Tuesday, February 3, 2009

I am a sewing room refugee :(

When we first moved to this house with five small children in tow it had seemed that we had more space than we could ever hope to use. In this home I was finally able to secure a small room under the stairs in the basement that would be all mine. Twelve years later and five much larger children with bigger piles of necessary stuff, we are all still here; including the one I thought would have moved out by now. Instead she has decided that the University experience is far better commuting from home and has decided to do her next four or five years from here. The comings and goings of a young adult are rather noisy, they keep hours that are either very early or very late and prove to be quite disruptive to the rest of the family. We decided to move her to the basement and this meant disassembling my room. That space was my sewing room/ studio/ getaway space. Now don't get me wrong. I am grateful to still have all my children around and we are all sleeping better at night, but I don't believe I fully realized the implications the loss of that space would mean to me.

As I packed away my things and moved them into storage, I had thought I would be able to find a small corner somewhere in the house to use. Instead I am shifting from room to room and groping through bins and boxes to find a zipper, button or thread as needed. I am working on getting a couple of those handy plastic drawer units organized with some items, but it simply not the same. I liked having everything laid out in my room. I had cupboards and shelves, a huge design wall and space to work. I could replace a broken zipper in 10 minutes inbetween driving children to tutoring or sports and cooking a big family dinner. Now I have supplies in one closet, fabric in another, (and under our bed) my good sewing machine and serger in the workshop (which I can't use right now... long story) an ironing board set up in the kitchen, the etsystore sale items in a storage locker and last but not least, my lovely old singer in the family room. I moved it there as it seemed the least intrusive and folds up quite nicely into a very small piece of furniture when not in use. However, it's always in use so it's never put away. This is the same room the we have our family TV in and while I was sewing last night one of my dear sons mentioned that the sewing machine was rather loud and could I sew later? hmmmm.... As I contemplate where I will shift my machine to next or how I will convince my hubby that we need to do a renovation :) I'll leave you with a picture of what I did accomplish last night on my son's quilt. (Before I was shut down by the mob!)



Happy Quilting!





PS I am open to ideas and suggestions.... I need a good sewing desk ... a cupboard... send me ideas!



Where are you quilting? Do you have an awesome small space?

7 comments:

~ Phyllis ~ said...

One needs a sanctuary to hide in. Could you get your hands on some stackable cardboard boxes or some Rubbermaid totes? Fill them with all your stuff and keep them close to the sewing machine.
You might find some good ideas in the book, Organinzing Your Craft Space by Jo Packham. I painted Xerox boxes with acrylic paints,(for color) stored my spinning fibers and yarns and stacked them on the shelves of the bookcase next to my spinning wheel and sewing machine. Hope this helped.

~ Phyllis ~ said...

P.S.
You really have a nice Etsy Shop.
All that yummy fiber.

Quiltplay said...

OOh Phyllis- good advice. I like the idea of the colored (painted) boxes. Perhaps I can build a wall with them and get some privacy. I agree about the sanctuary and I really miss and need it. Maybe I should get my own apartment!LOL

Chris said...

It was painful to read of your loss of space. As much as I do not like the space I use (A really awfull cellar) it is a space. It would almost be better to have a portable machine for yourself, then you can set it up anywhere you could... I need to think about this. I don't know what your house is like.

QuiltNut Creations said...

love your blog!
i used to have a corner of our laundry room but a few years ago we banged a wall down in the basement and added on an office/craft room for dh and i. that is where you can find me most times if i'm not on the computer lol!

Quiltplay said...

Thank you for your kind comments all. Please keep the ideas coming!
Phyllis - I am going to try and find that book. I have been checking Craigslist and drafting some ideas out on paper. There may be room in the den if I move the kids computer out and shift some things around. I think I'll make a visit to Ikea tomorrow.

Diah Rothman said...

My first sewing corner was around my dining table. Lucky that I have a portable sewing machine. Now I have a little space under the staircase and make use every little inch of it. Just look at my blog. Quite comfortable though.... hope you can get some rough ideas out of this. Good luck!