The Studio

Back in June or July 2011 I began to really work on my quilting. I had bought a sewing machine. Not new, but gently used. Not top of the line, but not the bottom either. From a dealer and not a big box store or online. I set up a table I'd had for at least a decade in my bedroom and I set up the ironing board as a work surface of sorts and began to play.

This is what it looked like. All very catch as catch can. The two pillows on the ironing board had actually been finished but not turned into pillows years before, a decade or more. They are two of the three that are currently on my bed. The pin cushion next to the sewing machine was my first real project. Very useful, and I'm still using it although I've taken the thread catcher off. The bedding in the corner was from the old King Sized bed. I rarely made the bed up with the bedding although I always straightened up the blankets. The chair was brand new at that point.

I always knew the table was too high, but at that point I didn't even know if I was going to be sewing a lot, or if it would be one of those things I used to do and didn't do anymore. There had been a lot of that in my life.

Once I realized I was going to be doing a lot of sewing I made some changes. I got rid of the iron. It was heavy, and drove me nuts. I thought I'd like a cordless iron, but I actually hated it. It was never hot enough when I needed it hot, and like I said, it weighted a ton.

 This is what the studio looks like now. I have two tables, one a bit shorter than the other. They are from Ikea and the legs are adjustable. Turns out that we chose the height for the sewing machine perfectly. It is at least 4 inches shorter than the other table was.

The shorter one is my work surface. I've ordered a large cutting mat for it, and I need to work out where I'll be ironing things. I also got a 6 drawer cabinet for under the windows. I hadn't bought the plastic cabinet when I took the picture last year, but it was in the same spot.

I've got a bookcase where the bedding used to be. No books in it because none of the shelves is tall enough for craft and sewing books. I've got supplies in it. And I needed a place for that. The lamp on top of the bookcase will end up on the tables or the chest if I work in there at night.

You can see the pillow project I've been working on. It is going well, but I'm not sure a photo will show the progress. We will see when it is done.

I'm really very happy with how it turned out.

Take care all.