Tag Archives: studio

Cutting Through the Clutter

I was having a hard time working in the studio and decided it was time to clear away the clutter and make an enjoyable work environment again.

design table mess
design table clear again

The advantage of having the space I have is there are many places to store things… the disadvantage of having the space I have it that there are too many places to shove things!
And shove I did, until reaching for anything caused an avalanche and finding what I was looking for took precious time away from making art.
So the other day I brought in a six foot table and took everything out of one side of one cabinet. Tossed, sorted, filled and labeled containers. Cleared off the design table and one of the sewing tables. There is still half of the room and the quilting machine table to clear (I know there is a machine under there somewhere!) but already I feel better and I’m off to sandwich a quilt!

studio cupboard better

I hope you have a peaceful and happy place to spend this New Year do what you love! Quilting Away, Ann

Sewing Space Tip

I’m videoing more in the studio and so I needed to rearrange the space, again. This turned out to be great. Besides cleaning up those sneaky dust bunnies I ended up moving existing (Ikea) cabinets to the sides of my HQ Sweet Sixteen.

sewing set up

image 1

They are the perfect height and extend the surface about two feet, eliminating much of the drag on larger quilt projects. But it also meant I no longer had the small drawer unit at my right. No problem, just stick the three items most used on the outside of the wooden cabinet that is now on my right – The little screw driver for the bobbin tension, clipping scissors and a bag for thread bits. I’m back in business!

quilting sew up

image 2

I’m quilting an art quilt now that has over fifteen different thread colors (four different brands) and I have gotten really fast at changing the thread; top and bobbin, and adjusting the tension. Did you notice the little drawing by the gloves in the photo (in image 2)? Even though I have adjusted the top thread tension assembly many times, I still seem to have a brain burp when it comes to which way to turn the dial. When I bought my machine the wonderful sales person draw this little picture in my manual for quick reference. Most people would probably have it memorized but a quick glance at this little drawing works for me.

How have you made your sewing or quilting space work for you?

Fabric Storage in the Studio

I re-purposed several bookcases when I moved my studio back into my home. Bookcases are great because they are narrow and so don’t take up a lot of floor space (mine even have doors) but most standard storage boxes either don’t fit or don’t use the shelf space fully. My solution was to design and construct boxes to fit the way I wanted to use the space. The boxes are good for storing fat quarters but most any size yardage can be folded to fit. They can be stacked two high and they have little windows so I can quickly see what color is in each box. They can be easily pull out when I want to go on a serious fabric search. image for 980

fabric bookcase

These boxes fit a minimum 22″ wide shelf. I have them in a 33″ wide bookcase so I have room along the side of the boxes for a few other items. I’m planning to make some more boxes to fit in a 16″ x 11″ bookcase which is filled (and a mess) with landscape and painted sky fabric. They could be made just about any size, though, I would not go bigger than the one in my lessons (viewable on Curious.com and – YouTube) because foam board and hot glue are only so strong and fabric can get heavy!

If this helps you better organize your fabric I would love to hear about it… and remember these boxes could be used to hold other items too.

Stitching and Painting Away, Ann