter have a different ironing board!

The photo was taken with my cell phone (as you can tell my SLR is on the board) and doesn't do justice to my favorite blue color coordinated with striped fabric.  

I absolutely love having the extra work/ironing space and thought of making a desk for my daughter's room with the second board, but once I saw the blue I realized this would work better in my studio....it matches my new mini quilt!

So now, the Amy-Butler-fabric-covered table is in my daughter's room and will be made into a desk.  We picked out a pair of storage units from IKEA to serve as the base...still waiting on those...out of stock....in the meantime two barstools are doing the job.

In keeping with the Amy Butler theme, I quilted this orphan spiderweb block that had been hanging out on my design wall to go in my daughter's room as well.

I have quite a few Amy Butler orphan blocks, and I think I'll make one of these memo boards.

I love this backing fabric.  As you can see, I just zigzag stitched around the edges rather than use binding.

I also moved into my daughter's room two other mini quilts that were in my studio.

This was my daughter's first trip to IKEA, and she was overwhelmed (in a good way)!  We had lunch in the cafeteria before shopping to plan our strategy, and this was the first thing we saw as we walked into the showroom!  How cool is this sewing area?!

Ally wanted her picture taken in several of her "favorite" rooms.  We ended up with quite a few accessories (and more than a few ideas) including this pink chair (that I put together all by myself).

Just like all my other projects....this one is a WIP!

New Stuff

Take a look at my new ironing station!

The idea came from here and during my virtual retreat time yesterday I took a break from sewing and made my own!  Covering the board was surprisingly quick and easy.  

I.do.NOT.like.guns...but I have to say I was having a good time with my newly acquired staple gun ;-)  This project also gave me a use for the Amy Butler home decor fabric I accidentally purchased a long time ago.  I love this Paradise Garden fabric but mistakenly ordered the heavier weight.  Now it brightens up my studio!

This project also provided a use for one of my way too many  Longaberger baskets holding my Best Press, scissors and other important odds and ends.  The shelves hold my WIPs in a highly visible place so I can be reminded to pick up the pace ;-)

I am very proud of this new gadget...isn't it pretty?

Can you guess what it is?

Why yes...a beautifully sophisticated, handmade un-sewing tool!  Thanks to Cindy for alerting me to these cool seam rippers made by Amy's husband.

You know how one thing leads to another, right?  Well, while investigating the seam rippers, I discovered Amy's blog (really don't know how I missed it) which led me to order this book after seeing the wonderful blocks she made.  I love my enabling friends!!!

My two days of virtual retreating didn't go as planned, but I managed to get started on this mini quilt.  My car wasn't cooperating and required a visit to the dealer (which ended up taking the entire day) so not much sewing got done on day one.  However, I did take advantage of some down time in the waiting room for exploring Pinterest and found some funny word-themed pins such as  this one that might make a funny birthday card, this sisters sign and even a Hogwarts saying.

While my studio is getting a makeover, so is my front yard.  This mess greeted my daughter after school yesterday!

What new stuff are you sharing?

Have an amazing day!!!

Once Again

Yesterday I had several free hours to spend in my sewing room...and what did I do?

Rearranged it....AGAIN!  Working on my son's SuperStar quilt made me realize how much I missed having a design wall.  After measuring certain spaces and furniture, I decided to move this bookcase into the closet and hang a large piece of batting (over the smaller portable design wall) on the now empty area for a makeshift, but larger, design wall.

I need to take a better picture when the area is a bit more picked up, but this gives you an idea of the new look ;-)  I quickly put some WIPs on the wall...my liberated coin quilt waiting for inspiration to strike for background fabric...several Dear Jane blocks made before I decided to go with Kaffe all the way...one spiderweb block made for guild demo...fun house block from Beth patiently wondering when it will play with other blocks...and 36-patch blocks in two different sizes for two different quilts.

My latest 36-patch block...it's rather busy....but I like it! 

 

Need to get cranking on these...have only made three so far...but pulled out more fabric when I was rearranging the studio yesterday.

Does anyone else out there like to rearrange furniture?  My sister and I used to joke with our Mom that every time we came home from college she had rearranged the living room furniture...guess it's a genetic thing!  I've noticed that I seem to make more family references now that my sister is blogging...can't help myself....hope you don't mind ;-)

Have an amazing day!!!!

Changes

There are a lot of changes being made around here.

The calendar has changed....from February to March.  Can you believe it?

This 100 Quilt has changed to...

....this 

....this and 

....this.  Basically, I chopped it up.  There was too much open space.  The charity quilt now is more of a manageable size with cute Amy Butler or Heather Bailey backing (I can't remember which).  The change allows for an AAQI size mini quilt with some leftovers to play with.

My URL address has changed from renecreates.blogspot.com to www.renecreates.com, 

and pretty soon my physical address will be changing too.

We are only moving across town, and I am dreading the organizing to get the house ready for sale, packing, moving and then unpacking.  This is going to seriously cut into my sewing time!!!!

I'm going to miss my office studio that is just about the way I want it.

I'm going to miss my little duckies.  Do you think they will follow us?

The good news is that the house we are looking to buy will give me an office AND a studio!

Have an amazing day!!!