Saturday, October 3, 2009

Welcome to my sewing studio tour!

The funny thing is that when I set up this room five years ago, the quilting bug had barely bitten. I just wanted a room to work on whatever craft was interesting at the moment. The room was needed as a guest room occasionally, so versatility and things-that-can-be-rearranged were important.

After painting the ceiling to cover the footprints of the previous owners’ bunk-bedded twin boys, scraping off the kiddie wallpaper border, and painting the walls a soft sage, it was time to get some furnishings. The futon was one of the first acquisitions. (It’s only full size so it’s really a tad small for two. Oh well!) I heard about various DIY design walls on the Quiltart list, so below is my portable one.
It consists of two 4' X 8' panels of insulation foam, with about a foot cut off the length so they fit easily in the room. They are covered with gray felt from Jo-Ann’s that comes in 6 foot widths. The felt is wrapped around to the back and pinned at an angle towards the outer edges. This is mostly because the pin tips would otherwise stick out the front... not good. The felt has held up well, though the cat has made use of it for unauthorized scratching a few times. Chunks of fabric cling to it beautifully for designing purposes. It’s also handy to hang small supplies on a pin like embroidery floss for certain projects. If necessary, the panels can be easily moved.
When a project is underway, I set up an ironing board with a wide surface on top. It can be adjusted in height for sitting or standing. The wide board is a sheet of homasote covered with ironing board fabric on one side, and flannel on the back. The flannel keeps it from sliding. Homasote seems to be a variable product, because some people say they can stick pins in it easily. Well, not this stuff! But it is a good surface for ironing.
The area shown below is an assembly of flat files, countertop, and wall cabinets. There are actually four flat file units. The lower ones have 5 drawers, then stacked on top are 3-drawer units. I ordered them from a local art supply place. They were only available unfinished, so first they required three coats of clear satin polyurethane. The handles were flimsy plastic, so I ordered unfinished wooden handles from a woodworking supply place, stained and varnished them. (I hate sanding, varnishing, sanding, blah, blah, but love the end result.) The little metal label holders were spray painted a copper color to cover the original shiny brass. The wall cabinets were off-the-rack, already assembled cabinets from Lowe’s. Fortunately their color was close enough to the flat files. I added the knobs.

The countertop was custom made (big box home supply store) to be as long as possible yet still fit in the room. It’s just sitting on top, it’s not screwed down to the flat files. All these pieces could be taken out and the room turned into a plain bedroom in the future, if needed. The bulletin board under the cabinets is made from homasote covered with a thin veneer of cork. Though difficult to push tacks and pins into, it works reasonably well and certainly takes advantage of the space. The little white 3-drawer unit to the right of the sewing machine holds my larger spools of thread. The green pad is for the comfort of my kitty Knickers as she gazes out the window, or more likely, snoozes.
As previously mentioned, I originally didn’t know what was going to go into these flat files. Not surprisingly, they are now jammed with fabric, mostly fat quarters. The nice thing about a flat file drawer is how it can be left open while working. For example, the 4th drawer down has the smaller thread spools, needles, bobbins, etc. in it for easy access while sewing.
These drawers are on the right of the sewing machine. Love to just open them up and look at all the colors and patterns!
Across the room is this bookcase filled with most of my quilting books and mags. In order to fit it there, the bi-fold closet doors were removed and a curtain hung instead. The closet has filing cabinets and shelves full of batting, fabric, etc. The table is covered with fabric for a particular project. Rather than constantly dig through the file drawers, I pulled out all the geometric and small prints and put the fat quarters into photo boxes. The bigger cuts are sort of piling up, but I don’t really need any more fabric, need to just get working(!) Those little nested tables come in handy to move around and pile things on mid-project. Or, if guests are in the room, to put next to the futon.
So there you have it! In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit to moving aside a pile or two of clutter to take these photographs. When I’m in the middle of making something, the room gets... shall we say... messier.



22 comments:

Quilt Rat said...

WOW! great studio......love those drawers. What a wonderful space. Thanks for the info on that design wall........something I really need to make, since all of my designing happens flat on my cutting table.

I can see I will have a bad case of studio envy by the end of this tour

Michele/TextileTraveler said...

Awesome studio, and those drawers are very nifty. Your fabric is so lovely all arranged by color!

Anne at Film and Thread said...

Love, love, love your drawer units! It is so nice to have shallow drawers where things don't have to be stacked 4 inches deep!

Rebecca E. Parsons/Cre8Tiva said...

i so loved the tour of your creative space...please come see mine when you have a chance...i am having a giveaway...it is so clean...hugs, rebecca

beadbabe49 said...

Another great studio! I'm glad there are so many fiber artists who are in the tour!

Kay Koeper Sorensen said...

very creative use of your space and storage units.

virtuallori said...

Wonderful, wonderful space! The drawers make me drool, and the design board is such a great idea. Thanks for sharing.

Judi B said...

I love your ironing board trick (making it a work table). I usually haul my stuff out to the dining room for cutting. Thanks for the inspiration! Come visit my virtual studio and we'll have a cup of virtual tea.

Diane J. Evans said...

LOVE those flat drawer cabinets! Would you share the name of the art supply place from whence they came?? I'm hoping I can locate a shop like yours that's near me -- those drawers could save my artistic life!

Diane

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I love your flat file drawers, and what a great idea to use them for fabrics. It's great that your pieces are easily moveable should the necessity arise. Thanks for inviting us to visit!
Cheers
Mary Anne

Unknown said...

I originally was going to buy the flat files from Daniel Smith, but since they're located in Seattle while I'm in Florida, the shipping was a bit much. I called ArtSystems, an independent local art store. They seemed to have access to the same stuff, and could offer a discount plus no shipping. Another friend of mine was able to get metal flat files very cheap because they were dented. Then there's Craig's List!

Dolores said...

I had to do a double take since I was just at the studio of http://cre8tiva.blogspot.com/ and she had the same overhead cupboards. I thought I was seeing things when I toured your studio. Wow, you really have a great space. I love the ironing board. Thanks for the tour.

Jamie Fingal said...

I love those flat file drawers! Everything is right where you need it. Thanks for sharing.

di from di-did-it said...

You have a lovely work space here. Beautiful yet functional. Great idea to use the foam insulation for a portable design wall! Really like the bookcase and curtains you chose to replace the bifold closet doors. The color is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing your studio with us.

Anonymous said...

That is such a great studio! I love the drawers. Thanks for sharing!

TJ said...

Those shallow flat file cabinets are my dream!! Very organized and beautiful...I also love the vertically hanging wall you have. Happy creations from tj in germany

Unknown said...

The closet curtains are actually made from a tablecloth, then the green trim was crocheted from a chenille yarn. Curtains take up a lot less space in a room than doors, plus if you just reach in to grab something, they’re self-closing. Thanks for coming by, everybody!

Anke Martin said...

Hi Loreen! Wonderful Studio you have! I love the drawers!!!! Those are just perfect! Enjoy creating in there, it look so cozy in there!
Smiles, Anke ;)

imquilternity said...

Gorgeous and very organized studio! WOW!

Susan Miller said...

You make me want to start quilting again, beautiful room, great blog as always.

Susan said...

love that sewing area with drawers. Thanks for sharing

Thistle Cove Farm said...

Your space is fabulous, loved seeing the design board and how it was made. The storage space is great, thanks for the peek inside.