Thursday, January 15, 2009

A New Year deserves a Clean Slate.....

Over the holidays (ok, way before that!), my sewing room was a dumping station. DH Santa gifts were all in there hidden behind clutter, I was finishing up some Christmas presents and it just got worse and worse. Yesterday, I decided I had had it...It MUST be cleaned. Here are some before and after photos. What a mess... to see all the horrible mess, double click the photos to make them bigger.

This is my ironing table and cutting table. My DH made both of these for me about 5 or 6 years ago. I am tall (5'9") and these fit my height very well. He is very handy to have around. The shelves underneath the ironing table hold some of my fabric, mostly folk art colors by Pat Sloan. I love her color combos. Isn't this a mess? Now I did take all the stuff off of those shelves above and THEN take the photo, so it looks worse than it was. Those shelves above run around my entire sewing room. They hold a ton of stuff and are another Pat Sloan invention. Well, she didn't invent the shelves, just where to put them...

And the cutting table after. The gray container on the left hanging on the wall holds all of my hand embroidery thread. DH made the ruler/scissor holder on the right. The black metal thing in between is a paper holder. I am not really even sure what is in there now. The white bucket above holds my Mystery Quilt blocks.

And the ironing table after. I decided to hang all my swap postcards so I can see them everyday. Aren't they cute?

Here is where I sew. I used to have a HUGE sewing table that you can see HERE. DH made that also, but it has served it's time and it was freecycled. This table is portable. It has wheels. I can load it up and take it to retreat. It's a SewEzi table. LOVE IT....See it HERE. Hopefully this table won't get clutter like the old did, but I have realistic expectations and I am sure it will. -sigh-
So before

and After - Not much difference. I do like to use those Command Hooks. They will stick anywhere and when you want to move them, they come off clean. No marks on the wall. I have two totes hanging there. Both were gifts...I LOVE them. I use them. All the time..

Bookshelves are notorious for clutter and mine were no exception. This holds most of my mags and books, my Kona for hand embroidery, some special knick-knacks. It was OUT OF HAND!!!

Much better. And when does a UFO stop becoming a UFO? When you make it a curtain!! I need to line it so it doesn't fade.


This is the forth wall. Just a wall, but boy can it get crazy...


Ah, much better.

A full view.....


I think I need to sew and make a mess!! LOL Hope you enjoyed the tour...

Off to work on my calendar quilt. You can see the beginnings hanging on the design wall in the after photo of the bookshelves. Yes I am a week behind. While I was cleaning I found a piece of fabric that Pat Sloan mailed me when I was making a calendar quilt a long time ago. Think I will add it to this one....

Happy Sewing,
Nancy

10 comments:

Lilly said...

Good job, girl! It is amazing what a mess a sewing room can get into with so little effort. Any little project seems to require that every piece of fabric I have must be pulled out and every ruler and cutter must be used and etc, etc. Enjoy your nice and neat sewing room for the few minutes it will be uncluttered! TTFN...Lilly

Pat said...

GREAT job and what a great sewing space you have! Right now, since the sewing room is also the little kids' bedroom when they stay overnight, I can't have my scissors out all the timebut I would like to know if your hubby can share the design for that ruler/scissor rack (or if you can send me a close-up photo for my DH to look at and try to copy). I think that is a great idea. Thanks for the "tour". Let us know how long you can keep it neat and clean like this, okay? I try, BUT...it never works!!!

Lorraine said...

Great job on the tidying/cleaning....I did that with my sewing room before I started sewing anything this year....makes a huge difference! Oh and I spy.....I spy the bags I made for you...! Enjoy your tidy space.....if you are anything like me it will be untidy again with the next project...!

Shelly said...

OMG I thought my sewing room was the only one that became Santa's workshop, store all, hide things from company, etc. room--and now with 3 quilts started---OMG it has only gotten worse. You're right, EVERYTHING gets pulled out--and I can't seem to find time to get it put away. I love the shelving you have around the room--although I'm sure mine would be a catch all for everything. Maybe I'll get brave one day and post pictures of my sewing room somewhere! I don't know though that would take some real courage. Might have to follow the yellow brick road to go see the Wizard first! LOL Enjoyed seeing your blog! Come over and check mine out sometime. I'd love to have a visitor or two. I get tired of talking to myself!
Quilting Together,
Shelly

lej619 said...

O my if you think that was bad.!!
I know i'll never post a picture of my sewing room.!!

Sweet P said...

Thanks for the tour of your clean sewing room. Now get to work enjoying it!

~Bren~ said...

GORGEOUS room you have! I love the curtain you put up. That cutting table is wonderful. My back is aching to day from cutting on mine...I need those leg extensions NOW!
I will link your studio on my sidebar.

Sue said...

What a nice big room! Isn't it fun to have your space all in order? Enjoy!!

marlene@ByTheSeam said...

That was a nice tour. You have a wonderful place to sew and it is big too. It is so nice to have a hubby that is handy and make things for us.

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