Take charge of your sewing studio!

 

I have a ton of sewing and quilting to do, but honestly, I would walk into Studio B and feel totally overwhelmed and uninspired. I realized that the mess of stuff everywhere is very discouraging, which takes the fun out of sewing. 

Yesterday it was all about changing that! It was the sort of day that you cannot plan or schedule. You are either in the mood or you are not. 

If I want to use the tools and machines that I have, I'd better make room for them, or it will not happen. And I tried to get as much as possible off the floor and find a home for everything. 

I had brought a tub of projects down that I found in an upstairs closet, and it was time to deal with that, and good thing that I did. Look what I found in there. 

More Oh Canada fabric

Yes -- that is a whole lot more Oh Canada fabric. No pattern -- just the fabric. So I quickly brought that upstairs and put it with the rest. I delivered one more bag to Diane yesterday, and there is one more box to drop off today. I'm guessing that she has enough fabric between the four containers to make 8 quilts? One or two might be scrappy, and I'll work on those at a retreat. 

When I dropped off that bag, I picked up a bag of quilt tops from Diane. You have to love that -- I drop off a bag of fabric and pick up quilt tops. That's pretty awesome! Thanks, Diane!!!

Five more quilt tops

Diane doesn't know is that as soon as I drop off bags of fabric to her, I get the next batch ready, so when she says she needs more -- it's ready to go. I have those tubs of fabric under the long arm, and everything needs to go. I was keeping some should I need it -- a box of solids, Toscana, Stonehenge -- basics, but guess what? It's all going. I have my own stash, so I don't need those tubs. 

Besides, I needed the tubs to help me clean up! Oh yes --- tidying up is more important than storing fabric that technically isn't mine! 

This is what is stored under the long arm. Yes -- it looks a bit messy, but it is organized. Actually, it doesn't look that messy. But all my supplies for making samples are in containers, fabric for clothing, some UFOs, and probably a few other things. I need room for ONE more tub, but that will come as I refine what's under the long arm. There are four or five more tubs of fabric for Diane to play with, which are on the left-hand side. 

One side of the long arm

The backside of the long arm

I would prefer that NOTHING be stored there, but I have no choice. More incentive to get it used up!

Then I was off to clear up the Zoom area tables. Both are cleared off and look great. I may set up an embroidery machine on the table with the cushions as I need space for one more embroidery machine. I sat there while I tried to watch another episode of The Great British Baking Show -- I managed to finish watching the episode from the night before and one challenge. Then I needed to get to bed!

The Zoom area tables

I cleared this table filled with sample-making supplies (all went under the long arm), and now my Scan and Cut has a home. I NEED to try something today, but now that I have the space, it will be easy to play with it whenever I want. Lots of room for the mats to go forward and backward and room for the supplies. 

Space for the Scan and Cut

The two sergers are set up and ready to go on their own table. 

Two sergers ready to go

I already used one this morning as I finished off two pets. 

Two pet mats

Here's the embroidery machine all set up and ready to go. I have a project that needs to get embroidered today and a sample, which will be happening later today. 

The embroidery machine

And then there's the sewing table. Yikes -- this looks like a disaster, but I'm behind in what needs to be sewn. This does NOT look welcoming at all. But remember that EVERYTHING is sitting on a mini design board, so it's easy to move. 

The sewing table

So I moved some of the projects off the table -- temporarily. I put them on the empty tables in the Zoom area. That is NOT a good thing to do, but it's temporary. As I finish what's on the table, I'll bring more back until it's all cleared up. Here's the thing -- clearing this table off made sewing much more relaxing this morning and much more inviting!! I mean -- seriously --- I can only sew one or two things at a time. 

AH -- much easier to sew with only a project or two

There's the sewing machine accessory table. This is piled with extra embroidery units, extension tables, embroidery hoops, etc., all related to sewing machines. 

The sewing machine accessory table

I even decided to tackle Pandora's closet and the current project table. The current project table changed looks several times during the day, but this is what it looks like -- more or less. 

This is looking at it from one end. 

One end of the current projects table

And this is from the other end. The stuff in the front NEEDS to be dealt with. Again -- this looks much more inviting than that massive stack of projects. 

The other end of the current project table

So what happened to everything on the table? I found spots on the shelf in the storage room or in the closet. Why do I keep all this stuff out when I can't get to it? So putting it away will help clear the clutter and make the space much more inviting. 

Speaking of Pandora's closet -- what does it look like now? 

The right-hand side of Pandora's closet

The left-hand side of the closet

Did you see there is space on one of the shelves!! I might be able to squeeze in another project or two in that spot. I really didn't want to put anything on the floor, but that laundry basket is too large, and the stuff in the first picture is a grouping of Kimberbell projects, and for the moment, both need to go on the floor. This looks much better than when I started months ago! 

That was a lot of work, but the space looks so much better. Wait -- -I have one more table. This is the table where the almost finished things sit or those quilts to be trimmed. 

The almost finished table

One quilt is waiting to be trimmed, two that need sleeves added, and one quilt that needs the binding attached. None of which will take that long to complete, but it takes time! I hope to get some of that done today. 

Let's not forget the cutting table. Loads of stuff on there. Do you see the overflowing scrap basket -- that's where the two pet mats came from. Many things on that table won't take long to finish or need to be put away. 

The cutting table -- a mess as usual

Yes -- it's a total mess, but by the end of today, I hope to make it look much better!!!

This space is never clear, but nothing lives here

And then there's the ironing board which changes throughout the day. The trick for the ironing board is that nothing should live there. It can rest there, but not live there!!

The ironing board is a constant flux

So it looks different every time I go downstairs!!!

Stuff comes and goes on the ironing board

Oh -- there is one more area -- the ongoing projects. There are a few too many to fit in the basket, so they have spilled onto the floor, but they are all in one spot. So it's super easy to find anything. By June, this area should be much neater. 

The ongoing project area

I now have a ton of empty containers. Those will go in the storage area under the stairs, so if I need a container, I have something. At some point, some of those will be given away, but for the moment, they stay. 

Empty storage containers

And I managed to get a customer quilt done, and it's trimmed and ready to go today. 

Customer quilt -- DONE

I was listening to a page-turner audiobook, and well -- I couldn't stop with the tidying. Can you believe that I'm almost ready to just sew -- NO MORE managing crap? That is so time-consuming. At one point, I must do the same in the office, but that's not my priority. I haven't even put the furniture back in place from when the windows were done, and that was in December. Not my priority. 

And I have become obsessive with walking. I can't help myself. Yesterday was a killer day. I cranked out 32 KM on the bike at spin class, and then look what happened with the walking  Just over 18 KM. 

How did that happen? I walked the dogs in the morning, then walked to Diane's and continued on for my usual walk, making the regular walk longer. Then, while I was at the furthest point from my house, I realized I needed milk, and the grocery store was in the opposite direction. So after I got home and had a snack, I grabbed my shopping bag and headed out to the grocery store. It takes just under a half-hour to go to the grocery store, shop, and return. I am NOT taking the car for that. 

My biggest issue now is this. 

So I have a daily goal for calories; with all the exercise yesterday, I had to almost DOUBLE the number of calories I needed to eat  As you can see, I went to bed with a calorie deficit of 674 calories which is NOT good. It's OK to do that for a day or two, but then the body goes into starvation mode and hoards calories (and fat), which is not good. I ate so much yesterday -- I ran out of things to eat. What I need are more HIGH-PROTEIN snacks. 

Walking really is an excellent exercise, and you don't need to walk the distances that I do, nor do you need to walk at my ridiculous pace. A nice slow and steady walk is good for the heart and soul. Check it out. Once you get the hang of it -- walking for no reason it's very addictive, And it helps your immune system, which is excellent as we have no time to get sick!!!

On that note, I've got another busy day ahead of me, and with all those stations set up and ready to do something, I'm pumped to get downstairs and see what I can do  But not before I do a bit of paperwork! 

OH MY --- there is a new version of software coming for my long arm (APQS with QuiltPath), and OH MY GOD --- the things I will be able to do. I can't wait to get the download. I'm not sure how that works, but we seem to get "free" downloads for all the upgrades, which I'm not complaining about!!! 

If anyone has experience in getting a US-based teacher into Canada, let me know. 

Have a super day!!!!!

Ciao!!!!