The studio is tidy

The studio got tidied up, which is as good a reason as any to share some pictures with you. I love this space very much. It feels very peaceful. I love it that my whole family can be up there with me if they desire, but I also love it that I can be upstairs sewing while the children are happily playing downstairs (I can hear what's going on, and they can hear the familiar hum of the sewing machine so we are all happy). I love my cupboard full of crates (from the local salvage yard - I think they may have contained flower bulbs in a previous life). I love it that the ex-dining table now takes centre stage in the studio, the perfect space for cutting out fabric and spreading out quilts-in-progress. I love the shelf full of art supplies, and the wrap around desk where I sit and sew at one end while Aaron and Hannah play endless board games at the other. I love the green couch which I regularly day dream about lounging on with a good book, but never do. I am conscious of how blessed I am to have this space, and thankful for the time I am able to spend there.

Art quilt storage cupboard

 

It's about time I share my quilt storage cupboard with you. Sometime ago I asked for suggestions from the SAQA membership on how to store my quilts. (Ideally, quilts are best stored flat or rolled, rather than folded, as the fibres of the fabric tend to deteriorate more quickly along folds). I got some very helpful responses, including this helpful article by Ellen Lindner and here's the quilt storage cupboard we came up with as a result. 

On one side of my studio, under the sloping ceilings I store all my quiltmaking and other sewing/craft supplies. We incorporated the quilt storage cupboard into the end of this storage unit. You can see it below on the left. Opening the (handle-less) doors, you see this (the right picture):

 

Well, actually, in front of those quilts I keep my roll of quilt batting. This is very handy as I can roll of as much as I need without removing the whole roll from the cupboard, just like in quilt shops!

 

The quilts are rolled onto cardboard rolls (two or three quilts per cylinder). Thick dowels are inserted into the cardboard cylinders and these rest in the notched MDF attached to the two sides if the cupboard. The large number of notches in the MDF gives me a lot of flexibility as to where I place the  quilt rolls and allows me to store many quilts here if necessary!

 

(For those who are wondering, the inside of this cupboard is a bit over 90cm deep, and 158cm wide),

 

(I attached the notched MDF, and in my naivete, never considered where the door hinges would go, so Phil had to hack a piece of MDF out).

Towel rails in the studio

Well, I do apologise for that little blog break! Last week was devoted to being sick, and then this week... well, I don't really know what my excuse is this week... student free days? a day shopping (sans kids thanks to my mother-in-law)? various end of year activities?... probably just laziness...
I have been sewing, I just haven't been so good about taking pictures along the way. One little project this week was these new towel rails in my studio. These are GRUNDTAL towel rails from IKEA. We have them in our bathrooms, and now they are in the studio too - the perfect place to hang quilt-in-progress.
I don't like to put quilts into my quilt-storage cupboard until they are completely finished. These ones hanging up are waiting to have labels stitched on and photos taken.

I haven't forgotten that way back I promised to share more photos of the studio. There's a few little things to finish still, and then lot's of mess to tidy up! I'll also put together a post about my new quilt-storage cupboard, and once I have my new quilt-photography set up all sorted, I'll share that too. I can't promise when I'll get to it though, what with summer holidays coming up real fast!

Every studio needs a parking garage

Lisa was on the right train of thought (see comments on previous post) - how well the kids are playing determines how well I can play in my studio! This parking garage is my 'secret weapon'. It forms the basis for our 'studio play station' and has already given me many happy hours of studio time.

I have often read books and articles about how to set up a studio. It is generally suggested that you have a dedicated space free from all other distractions where you can retreat to on a daily/regular basis. I have to smile when I read that. I would never get anything done in a studio like that, because I would never make it into the studio. My new upstairs studio has been designed to be flexible enough to provide space for everyone over the years so that I can take the kids up there with me - plenty of room for a parking garage (and connecting roads) on the floor, space for kids to sew or colour alongside me, homework space, reading space and even a comfy couch for Phil to lounge on with his book or iPad if I'm frantically finishing a project at some crazy hour of the night.

My original plan for this room included a wet area for dying and screenprinting, but that was removed for the sake of making it a cosy, family friendly space with room for everyone. Instead the laundry design was adapted to cater to my dyeing sessions - we replaced our toploading washing machine with a front loader so that we could put in a big enough bench space to set up a dyeing station.

So far its all working out really well - we have spent many hours together in the studio already. And the parking garage connects to the wooden train tracks/roads the boys already had, so they are in their element.
(Sorry I didn't get better photos - jumping on Mummy who is laying on the ground taking photos is even more fun that playing with the cars.)

It's been quite a day

I think this picture sums it up.It started before breakfast when Daniel poured a cup of (lukewarm) coffee over my favourite jeans AND the quilt design I had almost finished tracing onto interfacing. It continued through much whining and hanging off mum, as well as several changes of little boy clothes (involving mud, paint and more).

It wasn't all bad, though. We got another coat of varnish onto the studio desktops. It's almost ready to be inhabited! However, because I have plans for more quilt cutting this week (and I don't want to wait for the three coats of varnish to dry) and Phil is out of town, I decided to set up my studio in the kitchen for the rest of the week. I rather like the set up too (that's the fridge in the background up there) - we had a spare door floating around which got propped up on the bar stools for a fabric table, and the ironing board on the kitchen benchtop (hiding in the picture below) is a small tabletop version from IKEA.
And that's Caleb, hard at work on a self-portrait.(We found some yarn offcuts as we sorted through the mountains of stuff in the studio - perfect for hair!)

And then, in the last light of day, right about the time that the spatula broke just as it was being applied to the behind of a rather naughty little boy, God gave us some low-lying clouds to make us pause, admire and refocus.

My sewing space

Today I packed the first boxes in preparation for our move into our new house. I can't believe we are finally that far - well, we hope to be in a few weeks time anyway. I'm really looking forward to the extra space and light. But it occurred to me as I was quilting away last night, that I will actually miss this sewing space I have here. It's right in the middle of things, sandwiched between the dining room and the lounge-cum-playroom. It's not beautiful, but it has enabled me to accomplish a lot of sewing in between all the craziness of life with four kids.

In the new house, the studio is about last on our list of things to finish, so I will probably be using this door-and-crate setup for a bit longer, just not in the middle of the living space!