The Big Reveal!!!

Quote for the Day:

“May the road rise up to meet you

May the wind be always at your back

May the sun shine warm upon your face

And the rain fall soft upon your fields

And until we meet again

May God hold you in the palm of his hand”

~ Irish Blessing

Happy St. Patrick's Day to one and all...whether you are Irish or not.  I'm sure that somewhere back there I've got some Irish in me amidst all the German and English that is my heritage.  :)

Now, on to the big news at hand...

I've FINALLY got my sewing room put together!!!  Well...mostly, anyway.  There is still the issue of taking out the big flat-screen TV and moving it into our bedroom, and hooking up my small flat-screen TV.  But other than that, the room is ready to work in!  YAY!!!  

Warning:  This post is picture-heavy, so please bear with it.  I hope it will be worth your wait and time!  :)

As you look into the room, this is what you see...the left wall off of the door...

The first, small, white bookshelf holds some items that need mending, my quilting books/magazines, and fabric for the projects that I am currently working on.  I DO NOT put any fabric away until the project is DONE DONE DONE.  With my luck, if I did, I'd end up needing just one little piece for some reason for the the original quilt and not having it because I had cut it down and put it into a scrap quilt!   So, until the quilt is bound and labeled, I keep all the fabric on this bookshelf.  :)

Next to it is this tall bookshelf that contains my scrap storage system that I fashioned after Bonnie Hunter's system.   I do a thorough cleaning of my sewing room between projects, (in theory, anyway, LOL), and cut down the scraps of leftover fabric into strips and blocks and save them in those labeled plastic containers for use in scrap quilts.

Next to the tall bookshelf is the fireplace with a short bookshelf sitting in front of it.  On this short bookshelf are my non-quilting fabrics, and boxes of sewing and quilting stuff that needs to be sold on Ebay or when I link up to a Quilter's Yard Sale Saturday.  There wasn't much on this kind of stuff before, but after going through my sewing room, I found more stuff that I need to get rid of.  :)

These are TV's that I mentioned earlier that need to be switched out.  Andy is currently at Home Depot getting the things he needs to switch them out.  

Next to the fireplace is my cutting area...

Oh, look...there is already a "PIG" ("project in grocery sack") sitting under the table!  LOL  That is flannel I got to make baby blankets for my grandson, Alex, that is due in July!  :)  No use putting it away because I have to get them done by the end of May for the baby shower!  :)  Better get busy, huh???  

If you look on the wall to the right of the cutting table you will see my ruler storage.

This is actually a Christmas card holder that I found at Goodwill a few years ago for $1.00.  When looking for storage ideas, don't forget to "think outside the box"!   You'll be surprised at what unique and inexpensive ways you can find to store things!

As we continue around the corner from the cutting table, I have my ironing station.  It's a vintage ironing board from Goodwill...nice and heavy and sturdy...with a homemade "Big Board" on top.

To the right of the ironing board are my Ikea Billy bookcases with my stash all neatly folded on foam core boards.   The containers in the middle, open storage are my FQ's (fat-quarters) and 1/2 yard fabrics.  On top, in the picnic baskets are shirting fabrics and yarn storage. 

To the right of the stash cabinets, extending out into the middle of the room are my sewing table and hand-quilting frame, butted back to back.

As you can see, there is nothing in my quilt frame right now...and there hasn't been since Feb. 1, when I finished up the Dresden Plate quilt.   I've been going CRAZY since I haven't been able to sew or quilt for several weeks now, so I'm hoping to have a quilt in the frame by bedtime tonight!  :)

Behind the quilting frame is the same wall that the entry door is on.  On that wall, I have the bookcase that I painted and two other cabinets with doors.  

And here they are with the doors open, so you can peer inside.  :)  You know you want to!

Between these cabinets and the door is a little space that I use to hang finished quilt tops waiting to be quilted, and also where I store a couple extra sewing machines.

I store my quilting templates on 3M Command hooks on both ends of the Ikea Billy stash storage cabinets.

My threads are now stored in vintage sewing cabinets.  This sewing "basket" was a gift for Christmas a couple years ago from Erin & Dale.  It sits under my sewing table and holds my regular sewing threads.

My embroidery machine and serger are used at the opposite end of the sewing table as my regular sewing machine, so I put the specialty threads for them in this sewing cabinet and have it sitting between the stash cabinet and the sewing table.  I purchased this vintage cutie at an auction for $17.00 a couple of summers ago.

Our house is old and didn't have a lot of outlets in it until we had the upstairs rewired.  At that time we added a couple outlets to each room...but you know it wasn't enough!!!  :(   So, to contain extension cords, etc., and get them off the floor as much as possible, I wrapped them around furniture legs as much as possible.  

On the cross bar of my sewing table, I took velcro and cable ties and attached a surge protector to the table for my machines.   Very handy!  :)

I'm very excited to be able to sew and quilt again!  

I already know that I am going to have "issues" with having carpet in this room.  My previous sewing room had hardwood, and I would recommend that to everyone.  It is the easiest to clean when it comes to threads, etc.  I've already asked Andy what it would take for me to convince him to let us pull up the carpet and put laminate down in there.  (The carpet is only a couple years old.)  Let's just say, after all we've gone through moving into this room, etc., the look he gave me said it all.  :(  I guess I'll just have to wait till the next time we need carpet, and have the laminate put down then.  

Until then...I am going to be in my new sewing room for the rest of the day, if you should need me.  :)  

Let me leave you with this funny commercial...

Loretta