West Coast Studio Tour

 Company's coming.....so my studio is actually clean.

 If you happen to remember, I have rearranged this room several times. I think I finally have it functioning the way I like or should I say love.  Let me take you on a little tour....

Let me start by saying that the studio occupies the master bedroom. My reasoning being, the room has such a lovely view and is also right off the kitchen, making it a little noisy for sleeping....it makes so much more sense for us to sleep in the back bedroom(maybe just a little rationalizing going on here).

We still keep our clothing in the master bedroom closets and use the large en suite. Since this Night Owl is married to an Early Bird (isn't that always the way), it works perfectly for us. My late night sewing doesn't disturb my husband and his very, very early morning coffee making, showering, etc. etc. doesn't wake me up in the morning.

Also, when overnight guests come, we give them the back bedroom that has a full bathroom right next to it (giving our guests a fair bit of privacy) and we sleep in the studio....see why I had to clean it. There's a Murphy Bed in the Studio and since all our personal stuff is in there as well, it's an easy transition.

Well onward....

 

Here is my massive design wall...

 So wonderful to work from...

and so fabulous to display finished quilts on.  

There sits my beloved Janome, sunk into it's lovely little table ( made by Janome as well).

 

The design wall takes up the entire wall....in the far right hand corner is my current project.

The little cupboard, to the right of the door is perfect for holding several of my quilting books (in the interest of full disclosure it doesn't even hold half of them).

 

On the other side of the room is my beloved Murphy Bed...sooo comfortable...I kid you not.

We chose cork floors for this room, which I love!!

 

 The table I use for cutting is actually a small dinning room table (bar stool height). It actually folds down to half that size....the stools slide underneath.

We had a much smaller apartment, when we first bought property out here and that's all we had room for. We've moved twice since then and now have a regular sized table. I was so happy to re-purpose this table, as it is the exact right height for cutting...so much easier on the back.

Last spring I found this handy dandy clip on ironing board....it also adjusts to different heights.

I believe it's meant to clip onto your sewing desk so that you can sew and press without standing up each time. A marvelous idea, but doesn't work on my particular sewing desk.

I then came up with the brilliant idea (well, I think it's brilliant) of attaching it to my cutting table....no more stubbing my toes on that darn ironing board which didn't quite fit into the space.

I created a sit down ironing spot on the adjacent desk.....such a nice little L-shaped work space.

 I have a Pfaf out here as well, which can sit on the desk when needed, but I seem to be using the Janome as my go to machine. I do have sewing friends that come and stay with me now and again so an extra machine is always a bonus (also very helpful if one machine is on the fritz). 

From the window there is a fabulous view that I love to drink in, as I'm working.

What can I say...this prairie girl can never get enough of the ocean.

This is the balcony just off the studio. Below are some shots of the stunning views.

 

 

 

This room is smaller than the space I have in Alberta, but it just seems to work so well and that ocean....what more can I say. 

And there you have it....my west coast studio, let's just hope it stays this way for awhile.

 

The Always Changing Studio / Or Let's Just Make a Mess Again

My Studio is in a constant state of flux, as I grow as a quilter...more accurately, as I start to understand what sort of quilter I am. In the sewing  studio world, one size definitely does not fit all. And of course it goes without saying, one small change may have a huge, domino effect. 

It's helpful to make note of the things that are working in your sewing space and the things that are not. My need for photographing my quilts better has resulted in a few changes. First, I relocated the design wall and made it larger...both helpful moves. But, It was still rather problematic to up set for a good photo shoot, as I had to move furniture around each time.

I then came up, with the deceptively, simple idea of moving my large cutting table in the other direction....all was solved, or so I thought. When I actually went to use my space I realized I was a little lot wedged in, when sewing on my Bernina, which is set into the cutting table.

 The book case, behind me, had to go....but where?? I also had a piece of furniture, under the design wall, that I kept having to climb over....along with the book case it ended up in the other room with the long arm (yikes there will be a domino effect in that room as well).

I now had some more space to play with......I hung up several curtain rods I still had stored away, to create a place to hang several works in progress, a necessity for us multiple project types.

I'm so silly, fussy when I do this type of stuff, it's a good thing I do it myself....my actually very handy husband ended up in emergency the last time he hung a curtain rod (over 15 years ago), he hasn't hung one up since. Hmm, do I detect selective un-handiness?? 

It was a relatively simple job....but every time I time I start to clean up, I make more mess.

  

 

I'm so easily distracted.....
How about a new curtain hiding the doorway to the crawl space? I'm kind of liking that fabulous Ikea fabric I've had hidden away for several years.

 

 I should be finishing the binding on Rachel's quilt.... and I will be.... as soon as I finish cleaning up.
Well, off to actually clean up....or make more mess...what will it be?
That reminds me, I now have room to add two more panels to my design wall.........

Back at the Coast....with my Janome under my arm.

After flying home, with my new Janome (Quilt Con).....I quickly packed her back up (I couldn't resist unpacking her) and flew to the West Coast.

And there she sits, I can't wait to fire her up.

 

 Funny, how I can turn my neatly organized studio into a complete mess by making one small change...Okay, Okay, not really so small.

 

 Back tracking....there she sits amonst my mess on the floor....I decided to pop out and buy a table I could sink her into (thanks for that idea, Leanne). So wonderful, but where do I put that?

We also exchanged the sofa bed for a Murphy Bed....so much more comfortable. My husband took care of all that while I was in Austin....so, more organization required. 

Hmm, so where does the Pfaff go now? 

I make myself crazy, as I move everything around dozens of times, in dozens of combinations.

 

Things to Consider

 

• Work flow
• Design wall
• Lighting
• Electical Outlets
• Storage
• Windows
• Traffic flow....really don't want to trip the man as he gets out of bed, so that means moving my cute little book case (darn).
• And last, but not least, I want it to look good.

 

As I was buying the table for the Janome.....look what they handed me. Guess where I'm going on Friday??

 Hmm...maybe there are some fellow bloggers, I can connect with.

Clearly, I'm Design Wall Obsessed!!

Forty one  design wall panels (14 1/2"x 48" each) later.....
and I think most of you would agree, I'm just a tad obsessed.

Maybe I should mention, I'm not quite done yet, in all fairness this is for two studios....does that make me any less obsessed?? I think not. 

I'm not even going to try and figure out how many square feet of design wall that makes, but I'm loving them.

I tore down my two old design walls and reconfigured them. This design wall was put up before my amazing discovery of  Command Strips

I'm almost embarrassed to show you the state of my walls, as a result of screws, Velcro and staples. 

 I had even resorted to using the glue gun...yikes, what a mess!!

 Here are the backs of the old panels, before I started using duct tape....those staple's were a pain to put in and they really didn't hold all that well.

I managed to reuse most of the panels and also noticed how helpful it was to use the temporary spray adhesive, another thing I didn't do the first time (in my defense, that was several years ago).....who knew.

 As you can see I've created quit a mess.

 

But, the mess was well worth it. I took two smaller design walls and ended up creating one large design wall, adjacent to a window....hopefully much better for taking pictures. 

In the old configuration the window was always behind me, resulting in unwanted shadows. 

As you can see, I've been up to my neck in my basement takeover as well, since coming home.
Just another one of my obsessions (moving things from one room to another).

Bulky couch and chair are gone and my computer has been moved downstairs....there seems to be chaos everywhere.

I'll keep you posted between trips up and down the stairs......and trips to the chiropractor (as I might have mentioned before, the one conveniently located, one block over, from the fabric store).

Think I'll Go Back to Alberta....

weather's good there in the fall....
So then why did they add the line....if I get there before the snow flies

Oh dear, it's always so hard to leave my beloved West Coast Studio.
I did make a few improvements while I was here.
I'm always amazed how moving a few things around can make all the difference, in how a work space functions.
 I think I've mentioned that this is my third attempt, but this time I think I actually got it.

Hanging the TV, freed up more space than I anticipated. 

 

 The cupboard that used to act as a TV stand is now beside the desk, creating an extra work surface...can never have enough of that.

That same cupboard with a much larger TV used to sit right here....now that's  it's gone ,there is one huge design wall.

The whole room is much more functional now. Of course, now that I've got it just the way I want, it's back to Alberta.

Four strong winds that blow lonely......good thing my adorable grand kids are there....

Floppy Design Wall....beside an open window

I've discovered hanging batting, from a decorative rod, makes for a very floppy or should I say unstable design wall. 
Although, it's fabulous for displaying finished quilts. 

Since I often use the QAYG method, my blocks are somewhat heavier.
Hmm, I really should finish that quilt.

My plan is to attach the batting directly to the wall instead, thus eliminating all floppiness.

P.S. I jut walked back in the room....help, things are flying off left and right. The design wall is beside an often, open window!! 

 I might need some insulation board as well. Things are never as simple as they seem.

Sometimes I Irritate myself!

The west coast studio looked perfectly fine, until I started rearranging it again...for the third time, this year. 

I moved all the furniture around and hope I'm happy with this arrangement. Everything got moved closer to the windows again....the view is really lovely. 

I hung up a curtain rod, with rings and clips, so that I could diplay quilts.  The plan is to make a hanging design wall, that can be hung, on the same rod.

Since this room doubles as a guest room, it will be nice to be able to take the design wall down at will. I'll have to test that theory out.

The question is..... how many times can one arrange one little room????

Thirty Three Buckets Later.....

I think I'm under or out of control, depending on how you look at it. Seriously, I dedicated thirty three buckets to scraps...try thinking of that many categories. I'm tired and haven't even started sorting the bulk of the scraps, that should theoretically end up in the thirty three buckets.

There are lots of helpful books written on organizing us quilters, you'd think we have a reputation for being overrun by  fabric or something. 

From all the reading I've done and my own personal experience, I think it's important to ask your self what kind of quilter you are? One project at a time or multiple like me. What type of buyer are you? Just enough fabric per project or the 58 meters, in one shot type, like me....surely there are others of you out there. 

How do you work on a project? The book Organizing Solutions for Every Quilter gets you thinking about some of these things. In order for your work space to work for you it should be personalized for you. Even if you only have a small corner in your house (trust me, I used to be there), it helps if you understand your personal habits and needs.

Just a quick example, the book Cut the Scraps, has you cut your scraps into nice neat consistent squares & rectangles, of various sizes, that all work together, making some of the really lovely quilts, in the book. It's really a well thought out system, but I want wonky scraps for more improvisational type work....so that's not the best thing for me. 

Both of these books are fabulous and very helpful.

Now for sorting some scraps....maybe tomorrow.

Dual Purpose Sewing Spaces

My sewing room, here on the west coast, definitely has more than one function. When we have house guests, which happens fairly often, it becomes a bedroom. 

 Since, the room is highly visible from the main living area, I've chosen to go with hidden storage, rather than open....totally opposite from my sewing space back in Alberta, which is downstairs away from the rest of the house.

As you can see, I have a sofa bed, rather than a regular bed, which would take up precious space...not quite as comfortable, but well worth the sacrifice.

It suddenly occurred to me, that I could use my four decorative metal pictures, as a bulletin board, since they are magnetic. I've owned these for a number of years and that thought just came to me last week....I'm a little slow some days.

The desk also serves as a night stand...it has an adjustable reading lamp as well, how convenient.

Every Sewing Room needs a cutting table. This is actually a bar height dining room table that has a drop leaf....again a great space saver. It's the perfect height for cutting.

These little dark shelves are actually CD holders.  By hanging them horizontally they have a new purpose....look, they can hold my rulers and who knows what else.

When all cleaned up it still looks good.

The TV stand is actually a dresser  made out of reclaimed lumber....looks great and is wonderful for storage. See all those delicious fat quarters.

All kinds of stuff hidden here.

I also have this fabulous trunk under the window....how perfect this is, for larger pieces of fabric, which of course I have no shortage of. When the lid is down it acts as a bench or  table top.

The only piece of furniture, in the room, that I bought specifically for sewing, is the desk. Sometime it pays to look around the other rooms, in your house, when you are setting up a sewing space.  Moving from one condo to another made me rethink the function of some of my furniture.

I also love the fact that the room can switch from bedroom to studio so easily.  

Right about now, I'm getting pretty sick of the tools.....I really need to get some actual sewing done.