My haven

We had company last night, family. It was their first time in our home. I forgot they were coming, and when I realized it was their first time here, I felt bad about not having cleaned up in preparation for their visit. My house isn't a disaster area, but it wouldn't be featured in any magazines either. I just find it so exhausting to clean, especially with two kids, a dog, a husband and a brother in law all inhabiting the same space. You know the feeling of futility when it comes to cleaning and then others come through and mess it up again?

The one place I don't experience that sense of futility is in my quilting studio. We finished our basement last fall, and since then I have been steadily settling into my space. MY SPACE. No one else uses this space. They might come keep me company, but there is nothing in there that I didn't specifically choose to put in there, and when I leave and return, it is exactly as I left it. I think everyone needs a place like that, don't you think?

So some of you who've been with me a while have seen this space, but if you've not...

WELCOME TO MY QUILTING STUDIO!

When you open the door (well, walk through the door - I never actually close the door), you can see that the room is flooded with natural light. It is a wonderful place to sew. Looking out the windows and the doors gives me inspiration from our beautiful natural surroundings (well, when you can see past the dust on the glass), and I love being able to walk right outside for a break.

To my left, a rocker next to my bookshelf where I sit and flip through pages when I need inspiration.

On the wall, my t-shirt quilt from my father's t-shirts is finally at home with me (it has been traveling from family member to family member since I made it two or three years ago). My Ulmer Frame is ready for a bed-sized quilt, but I've been working on little projects lately, so right now it is just draped with a project that needs some contemplation before I move on.


To my right is my cutting table (ignore the bowl of Wheatena on there - I took photos while eating breakfast this morning).

I love my little challenge quilt on the wall. I need to find another way to store my rulers. As it is, they are just propped against the wall, and they fall into my cutting space at very inopportune times. Next to the cutting station is the ironing station. A friend gave me a Big Board that her husband had made for her which I laid across my ironing board, and I LOVE it! Pile of scraps at the end of the ironing board. So many scraps, not enough places to store them. A couple WIPs are stored under the ironing board - my Great Grandmother's Quilt that I am re-making, my flannel buzzsaw quilt, and a quilted sweatshirt I started making for my mother and for some reason, stopped.

Directly ahead of me is my big frame, draped with a quilt that I can't get enough of. I just love looking at it.

Piled on the back of the frame are more scraps and small FQs etc that again, I don't really have a place to store. Beside the radio is Anne of Green Gables on cassette - I just started listening last night. (thanks for the inspiration Nancy-Rose!) I loved the books as a girl, and decided to see if I still like them as an adult. So far, the answer is YES!

To the left of the frame is my armoire, stuffed with scrap bags, UFOS, completed tops, diaper wipe containers full of thread, and on top, my scrap square tins, every half inch size from 1.5" to 5". I use those fabric squares in my quilting more than anything else, I think. I love the convenience of pre-cut squares.

To the right of my frame is my sewing station and design wall.

Why the ladder, you ask? Well, I stand 5'0" in my shoes, and I can't reach the top of the design wall, so I need the ladder when I am working on a bed-sized quilt. Hopefully, this is the last you will see that quilt on the design wall - I VOW to finish putting those rows together THIS WEEK! That funny shaped door goes into my closet, filled to the brim with batting and tubs of flannel and other hard-to-categorize fabrics. Stencils are hanging on the inside of the closet door.

Beside my design wall and sewing station is my mini design wall which holds blocks and directions and inspiration. Then there is the bulk of my yardage stash (as opposed to scrap stash) in those two plastic container thingies.

And then, looking back on the door where we entered, you can see my bookshelf with my quilt fiction and my reference books.

Jason's stash is in that little basket - I have to keep it separate so I don't use it. And see that beautiful blue fabric?

My Kaufmann fabric winnings came yesterday. I was expecting the Candy Corn colorstory, but I am not at all disappointed for receiving these beautiful blues. Eventually, I will wash and use them, but for now, they are decoration. (Em, see the candle you sent me? See how it is burnt down from hours of fragrant use? Thanks, again!)

So this is where the magic happens. This is my haven, my creative space, my place to decorate as I want without consulting others, to clean or not clean as I see fit, and to recharge when the stresses of being so much for so many people gets me feeling overwhelmed or down.

Thanks for visiting! Come quilt with me anytime!

I'm finally sitting!

With snow comes children who wake before dawn wanting to go out and play in it. Mine are no different. We were out there as the sky lightened this morning, romping in snow above my knees. I didn't know it could snow this much in Virginia. We got more last night than in all six winters I've been here combined. Fun, fun, fun!

After about an hour and a half, we came in for breakfast and showers, then the kids surfed the TV looking for Christmas movies while I began moving myself into my new quilting studio. It took me ALL DAY! I had no idea I had so much STUFF! But it was worth it. Now that everything is in there, it looks and feels pretty good, despite the fact that my paint job on the walls is the worst in all of history.

Here's the view from the door (ignore the air mattress - we are about to have company, and this is also officially the guest room).

During the day, there is so much natural light that I don't need to turn on the lights. And I have my sewing machine situated so that it faces the doors, so I can look up and see the kids playing outside. I put up a design wall and decided that wasn't enough, so I put up another smaller one. Some of the UFOs that I want to get cracking on are up there to get me motivated.

The exception is my flannel buzzsaw quilt, which is still stacked on my ironing board. See that cute little closet door? (Yup, it is under the stairs.) I utilized the inside of the door to hang patterns and motifs,

and the closet itself is brimming with fabric in bins and batting in bags (you can't see most of it as it is in the deeper recesses of the closet).

So right now it is neat and organized. We'll see how long it stays that way. Well, for a week at least. We hit the road in the morning (if the interstate is open yet) to head up to my mother-in-law's. Which, of course, meant that I had to do all my present wrapping tonight. I am so tired. Let me shuffle off to bed now...

Getting it done

1. Bright Ideas quilt - I sewed on the borders, sandwiched it with this bright, fun, large-scale print as a backing (I have been wondering what to do with this fabric for years)

then got a significant start on the handquilting while watching the Bourne Identity on TV last night.

2. Quilting Studio - It took me FIVE hours, but I primed the entire room, including the ceiling. My shoulders and arms are so sore that I can barely lift the fork to my mouth as I type this while eating lunch at my desk. And for a color, I decided to approach the room the way I approach my fabric acquisition - I shopped in the "mis-tinted" paint section. Yup, it appears that I am not just a scrap quilter, but a scrap painter, too. There is surprisingly quite a bit of paint available for half price just because it isn't the color someone thought they were getting. I appreciated not only the price, but having a smaller selection to choose from - as a Libra, I'm as indecisive as they come. I chose a (hopefully) soft yellow - I was leaning towards yellow anyway. I want my quilting space to be bright and cheerful. Now, I just have to convince my aching body that it wants to go back down there and paint...

3. New Year's Eve UFO Challenge/Buzzsaw quilt - I cut out the last flannel pieces for the blocks for my flannel buzzsaw quilt and even sewed two blocks together. Of course, I sewed them together in the mirror image of what I actually need, so those two blocks are useless for this project, but there will undoubtably be an orphan flannel block quilt coming out of my studio at some point in the future, so it isn't a complete loss.

4. Christmas decorating - I promised my little guys that we would decorate this past weekend. Luckily, we went out to pick a tree BEFORE the freezing rain settled over the valley. The boys are old enough now that they truly do most of the tree trimming, and they take the job VERY seriously. Our tree is always very simple - white lights, red bows, red and white candy canes, strings of popcorn and cranberries, a couple ornaments that have been given to us, and whatever ornaments they have made and brought home over the years. It is so funny to listen to them, "Oh, I remember when I made this old thing." (OLD!?! You are SEVEN. I have underwear older than you!)


And while they did most of the work, I drank most of the eggnog and nearly polished off a whole container of chocolate covered peanut brittle (if you've never tried it, it is heavenly and decadent and completely addictive) while crooning along with Nat King Cole.

Tonight is the last Cub Scout outing of 2009 - we are going Christmas Caroling at a nursing home. I'm thrilled - I haven't been caroling in decades, literally. Gotta warm up the old pipes - fa la la la la!