Welcome to my studio!
When Cheryl Sleboda asked me to join the Spring Cleaning hop again, her timing was perfect. I’m in the middle of #SewingAtTheSpeedOfSam for Spring Quilt Market, and she caught me on a very messy day. So I took a few pix for my before shots!
I was in the middle of too many things at once… working on a new quilt on the design wall, another getting bound and sleeved, materials coming in (that big box is a bolt of Warm ‘n’ White batting), and packaging orders to go out. This is NOT a level of chaos that makes me happy!
As I wrote last year, I tend to be a pretty tidy person as it helps me stay creative.
One of the things that was bothering me (as usual) were stacks of fabrics that weren’t put away. I don’t mind them being out when I’m working, but once the project is done the decks need to clear. This time, rather than just shoving things into drawers, I took the time to really organize the colors in the most offending drawers:
Not only does this make me happy, I love how inspiring it is to see runs of color together… I’m already mulling new ideas from looking at these!
Since last year, I’ve acquired a couple more storage pieces from Ikea to make things a little easier around here. The first was a trusty Billy Bookcase. It squeezed into the corner of my studio, which used to be full of boxes of art materials I’m not currently using. I put them into my patio storage shed, and then shifted a few things onto the new shelves. In case you didn’t know this, Ikea now sells extra shelves for the Billy so that you can really customize the space. They also sell an extender for the top of the book case so you can squeak out another vertical foot if you need it. I used both the extra shelves and the extender on this one:
The second thing I bought was the ever-so-trendy Raskog Cart. I’ve been eyeing these, and had been plotting a reason to own one for a while. I filled it with materials related to handwork and embroidery, and it’s so great to be able to roll it next to the chair I sit in to bind or stitch, then roll it away when I’m done. I LOVE the retro turquoise color!
Here’s a pano of the tidy space – aahhhh… that feels better!
Follow along with my friends below, and don’t forget to link up with Cheryl on April 29th!
April 20th- Toni Smith – http://www.quiltoni.com/tonis-blog.html/
April 21st – Sam Hunter – https://huntersdesignstudio.com/
April 22nd – Tracey Mooney – http://www.sewsupportive.com/
April 23rd – Pepper Cory – http://peppercory.blogspot.com/
April 24th – Lisa Chin – http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com/
April 25th – Andrea Davis – http://www.sewtofit.com/
April 26th – Misty Cole – http://www.mistycole.com/blog/
April 27th – Amalia Morusiewicz – http://funfromatoz.com/
April 28th – Jenelle Montilone – http://trashn2tees.blogspot.com/
April 29th – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com
You sold me on that cart. I have been doing lots more embroidery on art quilts and am tired of opening bins and old sewing cases and drawers to collect all I need. Hope everything fits in one! I may need two!
Interesting to note: direct from Ikea 29.99. On Amazon 54.99. Yikes!
I think they were originally $49.99 at Ikea when they came out – I remember looking at one, and thinking that I would need a pretty good reason beyond storage widget lust to spend $50! But they have recently come down to $30 so the lust won!
As soon as I saw the price drop I bought one! If I had space I would have two of them!
I’m waiting for them to make an ORANGE one (they have other metal things in ORANGE) – I’ll probably have one in every room!
You could paint it! I would add black tiger stripes!
I have one of those carts, I keep mine next the sewing machine and use it to hold various things that I use fairly often that I don’t want to put away out of sight. I’ve been trying to justify buying another one and you may have just given me that reason – a cart for my handwork materials, for exactly the reasons you have it for.
Glad to be an enabler!
How totally fun. I have never seen your studio from that angle! I love before and after shots!
great use of your space. I’m like you I prefer a tidy space but at times things just get out of control!
I love my Ikea cart! Mine holds all my paints and brushes. So wonderful. I LOVE how organized all your fabrics are! Fantastic!
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I had to laugh because your messy looks like my version of clean 😉
I love how different we all are!
Truly! I think you have to find your own system and make it work. The idea that I could lose a pair of scissors under a pile for a couple of months gives me hives, so I work tidily, but I know other people who thrive in chaos!
I like your cutting table. Been trying to find something like it. Where did you pick it up and what are it’s measurements? Also, how do you like your sewing table with the inset machine? Great price for the Ikea cart! Wonder if it comes in lime green? 😉
Sue
Hi Sue! My cutting table is 2 x Ikea Forhoja carts http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80035920/ I have them attached to each other under the top with the kind of clips that hold the leaf in a dining room table (although it didn’t work out quite as effectively as I had hoped – it would be better if the edges fit together with a tongue and groove). The top is big enough for a 24×36 mat with an extra 6″ at the back for tools and such. One mod I did was to cover the shelves with thin pressboard – I took a cut chart to the hardware store, bought a chunk of pressboard and had them cut it up for me – I think it cost about $10. The shelves on the cart are slatted, and I find that things drop through or sit wonky on that, so making it flat helps. Foamcore board would work too. I like that I can unclip them and roll them out of the way if I need to (my space is pretty small, and sometimes I have a lot of people here. Hope this helps!