my sewing room

I wish I could make the move to speak of myself quasi-professionally as a quilter and call this my studio, but that's a leap I haven't quite made yet.  Still, welcome in and let me show you around the place a little bit!

This is my sewing area.  On the left is Baron von Quilthausen, my Bernina 930.  On the right, Old Sally, a Singer who was born on April 23, 1930 and is still going strong.  She just got a new power cord and a cleaning, and she does the most perfect stitches, even though doesn't zigzag, backstitch or even adjust for length.

This is my cutting area.  I did NOT do any dressing  or cleaning up of my space for these photos.  On the far left you can see my whiteboard with my perpetual list of projects.  On the right is a basket I generally use for WIPs to move to the cutting table, but my Honey piled in a few quilts that were laying around the house since our guild show in March.  Behind it is a folding table that I set up when I'm doing some serious cutting in front of the TV.

This is my pressing area.  Last night I washed all my new fabrics and they were out of the dryer waiting to be ironed.  Pre-washing fabric is a habit I've gotten out of since I've been using so many pre-cuts, but when I buy cheaper cottons like from Jo-Ann's, I'll be sure to do it.  I love the fireplace off to the left and it's a goal of mine to get a gas log installed and running, because soot in my sewing room is very unwelcome!

Here is a shot of my main sewing cabinet, open.  There are four large plastic bin drawers full of fabric that slide out, a clear tray above that, and two shelves with various forms of storage as well as open place to store batting and so on.  This is an Ikea wardrobe which I designed to meet my specifications.

Here is the rest of my organized area.  The other door reveals a few wire bins at the bottom and lots of containers that hold primarily the kids' crafting supplies.  On the right is my bookcase and more Ikea storage solutions - the pretty Lingo cardboard boxes.  Everything is labeled - I like using the Post-It tape because it peels off so easily.  However, it tends to peel off too easily from plastic and is better at sticking to the paper boxes well, which is good because the projects in those change relatively often.

Are you tired yet?  I am!

I'll relax here in the La-Z-Boy and flip through a book for some inspiration, or do some handwork in front of the TV.  If it's nice out, I'll open the back door there and enjoy the porch swing under the back deck.  The powder room is right there too so I don't need to leave the room until I'm hungry.

If my honey is on the road, odds are that this is where I'll be spending my time.  The dog sometimes comes to hang out with me, but I haven't gotten him quite comfortable in the room yet - he likes to be monitoring the house from the upstairs, I think.  I really have great lighting and space, and there's enough room for the kids to play without messing up my area, so it works out well.  I'm so lucky to be able to have this area; it's my largest sewing room yet.

I was looking forward to spending a chunk of my evening there tonight too, but I seem to have a head cold I can't shake, and I may call it a day early to go home and sleep rather than sew.  That would stink, but there is the weekend ahead to look forward to.