Tuesday, November 22, 2011

WIP Wednesday

When you have lots of projects on your "to do" list, what do you  end up doing? Sometimes I actually work on the list. Sometimes I become like a procrastinator on steroids and do anything but what is on my list. That is kinda what happened this weekend. Instead of sewing, I rearranged my sewing room. I'm counting this as this week's Work in Progress. Because it is sewing related. And it is still in progress. And sewing, lots of sewing, will be taking place. With the holidays just around the corner, I can't procrastinate too much longer!

Here is a series of before and after pictures.

Before:
This isn't a bad arrangement except I have no place for a large enough design wall. I had framed a piece of batting (on the left side of the window) but it was way too small. So then I ended up hanging two design walls from cup hooks, one on top of the other, covering the very pretty armoire.
 
 After:
We moved the theater chairs from one side of the room to the other.
Before: See the little design wall? Those are just 8 inch blocks. Too small...
After: The picture of the little Amish girl with the quilt is one of my favorites.

Before: Theater seats and a shelving unit against the only nice-sized wall in the room.

After:
Fabulous! Instead of two design walls, one on top of the other, I have them side by side. Lots of really nice design room.
Before:
After:
We moved the shelving unit that was next to the French door (actually behind the door because I always keep it open) to this side of the room. It's a little crowded. But now I can open the French door all the way, even though it covers up the design wall just a bit. That's okay. Even though it is a glass door, I spend so much time at my computer in my office(the adjoining room) and I feel claustrophobic when the door is closed. Weird...
Bonus: This stayed the same except for the addition of Felicity's fabulous quilt--with a peek into my office where I do all my medical transcription. You can see the door is open. Yes. Because, like I said, that clear glass makes me claustrophobic. It might as well be a solid wooden door. Such is the state of my mind sometimes...
I still have some organizing to do but rearranging solved a couple of problems. The first, of course, is that I have more design space. The second was that we moved the sewing tables over more toward the design wall side of the room. Last year when Mark installed the flourescent lighting over the sewing/cutting, it was great to have more light, but it caused a huge amount of unanticipated glare that was really bothersome when I tried cutting anything. By moving the sewing/cutting tables over about 1 1/2 feet, it solved the glare problem. Plenty of light, but because it isn't directly over the cutting table, there is no glare.

The bottom line: this is the only sewing I really got done this week, a measly half a block.

And these two Farmer's Wife blocks:
They are stacking up nicely:
Oh, and another problem solved: I have an "issue" with rulers because I am in constant search for the perfect ruler, in other words, a replacement for my beloved, but nearly worn out, 7x19 inch ruler. I had a couple of Creative Grids rulers that I kind of liked but they were both 24 inches, way too unwieldly for me. First I thought Mark, being quite handy and also the owner of some nice saws, could saw off the ends of each of them to make them 19 inches. But then he said he would just drop them off at the local plastics company and have it professionally done.

*sigh* I love having a husband with so much common sense and good ideas.

So a whopping $4.00 later, voila! Two nearly ideal rulers, 6 1/2 x 19 inches, and 8 1/2 x 19 inches.
They even made the leftover ends nice and smooth so I have usable smaller rulers as well.


Now if you go to Lee's, I'm pretty sure you will find lots of links with actual sewing...

23 comments:

05 08
Mrs Flying Blind... said... #

What a great sewing space - sooooo jealous x

Wee Little Birds said... #

You might not have done a lot of sewing but you have sure worked hard

Mary said... #

Oh Cindy! YOu have a great sewing space!

verykerryberry said... #

Such lovely furniture- the theatre chairs are fab! And the space, lots of it! Worth the procrastination to get the workspace figured out!

Elizabeth Dackson said... #

Wow, your sewing room is so cool! Those theater chairs are really neat! I totally count a sewing room reorg as some serious progress, even if it wasn't on your list :)

M-R Charbonneau said... #

Thanks for sharing your sewing space, Cindy. Great ideas!

Katy Cameron said... #

Love the look of your sewing space, want to share? ;o) I'm dying to tackle my sewing space (aka the living room) but I have consoled myself that if I can wait till New Year, I can really have a good go at it without pressures of delivering anything, whereas I've got rather a long list for the next few weekends, both sewing and non-sewing related!

Dollwood Farms said... #

Lovely space. I especially love the wood and glass cabinet for the fabrics! What would you call that ind of cabinet?

Needled Mom said... #

I tend to do the rearranging too when I have lots of sewing to do. I am constantly trying to find room for a design wall that is a decent size. I tend to end up going to the floor. Sigh! Your refuge looks like such a great place to create.

Your blocks look fabulous stacked up like that. You really have a lot done already.

Becky (My Fabric Obsession) said... #

Your sewing space looks fantastic! you did a great job!

Terriaw said... #

How fun to rearrange your work space! Looks like a lot of work, but if it helps you be creative, stay organized, and be inspired, then it's worth all the time and effort. You have been sewing a lot lately - look at those lovely blocks!

Archie The Wonder Dog said... #

I love your sewing room!!

Heather D. said... #

Love your sewing space, it's just amazing!

Poppyprint said... #

Great re-do's in your studio space!!

CitricSugar said... #

That Mark - what a gem!

Happy Thanksgiving to you - I will be giving thanks but I still have to go to school tomorrow and educate young people - lucky for me that's like a holiday. ;-)

Amy E. said... #

i'm jealous of all your rulers. and that lovely antique-looking trombone you're using as a quilt rack.

rental mobil said... #

Very nice, thanks for sharing.

FabricDonkey said... #

I love your sewing space. It's gorgeous! Hurray for a usable design wall and awesome rulers.

Rene' said... #

Love your studio pictures! Happy Thanksgiving Cindy!!!!

AccurateCuts.etsy.com said... #

Oh am I ever drooling right now! What a wonderful space to work in. Maybe my new year's 'thing' will be to rework my sewing space a little. I've procrastinated so long that I'm editing plans for Christmas sewing to simplify things.

edeenut said... #

I love that design wall idea. With it hanging from the two little hooks. It's perfect to remove and store out of the way when not in use!

SarahZ said... #

Bravo! Love to see the before and afters!

Mama Pea said... #

I sort of love rearranging and reorganizing my sewing room, too...especially when I have something else I should be doing. I sure love your new design wall space. Someday I'll figure out how to get me one of those!