I did most of the work on my "quilt studio" (haha) earlier this summer. But, I didn't quite finish. Since we have friends coming next weekend to stay in our guest room, I needed to really finish (yes, Brian & Angela - I'm being nice and not making you sleep with my rotary cutters and rulers). I finished the cleaning today, and I took pictures to prove it!
Our house has 3 bedrooms - one is the master, one is our office, and one is our guest room. I needed a space for my quilting - and having an actual studio (like
my mom does) was out of the question. So, I needed to find another space in the house to use for quilting. My objectives were:
- Someplace where I could shut the door - to keep the mess out of sight.
- Someplace where I could keep projects sitting out, even if we had friends over. That's big, because I can spend longer setting up & cleaning up than actually quilting otherwise.
- Someplace that could have lots of storage, since that's my biggest need. Several years ago, Matt gave me a gift certificate to the Container Store for Christmas, which I used to buy plastic bins for my fabric. They are open bins, which can nest together. I sorted all of my fabric, using a color wheel tool. I find that it's far easier to use my fabric when it's sorted well, by color. So, I needed shelves to hold these boxes.
- Someplace where I could have a good surface for my sewing machine (at a height that somebody like me, who's taller than average, could work at easily).
- Someplace where I could have a cutting station and ironing station nearby.
In our house, the best option was the closet of our guest room. The closet is almost 6 feet X 6 feet X standard height ceilings, and as you'll see in the pictures below, I've used almost every cubic inch.
The closet had a few wooden shelves and rods when I started. I drew a 3D drawing of the space, working in those existing shelves. I had recently removed the wooden shelves from my closet (when putting in a
Rubbermaid closet system), so I reused some of the parts from my closet. Matt also cut me a few new boards, and used his biscuit joiner to join some boards together, to make a large area for my sewing machine. I used the stud-finder and drill to lay out the space, supporting shelves with "L" brackets.
It's admittedly pretty cramped, but it is also a remarkably efficient space! When I was putting everything inside, I felt a bit like I was living in a real-world game of Tetris. :)
Next to my sewing machine, I keep bins with frequently-used tools. Here's a picture of one side of my sewing-machine-counter. There's a small bin attached to the wall which holds larger spools of fabric, then lots of other bins for pins, feet for my sewing machine, and other tools. In the middle you can see my
Ott Light - which is fantastic. It gives a true-color spectrum, which is absolutely crucial when working in a space with no natural light! Everything in here plugs into a power strip (there was no outlet, so it plugs in around the corner). I can easily unplug the power strip when guests come.
Below the sewing counter is a dead space which houses extra bolts of fabric, waste basket, and a drawer unit. This picture shows the storage drawer unit below the counter. In it are larger pieces of fabric, and fabrics that defy being sorted by color. In the second drawer down, you can see just a bit of Purdue fabric. No idea what I'll do with that, but you've got to buy that when you see it. :)
Above my sewing machine are three shelves. 2 hold the plastic bins I use for color-sorted fabric. The top shelf, which I can only get to if I stand on the chair, holds infrequently-used books and non-quilting crafty stuff. Look close in the picture below and you can see that each fabric bin is tagged with a particular color. You can also see my paper lantern lights. They give a nice atmosphere to the space when I'm working.
Turned 90 degrees from that wall is another wall filled with shelves. Starting on the bottom (below the first shelf) is a wire rack. That's generally where I store matching fabric sets - fabric that I purchased to go together. It's a little messy right now - I've bought more fabric lately than I've sewn, so projects are stacking up too fast. This is also where I keep projects that are almost done, but that I've lost interest in (i.e. the big plastic bin on top).
Above that wire rack is another shelf. Originally, I had another drawer unit here, but the shelf it was on wasn't quite strong enough (it was bending in the middle), so this is now reserved for light-weight stuff. On the wall above is a rod and some
wire baskets from Ikea which hold smaller rulers and interfacing. This is also the shelf where the ironing stuff resides (it needs to be accessible to Matt, also). The bears were a gift from my mom - just another item to make this space feel more friendly. :)
Above that shelf are two more shelves, shown below. It looks messy, but really, there's a system here! Bags hold large pieces of matching fabric (yard or two+) which are earmarked for bed-sized quilts. The top shelf, which is far out of reach, holds other crafty items (non-quilting).
Everything I need for sewing fits in the closet, except for the cutting station, ironing board, and thread case. I use the top of a piece of furniture in our guest room for my cutting surface - I cover up the rotary mat with a tablecloth when we have guests. Below is a picture of my thread case. This was my mom's when I was a child - and I'm glad to have it now. (She has way too much thread for a container like this to work anymore.) It has three tiers, which open outward in layers.
The top (open below) is for thread. The lower tiers house needles & special sewing instruments. Just like the fabric, I like it when my thread is sorted by color. Unfortunately, this case was made to hold "normal" spools and I tend to buy "fancy" spools now, so it's not as neat as it could be, but I still like the rainbow of colors!
Calling this a "quilt studio" isn't really the right term - but it works well for me right now and for the stage of life we're in. Someday, Matt & I dream of building a modern take on a craftsman bungalow. I'd like to build in a real studio, of course. But, for now, this works quite well.
And, if I'm honest, I'll admit that I currently have another sewing project taking up space in our living room... my
sock monster supplies are all down there right now. But, I'll get that cleaned up next. :)
Labels: organization, quilting
