Fabric Storage

My Renovated Quilting Studio – Fabric Storage

August 4, 2015 | Leave a Comment

In January, we made a decision to renovate our basement. It was overdue for a much needed facelift and I was excited that my dreary, light-less and bland quilting space would be renewed. We thought we’d scrape the ceiling (of the existing popcorn finish), install new and much more lighting, paint and replace the carpeting. A fresh and new inspiring space in which to quilt and to write.

Work began and progressed along nicely. Soon I had a crisp and clean white ceiling with ten new glistening pot lights. Suddenly there was light! One of the walls was covered in beadboard, painted white and three new sconces were installed. So amazing. Blue grass from Benjamin Moore covered the other walls. Tiny basement windows were cased and it made them look just a little bit bigger and much, much better. We purchased some soft and silky excellent quality carpeting to cover the cold, concrete floor. Now, not only did my studio look great, it felt pristine and wonderful.

Time to move in the furniture – the best part, I think. Ten years ago or more, for very little money I purchased a black, two-door armoire as a china cabinet from HomeSense. Thinking the size and shape of the armoire would be perfect for fabric storage, I emptied it out of dishes and had it hauled down to the basement.

I measured the shelving inside the armoire and heading to HomeSense, found some large baskets, small baskets and some old style wooden crates that fit like a glove. Again, like everything at this store, the prices are very reasonable.

This allowed me to divide my fabrics into colours and batiks and designers and label each container as such. It is wonderful to be able to keep my stash all in one place now. There is 14 inches between the top of the armoire and the ceiling, so there’s plenty of room for more storage. The perfect place for extra-wide backing fabric:

and for medium sized glass jars containing quilting accessories like Riley Blake buttons and crocheted flowers.

Fabric storage settled and done, next it’s on to scrapbook storage and re-vamping a little-used closet.

Till later….

Kim

Scraps, Scraps and more Scraps

April 1, 2015 | Leave a Comment

Good Spring morning to you all. It’s so wonderful that April has arrived! Although winter here in Calgary has been unseasonably warm, it’s still such a wonderful feeling to experience the imminent arrival of Spring.

As some of you know, I have been refurbishing our basement to make way for a better working space for me – more light and better organization for quilting and for writing. We are almost there – just waiting for some lighting fixtures that have taken more than 8 weeks to arrive. Hopefully, they will be worth the wait!

I’ve come up with an idea to easily store and display my scraps, and wanted to share it with you.

It’s a fabric shoe organizer and I think it works very well as a displayer-of-all-things-scrappy. The scraps are easy to see so it’s more likely they will be used. Fabrics can be rolled up into bunches and placed in the stretchy, mesh shoe compartments, making it easy to store a ton of fabrics in this handy dandy little item.

The shoe organizer can be hung anywhere in your workspace – on a doorknob, in a closet or on a cupboard door. So easy!

Although I don’t remember where I purchased my shoe organizer they are easily found online and are not at all expensive.

Take care everyone. Till later

Kim

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em….

January 28, 2015 | 1 Comment

join ’em! I’m not really fond of that saying, but it’s appropriate for how I’m feeling. Let me explain.

For the longest time, usuallly in the warm summer months, I’ve longed for a quilt studio that was apart from our home; some place that was my very own creative and cozy little nook. I’ve searched pinterest and magazines for backyard studios, checking every picturesque nook and cranny and then dreaming about how to build it in my backyard. I even had a recurring dream about a sun-drenched, backyard quilt studio that was like a little vintage cabin, complete with gauzy curtains blowing in the breeze. At the snap of a finger, I can recreate every tiny detail of that dream – it was so very real. It looked a bit like this little gem.

or like this (if it were new)

Speaking of real, winter set in. Living in Calgary, Canada and not on the California coast was the truth I had to deal with. In my neck of the woods, given the inclement and unpredictable weather, creating a warm and spacious backyard studio would be challenge number one. More importantly, however, came the realization that we are not moving from this house anytime soon, so why not work with what I’ve got? What I did have was a basement workspace – lots of room, lots of storage but not a lot of light. The basement felt like a dungeon some days…making me dread “going to work”. But, I must admit the basement has some strong points…..it is warm, it is spacious and it can be improved.

So, in keeping with the motto of “if ya can’t beat ’em, join ’em” we are in the process of having our basement renovated, which is surprisingly thrilling! I can hardly wait until it’s finished. The ceilings have been scraped of the popcorn, the walls have been patched and taped and sanded and the old carpeting has been removed. There are now ten brand new pot lights adorning the unpainted ceiling and three new junction boxes for wall sconces. New casing and new baseboard have already done a ton to make the space feel better. Painter is coming on Friday and then carpeting will be laid the week after. As soon as I set up my new workspace, I will send you all a photo.

A new workspace, a new direction and a new attitude. Believe it or not, I already “feel” much better about my revamped basement. I am going to be changing my webpage and working toward a different goal in 2015. I am in limbo and can hardly wait till I can get back to work. Take care everyone.

Till later…

Kim

Planning My Very Own Home Quilting Space

November 10, 2011 | 3 Comments

Despite the fact that I had access to the developed basement in our home, I decided I could no longer work in my basement quilting studio. No matter what I did, there was NEVER enough light down there! Several smallish windows and tons of lamps did not really help – it always felt so dark and a little foreboding when I was working. If not the largest accessible space in our home, where, then could I set up shop? I needed a more cozy, natural light-filled workspace big enough to accommodate my sewing, quilting and writing equipment. Where, oh where, would that be?

Lying in bed at night, I would close my eyes and visualize my sewing equipment in different locations throughout the house. More times than I can count, I tried to talk myself out of moving, as my husband calls, “my operation”, up from the basement to the main level – just because I knew how much work it would entail. No matter what I did, though, the basement was just not suitable. I really needed to figure out a better solution.

So, after many months of deliberation, I finally decided that the under utilized living room and dining room space of our home could be reconfigured – to my benefit! We had family dinners each Sunday in the dining room, but the living room was not used very often at all. I needed help from my husband and my adult son, but the three of us succeeded in hauling “my operation” up from the basement to the main floor and I could not be happier with the move. Now, working in my home studio is a pleasure….tons of much-needed natural sunlight, glimpses of the neighborhood squirrels playing in my backyard and hardwood floors that, unlike carpet, don’t cling to each bit of scrap fabric, have made all the difference in the World.

Here is how I did it…..

Step #1 Move the sofa, coffee table and end tables from the living room to the basement.
Step #2 Move the dining room table, chairs and armoire from the dining room to the living room. The living room love seat was repositioned in front of the window. I purchased a small, black pedestal style end table from HomeSense and two lamps, moved a few pictures around and the room became pretty and functional.
Step #3 Using graph paper, I drew a room plan for converting the dining room to a home office quilting studio. First, the new space was measured (13.4’x11.8′) and then three separate stations were configured into that space. Station A – cutting table; Station B – sewing/embroidery machines; Station C – computer/printer; Station D – fabric and more storage. Since the space in the dining room was limited, I combined Station A and B together.

Station A – The cutting table that I use is an old drafting table that my Dad used in his business eons ago. I sanded, primed and painted it black prior to moving it upstairs from the basement. It’s a fairly large surface (5’x3.2′) so it accommodates two fabric cutting mats and both of my Brother sewing and embroidery machines. A bar stool purchased from HomeSense is just the right height for the drafting table — I can see outside to the backyard when I’m working at my sewing machines. At night, I turn on both lamps and my workspace is comfortable, cozy and well-lit. On either side of the drafting table, there is some fabric storage – IKEA style wire baskets that are very versatile. On the left hand side, I have all my sewing accessories contained in old Starbucks tea tins – fabric cutter, scissors, pinking shears, marking pencils, etc. which are easily accessed when the need arises. On the floor beneath the drafting table, there is a thread rack which holds colourful machine embroidery threads. Since I am a quilt designer and a writer, I need to retain some files and a wicker basket file box sits under the drafting table with all my files in one handy spot.

Surprisingly, my aged Home Depot computer table works well in the new space and holds both my laptop computer and printer easily on its surface. The table faces towards the living room window allowing me to keep tabs on what’s happening outside. Tucked into a plastic three drawer cart on wheels beside the computer table, is paper and envelopes, camera, chargers, printer ink – all very easily accessible. Since I love Mary Engelbreit and Helen Downing Hunter, their work covers the walls.

Station C is more storage. I was fortunate to find three coordinating inexpensive glass door cabinets at HomeSense which fit the alcove in the new workspace perfectly! (I just love HomeSense!) More fabric, bobbins, threads, cording, ribbons, straping, pattern books, etc. are in the cabinets. Even with the glass doors, the items seem to be hidden from view. The ironing board conveniently folds up and fits neatly beside the cabinets.

Adding a living green plant and design board gave my new workspace some much-needed feng shui.

Since my new workspace was very open there was no door to close and leave the mess behind. Now, when someone appears at my front door, they are easily able to see into my new workspace, and it was obvious I needed a way to discreetly hide my “creativity”. I found the solution at Pier One…a vintage room divider that I can easily pull across in front of my computer table to camouflage what lurks beyond. .

For a few hundred dollars, an under utilized living room and some sweat equity, I now am so fortunate to have a workspace that I love.