Wednesday, November 28, 2012

sweatshop tour, continued

I know you are riveted and excited to see more of my own little haven! Truly I may not have gorgeous, coordinated furnishings, but it is my haven and I love it!

The roof line and north-facing window mean the light is not the best. My husband and I painted the room bright white last winter to maximize the light. It was a taupey-gold color, which is grat for the rest of the house, but it meant this room had weird shadows and colors had a strange cast.

Under the right eave is the desk. This desk was built by my husband's grandfather and it has moved with us everywhere we have lived.


Here is a close up of the beauties at my desk.

The lovely art quilt was a gift from my friend Laura. She dyed the fabric and FMQ-ed it. It was a total surprise and I love it! The pillow was from our TMQG swap, made for me by my friend Colleen. I adore it! There is a small Ganesha that my dear friend/colleague Keshore brought to me from his home in India, next to that is a small picture of me in my Daddy's arms one Easter when I was a little girl. I am so inspired and comforted to be surrounded by the items of beauty!

In the other eave is my sewing/quilting station. I have my Sapphire on an Arrow Gidget II table, with an additional table behind and on the left side to hold mt quilts as I FMQ. This allows my machine to be recessed, with the needle approximately the same height as my table(s). This makes a huge difference in comfort while quilting!
I also set up my Feather weight on the left table to piece. I have a floor light from IKEA on the right of the machine, I like the brightness, but the light is a bit yellow. On the left side I have an Ott light I bought a few years ago at Lowes. It was a good deal and I wish I had bought 2! But alas, they did not restock them after the sold them.

On the wall behind you can see 2 gorgeous mini-quilts I received in swaps. The Swoon block was from my friend Sarah and she used my favorite blue/orange combination. The other mini was from the DS swap I was in this past summer. Gabriella did a beautiful job embroidering the quilting lady in the center block! The rolling drawer cabinet I lucked into at Big Lots a few years ago (Cheap #3). So handy, and it rolls anywhere I need it.

Beside the machine tables is another set of bookcases (I have 4 medium bookshelves from Target, $19 each, Cheap #4). The top has my antique spool holder (also made by my husband's grandfather) which hold my collection of wooden spools. I have my antique wooden yarn spools along with my button jars on that as well.

These shelves hold my dying supplies, scrapbook stuff, books and patterns. I found several pattern I had forgotten about, so they are on my list to use in the near future!

This picture looks sad. But it also looks like room to add more books! And I love quilting/craft/art books! The binders on the bottom shelf hold patterns and inspiration from magazines and the net. I love storing them this way, the only problem is that since I can't instantly see them, I forget they are there! Another good reason to take time for sorting/organizing.

 To finish up, I will leave you with this shot of my little pre-cuts basket. And you can see my battings in the corner.
I hope you have enjoyed this little tour!

Seriously, every person who enjoys creating, needs a room of their own to dedicate to their creative activities. I am glad I cleaned it up, but it is so liberating to be able to leave a project out while in process. I have run the gamut from sewing on the kitchen table, to taking the tiny bedroom, to this space. And my art/quilting is worth it!

3 comments:

Laura McGrath said...

You are lucky to have such a large space! I know that was a huge consideration when you were house-hunting a while back. I use a tiny bedroom for sewing and my garage for dyeing and misc. supplies, and things spill over all of the time. But my house is tiny so I do what I can... Thank goodness we live close to Ikea in Charlotte is all I can say.

Anonymous said...

What a lovely mix of treasures you have from friends and family!

Ania said...

Love it. Beautiful heaven.