Jun 21, 2013

Sewing Rooms and Quilting Studios




What do you call yours? And is it a sewing studio?An old fashioned sewing room?  A shared space with the rest of the family? A Sewing corner?  A nook? A cranny? A little bit of here, there, and everywhere?



 

I love nooks and crannies, so  I call my small sewing room 'my sewing nook'. It started out as an unfinished storage space cut out of the attic space over the garage but bordering our proposed 'family room' loft area. 
It has room for my different hanging and storage spaces...a bit of a closet, some built in dresser drawers, and shelf spaces.  I hung my Oregon Driftwood coat rack (made by my son) on the wall and use my antique wooden hangers to hold things I am using, or just love to look at. Right now it displays  my vintage shirt and fabric stripes and plaids.




It has enough shelves for my folded fabrics, enough open closet space for my backing bins. And enough room for a sewing table, a chair, an ironing board and a built-in set of drawers for all of my dressmaking and craft supplies.



 


It has room for my roll top thread holder..that my husband made decades ago... a vintage wooden coke bottle carrier we actually found along the side of the road about 40 years ago and now holds thread, as well.




It has a door with space for a set of hooks holding my homemade bags which hold all of my ziplocks etc. for storage use in other areas.  It has under the table space for my basic potholder and bag making supplies..two of my all time favorite things to create when I've losty 'mojo' and need to get the engine roaring, again!   And I have tiny built in knick knack spaces for cute little supplies and collections!


 

Then I am blessed to have inherited our large open and railed loft space next to it. Here, is the computer, scanner, fax, and printer. A small cutting table (the big one folds up and away when not in use behind another area), 

 

my art quilting 'dry' supplies (wet ones like paint are kept downstairs near water sources and counter top areas). My dry supplies are bits and pieces of fabric, kept in the small cabinet, beads, art crayons, pencils, markers etc.



My roll top desk that my husband made for me about 30 years ago, that houses my serger and my featherweight sewing machine..depending on the project in progress! Right now, I am sewing bridal wear..so I'm using the serger on silks and satins! And I keep a lot of quilting books stashed in here, as well as in other places, too!




Lots of changing corners and crannies for either quilts, art supplies I am currently using and lots of quilts, quilts , quilts ..some in progress, others finished and ready to be donated to my big list of places I love to support!  This pile of quilts has seen been passed on to 'quilt heaven'..in the loving arms of others who are putting them to good use, I hope!





And the open loft floor space...that's my absolute favorite way to lay out blocks, quilt tops, or quilts for photographing!  Here, quilts I made, am making, or have since given away to new homes. And always, I am making pillowcases for foster children that pass through our system with little but the clothes on their backs. If they don't get to keep their own pillows, they do the pillowcase and often use them for packsacks for personal belongings. Now, doesn't that make you want to sew and donate pillowcases, today..look for my free tutorial in the side bar.



Every bit of the loft gets used!  The railing are in constant motion of use..an ongoing display of works in progress! Most of my quilts have aired during their making on these loft railings at one time or another!

 I don't need and wouldn't use a large design wall and my nook is too tiny and has a sloped attic ceiling, which cuts down on height.  So, I still use my floor and not my small portable design wall of batting.  And then..every bit of my floor space, everywhere.



I use the 'bridge' as we call it, that leads to our Christmas Tree in December, potted plants and music all of the time. And best of all...it's a fabulous out of the way space for my projects in progress! And its corner railing space, too!

 
Let's face it...we all love to see how others manage to fit in sewing and quilting into their busy households and often, very limited spaces. And we all love to find ideas from even the simplest bins, boxes, bags, and cubicles...oh, yes I even use the outdoor dec furniture. One way for the quality control inspectors to check everything out! 


And because I have always loved lists, and love to organize and categorize, and most of all...I love to share what I have, what I know, and what I save with others..I am in the process of saving an ongoing master list of links to "Sewing Rooms and Studios" every where of all different kinds!

Some of these are fabulous, some are super artsy and creative. Some have the best stash and storage ideas, ever...but all of them are just plain fun!  And boy, once I made this collage...my tiny little spaces seemed so busy. Well, they are! Always busy, always being creative and always lots and lots of fun!

Comment and tell me about yours! What do you call your space?

Then if you want to share....create a simple blog post with a photo of your space, add my link to your blog post and send your link to me...I'll add you into the list, below!



My master list just had a whole bunch of broken links since I first began to save them. So, the big list of links will appear here after I get a new better list made up!

Send me your own links if you want to be included! And yes, even one photo is so fun to see!

Michele Bilyeu blogs With Heart and Hands as she shares a quilting journey through her life in Salem, Oregon and Douglas, Alaska. Sewing, quilting, and wildcrafting, with small format art quilts, prayer flags, and comfort quilts for a variety of charitable programs. And best of all, sharing thousands of links to Free Quilt and Quilt Block Patterns and encouraging others to join in her Liberated Quilting Challenge and make and donate small art quilts to the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative (AAQI) Help us change the world, one little quilt at a time!

20 comments:

stitchinpenny said...

Mine is a sewing room and I loved it when I set it up in the guest room. I planned the space and was using it efficiently. His brother needed a place to stay for 3 weeks, then 6 weeks then 3 months so I moved to the room next door and have never recovered. I tried earlier this year and my health acted up, so I am still not comfortable. I want to put a Murphy bed in that room, like in the guest room and then I will have more space. It is may plan, but I am a little frustrated.

Brandi said...

I have a corner of my bedroom since my roommate won't let me have the living room, although you wouldn't guess that with the way I have fabric scattered across the apartment right now. I'll put up a post when I get home tonight and take pictures: peekaboo2011.blogspot.com

Michele Bilyeu said...

Love it, Brandi! All ideas that others can relate to are fabulous. Depending on where we are in our lives...it changes constantly! I started out in a corner of a bedroom, then I got a bedroom for sewing, then back under the stairs when another little one needed the bedroom, then into a closet/storage room..my nook now...and then I finally inherited the entire loft! More than 50 years to get to this point ;)

Michele Bilyeu said...

Mine has been 'sew' many guest rooms..and it is wonderful that we have the space to share with others!!! And I agree...moving our spaces is hard. We just get it how we like it and then back to starting over!!!

Karen H said...

Hi Michele - I get the sense that the entire house is your sewing room! Mine too...well except for the kitchen but it was my sewing room when my daughter still lived at home! I love the old wooden Coke crate with the threads and the roll top thread holder. I feel inspired to tidy up my sewing room - or maybe just to sew!

Michele Bilyeu said...

Caught! My name is Michele and I have taken over the house. I am a take over the house-a-holic. And that is not including all of the quilted surfaces!!!!! My husband is such a good sport. The kids are all grown but they still sigh every time they visit and see how the house has been taken over by an alien textile collector.

Maritza said...

Michel qué bonito y ordenado tienes tu rincón de costura!!!!. Todos tus trabajos son una maravilla. Un beso

Annie said...

I live, work, and craft in a 1-br condo. Kind of always looks like I'm in the middle of a hurricane. Totally disorganized, but seems to work for me. I envy the organized, compartmentalized types. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on your viewpoint), I live alone and no one nags me ! ;-)

Mary said...

I use a guest bedroom as my primary sewing space. I have a large fold-up cutting table that is put up most of the time and I use the kitchen island for cutting from smaller yardages. The height is right and the lighting is great, but it certainly irritates my hubby! Thanks for giving us a peek at your space.

Michele Bilyeu said...

Love it, Annie! Deep down inside, a lot of us would be more than happy to live just that way! One big sewing space with no one criticizing us to noticing, our stuff..ever ;)

Michele Bilyeu said...

That's exactly how I use to sew! It took me 40 years to take over the house but now that I've done it, only an act of Congress could get me to change..and we know how slow they work :)

Michele Bilyeu said...

Google says from Maritza "Michel's nice and tidy you have your sewing corner!!. All your works are wonderful. A kiss"

I love how Europeans always send kisses..so sweet!

I wrote and translated back to her: Gracias Maritza! Me encanta lo generoso que está con sus amables comentarios y cómo usted es un estimado visitante tal, aquí!

I'm hoping I said: Thank you Maritza! I love how generous you are with your nice comments and how you are such a dear visitor, here!

Joyce Carter said...

Hi Michele. Thanks for sharing your sewing space. I like looking at sewing areas and getting ideas on ways to improve mine. When my daughter married, I took her room to use as my sewing room. I really love it. It is my personal space and no one bothers me when I am in there. I have different areas for different things so everything has its own place. I love to sew. Being in my sewing room makes me very happy.

Pepa (Lamica) said...


I use a room next to the garage. Here I have the pc, printer, etc in a table.
In another large table is where short my fabrics. magazines., all sorted in boxes, magazines.
No place is spacious and comfortable





Michele Bilyeu@ With Heart and Hands said...

Wonderful Joyce! I think re-purposing our children's bedrooms is always hard at first because of all of the meaning and memories, but it ends up being absolutely wonderful because of all of the love we have for them! Having personal space of any kind is so amazing and so wonderful and yes, my space makes me super happy, too! Don't you love it! Sometimes I just go in and sit and don't even sew. I am just so grateful to have time and space just for me!

Michele Bilyeu@ With Heart and Hands said...

Love it Pepa! Any place we can find is just for us and becomes our own. I love that you have room for magazines to be sorted and stored!

Paula, the quilter said...

I call mine the sewing room but DH calls it the Cave because it is in the basement. The only thing I really miss in the cave is a window to see out.

Dena said...

Michele, I love the hand for your lists. How clever!

I refer to mine as sewing/quilting studio or sewing room. I guess it depends on what my frame of mind is at the time. But the reality is, it's my creative space. The place I go to where I can shut everything else out. My own world. I have spent many hours there, putting a piece of myself in each and everything I've created for someone else.

I know I've been absent from the world of blogs for a couple of years, but I hope to get back into it. I've missed everyone.

Unknown said...

Love your quilting space! I took over a spare bedroom when I retired in March and am living my dream of actually having time to quilt and a space to do it. I call it my quilting retreat because now, everyday is like a holiday! Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Totally agree! If I lived alone the sofa and tv would be replaced by my quilting frame. Way better light in the living room. Who needs tv?