Best Valentine's Present....EVER!

Hi Friends!  I hope everyone is having a fantastic week.  I just wanted to pop in, as Thomas and I were hard at work last night finishing up my new (and very large!) design wall!  I had mentioned that I wanted to build one, and Thomas made me one for Valentine's Day.  He is great, isn't he?  :)

The design wall measures approximately 6' x 6', is made with foam insulation, and attached to a wood frame.  Thanks to the design wall, I no longer have to lay out my quilts on the floor and subsequently block the sewing room off from the dogs with a baby gate (why is is that they always want to lay on whatever I'm working on!?!).

You may notice as well, that I've rearranged the sewing room a bit.  I moved some of the larger furniture out to accommodate the design wall, that and the small room was feeling way to claustrophobic!  One day when I'm not creating, and my studio is clean, I'll post a photo of the new layout for your viewing pleasure!  :) 

Fabric Organization...

I don't know how it happened, but I have officially become a fabric hoarder.  I have such hard time passing up a beautiful piece of fabric, and after I bring it home it seems as though I can never justify using the beautiful piece of fabric because then it would be GONE.  Its really an evil cycle as my fabric armoire ends up looking like this...

 

Please tell me that I'm not the only one that hoards fabric...its just what happens when you love to sew, right!?!    Okay, enough about hoarding, as I don't want to end up on TLC's hoarding documentaries any time soon!  :)

If you're willing to share, how do you store your fabric?  I've been thinking about purchasing some of these fabric organizers.  Does anyone use them?  Have they proved to be a good investment?

Sunday Snapshots!

We had a couple of canine visitors (my sister's pups) over the weekend, and let me tell you, out of all of the rooms in the house, the sewing studio was THE place to be.  My Momma and I started the trend by spending the afternoon sewing.  She worked on a cute clutch (photos and pattern review to follow later this week), and I was busy sewing up a couple of Diaper Pods.

Rocky, Stuart, and Maggie...it looks like we were conducting a doggie lineup (in the smallest room in the house!!!)!  

Oh, and just in case you noticed the Raggedy Ann and Andy towel in the background...that's what I use for my wet towel when adhering fusible interfacing.  :)

While the lineup was in progress, sweet Miss Sophie decided that she'd rather snuggle with my sewing chair.

 

The gang watching my Momma work.  :)

Quilt Market- Sewing Studio Furniture!

If you're looking for the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day post...click here (note- giveaway closes tonight!). 

If you've been following my blog for sometime, you know that I've always dreamed of an awesome sewing studio!  I started sewing on my kitchen table, and then moved onto a folding banquet table- ugh!  :)  I've had my eye on the Olivia sewing desk from Arrow Sewing Cabinets for quite sometime, but never made the purchase...that is until I spotted their booth at Quilt Market!

Olivia Sewing Desk in Pistachio

Pixie Cutting Table in Pistachio

Sweet Jo, from Arrow Sewing Cabinets, who was EVER so patient with me, as I tend to be indecisive!  :)

I'm ecstatic to report that six (6!) boxes of sewing furniture arrived on Tuesday.  I may or may not have jumped up to look at the window every time I heard a large truck drive by!  After waiting {patiently} all day, Mr. FedEx arrived at 5:20 PM!  Long story short, my Momma and I started to put the Pixie Cutting Table together, but jumped at the chance of having a family friend, Carlos, assist with the construction.  Carlos came over this morning and assembled everything for me.  I have to say I am SO grateful for such sweet friends, I am truly blessed!  :)

Okay, now on to the photos (since I know that's why you're really here!).  ;)

My new sewing desk!  I also ordered an acrylic insert for the desk so that I have an even sewing desk (I hope that makes sense!).  I used to sew with my back to the window, but was tired of not being able to see because of the shadows, etc.

My new Pixie Cutting Table.
It looks a bit lonely in the corner...I might have to go shopping for some wall art!  :) 

I moved the white cubby storage unit to the wall where my sewing machine had been.  Oh, and that collection of Thread Catchers will be headed to the local quilt shop next week.  :)

For those that are wondering, I still have the sewing desk that my grandma gave to me.  I haven't yet refinished the desk, although my Dad and I stripped a bit of the finish.  I'm not sure when, but one day the sewing desk that my grandpa bought for my grandma will be in my sewing studio, as I'd love to use it for my serger.  :)

Sewing Studio Armoire- Complete!

Remember, oh five weeks or so ago, when I revealed my plans to paint the armoire I bought off of Craigslist? Well I'm here to announce that the armoire transformation is complete- woo hoo!

A before shot of the bargain armoire (sans the drawers, as I had already removed them- oops!).


Drumroll please, as here is the 'tah-dah' shot of the armoire, after it was sanded, painted, left to dry, and then roughed up to achieve the distressed look! The helpful gentleman at Home Depot recommended using a semi-gloss paint, which I did, but in the end I wasn't happy with the sheen, thus the roughed up/distressed look! :)


I searched high and low for the perfect (affordable) knobs, and purchased them at World Market for $5 a piece and used a $10 off of $30 coupon, so they ended up being a sweet deal! :)


I have plenty of room inside of the armoire to store my yards of fabric! Each individual bin holds a particular yardage of fabric, and within the bin the fabric is organized my designer/manufacturer.


The drawers neatly hold all of my scraps, zippers, and accessories. The scraps are organized by color, which makes it easy when I'm looking for something in particular! :)

My New Sewing Desk!

Remember when I mentioned in this post that I was going to have a sewing desk built for my sewing studio? Unfortunately the gentleman that I was going to commission to build the desk has a year's waiting list, and let me tell you patience is not one of my strengths! I asked family and friends for any recommendations for carpenters and after getting back some of the price quotes, thankfully I was sitting down, I had it in my head that I could build my own sewing desk (you know because I DID take woodworking in 7th grade!). ;)

My Grandma M. got word of my dilemma and called the house asking if I was interested in her sewing desk.

I of course jumped at the chance, and am so very honored to have her sewing desk as I know she's spent so much time at the desk over the years. She also mentioned that my Grandpa had bought her the desk which makes it even more special in my eyes!

The desk is in need of a quick wipe down and either some paint or another coat of varnish. I'm not quite sure that my sewing machine will fit into the desk's opening (I haven't had the energy to lug my machine downstairs and into the garage yet!), but if not I'm sure I can find someone to help me find a solution.


While I have your attention, make sure to check out The Quilted Fish's blog tomorrow as KarriLyne of the Freckled Whimsy is posting the first tutorial as a Creative Consultant. So exciting! Every Friday there will be a new tutorial, for a different contributor, so make sure to mark your calendars! :)

View From My Window

I hate to iron clothes, and have to say that I'm not 100% fond of ironing quilting fabric, but all is tolerable with this view from the ironing board in my Sewing Studio! :)


January 2011 has probably been the best January (speaking in terms of weather) that I can remember! December was rainy, which wasn't pleasant, yet it made the view from my Sewing Studio that much better as the hills are green! It might be hard to decipher in this photo, but there are a handful of horses grazing on the hillside.

A Work In Progress!

I've always dreamed of having a sewing studio of my own! One that inspires me to create, where I'm surrounded by beautiful fabric, and where my sewing machine is a permanent fixture! Slowly but surely my dream of having a studio is coming together (the photos below are proof!). :)

I can't believe that I'm actually publishing some of these photos, but here we go! :) I used to store my fabric in a single plastic tote, but when my collection grew too much to fit in the tote, it was stored on the carpet (so embarrassing!).


Needless to say my lack of concealed fabric storage really spearheaded my need to organize my sewing room! After plenty of folding and sorting my fabric stash transformed into neat little piles. :)


I picked up this armoire last week and have big plans for it, as I purchased black paint today and hope to get it painted within the next couple of days- woo hoo! I've also been looking for new knobs and I totally fell in love with these, but the cost of 8 knobs totals more than the cost of the armoire, which means I need to think long and hard about that possible purchase!


Last but not least, my parents purchased this darling sewing chair for my new sewing studio (thanks again Mom and Dad!). I'm working on getting a sewing desk built to complete my sewing studio, and hope to paint it a fun turquoise (which will match the chair!).


I'll make sure to post photos of my completed space, in hopes of redeeming myself after admitting to the fact that I used to store fabric on the floor- yikes! :)