Category Archives: My Studio

fabric overload

Posted on
25

I’ve spent many hours over the last couple of weeks organizing my fabric stash.

stash (mini bolts)

I’ve put my one yard plus pieces on mini bolts (really just pieces of acid free cardboard).  They look better and it’s definitely easier to see what I have (before pics here). But the mini bolts are flimsy and I find it hard to make the fabric stay straight and neat without using pins. It also takes up A LOT more space. All in all, I’m not sure I would recommend organizing your fabric like this. It definitely doesn’t work well for pieces that are under 3/4 of a yard. If I hadn’t invested so much time into all of this folding and color coding, I might just put it back the way it was.

There is an upside to all of this reorganizing, though.  I’ve finally started to see that I’m mere yards away from true hoarder** status. My husband was right!

pre-cuts

[pre-cuts]

fat quarters

[fat quarters]

I gave up fabric buying for Lent, but I think I could easily give it up for the next couple of years.  And probably should. The pressure of all of that unused fabric is kind of cramping my creative mojo.

**I know some of you are rolling your eyes about the hoarders reference. True, there are no mountains of garbage here, but it’s not all hospital corners.

hoarders

Excuse my dog’s…ummm, grooming. He didn’t realize he was being photographed. ;)

Even though I’m not thrilled with the results, I am glad to be finished with that time-consuming project so I can get back to actual sewing. I predict lots of pre-cut friendly quilts in my near future.

before + after

Posted on
2

This poor chair has been in my garage since June.

vintage chair - before

I picked it up at a consignment shop for $12. In spite of its disgusting condition, I knew it had cuteness potential. My husband was not very pleased with me for bringing it home since I already had three rescued chairs awaiting makeovers in the garage. He did say he liked this one best, though.

After lots of cleaning, a new seat + cushion, a bit of spray paint, and some fabulous fabric…

vintage chair - after

I think it’s living up to its potential. I had it in my booth at the Urban Street Bazaar over the weekend and nearly sold it. To my secret delight, the buyer couldn’t commit. So now it can live at my house.

Life is Messy and So is Crafting

Posted on
9

My sewing space normally looks something like this:

Studio Tour

But with a craft market on the horizon, I’ve been feverishly sewing and it currently looks like this:

sewing realities

OMG messy, right?  I can’t stand it anymore. Must. Clean. Up. (Yes, I’ve rearranged the furniture again.)  Someone please call Hoarders on me so I can get some help.

While refueling on supplies, I witnessed quite an incident at JoAnn’s today. Isn’t that place the worst? As I was browsing the magazines near the register, I heard this tall man call out in a booming voice that I’m sure the whole store heard. He said something along the lines of “Can you please quit chatting and finish checking her out so you can help the rest of us? You’ve been chatting for 15 minutes.”  He went on a little more and then talked to the manager afterward (also in front of everyone in a super loud voice! What kind of manager wouldn’t have taken him aside?!) The whole time I was feeling a strange mixture of horror and glee. I’ve stood at the register at JoAnn’s many a time seething at the horrific customer service but I’ve never done anything about it. So while I was shocked at that man chiding the cashier,  I was secretly elated. JoAnn’s has consistently awful service, every store is a mess, they harass you about the coupons and then can never seem to be able to scan them, and don’t even get me started on the ordeals of fabric cutting. You know what that  JoAnn is? A frenemy. I need to cut her out of my life for good. And then write a scathing memoir in the thinly veiled guise of a racy teen novel like Nicole Ritchie did to Paris Hilton. :)

getting organized.

Posted on
7

As part of my ongoing saga of studio redesign, I’m reorganizing my fabric stash. It’s outgrown my shelves, and the Target bins just weren’t cutting it anymore. Last week I saw this shelf on Knock-Off Wood:

The whole point of Knock-Off Wood is DIY furniture, but I’m just not that kind of DIYer so I bought mine from Pottery Barn. I was a bit worried that the cubbies might be too small, but they’re perfect for my fat quarter collection. I couldn’t be happier.

fat quarter storage

detail view

I’m really excited to plan out the rest of my redesign and incorporate some of those vintage finds I shared last week.

Oh — and if anyone plans to buy one of these cubbies, don’t expect it to be bright white. It’s definitely cream/off-white. It also comes in a nice wood tone.

dresden plates.

Posted on
5

I unpacked my retreat stuff tonight and realized that I forgot some of my quilt blocks on the design wall.  Looks like I’ll be trying to sweet talk the 1890s House into mailing them to me or making a 30-minute drive to get them. BOO.

dresden plates.

Tonight was the first time I felt like sewing again since I’ve been home from the quilt retreat so I did a bit of paper piecing. These little Dresden plates are addictive! And they’re the perfect way to use up scraps. The finished plate measures about six inches across so it’s going to take quite a few of these to make a quilt. When I bought the paper piecing templates, I saw an even smaller version that seemed ridiculous but now I’m tempted to go back and get a few. I can think of lots of uses for tiny Dresden plates.

In other news…if you’re in Dallas/Ft. Worth, don’t forget that the Dallas Modern Quilt Guild is having a monthly Saturday Sew this weekend. It’s a lot of fun! You can find details and RSVP here.