Rebecca's New Sewing Room Tour

I don't have much appreciable progress on any of my personal quilts in progress to share with you.  I have been really busy with remodeling and furnishing our new home, since we got rid of so much worn and outdated furniture when we moved.  I'm still working on piecing those double nine patch Tilda blocks that I wrote about in March, just in 5-10 minute increments here and there when I get a chance.  I've managed to finish piecing only two of the six double 9-patch blocks that I cut out eight weeks ago.  How's that for "slow stitching?!"  

Two Nine Inch Blocks Completed, Four More In Progress

Much more progress has been made in the Herculean task of trying to fit all of my sewing and craft goodies from our 3-story home in North Carolina into our MUCH smaller home here in Florida.  The solid maple butcher block top that I had for my giant 97" x 42" cutting table in North Carolina underwent a major amputation in order to repurpose it for a cutting table that would fit in my new 11' 4" x 11' 6" sewing room:

Bernie Sawing My Butcher Block Cutting Table In Half

You can read all about my old cutting table in this blog post from 2013 if you're interested.  

New Cutting Table, 42 W x 61 L x 39 H

My new cutting table utilizes the same custom MDF base units that Bernie built for me in 2013 in a different configuration, and it measures 42" wide by 61" long.  I'm about 5’7” tall and my cutting table height is 39".  Since this is Florida and cotton fabrics fade from UV exposure, I've situated the wire bins containing the bulk of my FQ (fat quarter) and half yard quilting cotton stash on the side of my cutting table that does not get any direct sunlight.

Peg Wall Storage for Rotary Cutting Tools

I previously had a kitchen drawer base cabinet under the larger cutting table for storing my scissors, rotary cutters, and all of the little tools and gadgets (BlocLock and other squaring up templates, appliqué supplies, etc.) so I'm having to find new storage solutions for everything that used to be in those drawers.  In addition to storing my cutting rulers on the peg wall like I did in my last studio, I have also got my rotary cutters up on the wall as well, with everything visible and close at hand for cutting out quilt projects.

Back Side of Cutting Table, Awaiting Storage Unit for AccuQuilt GO! Die Collection

This cutting table is still a work-in-progress, though.  That metal frame thing that I've highlighted in pink in the photo above used to hold my wire scrap bin baskets like the one on the right, but if I put those bins there now I wouldn't be able to open them to get at the fabric.  Ultimately that metal frame and its baskets will go into the closet, but for now the frame is just helping to hold up that back corner of the table top until Bernie gets a chance to build a sturdy MDF storage unit for my collection of AccuQuilt GO! fabric cutting dies to go in its place.

Behold, the Closet!

We added wire shelving to this closet and I've got clear plastic storage boxes in there containing my threads for quilt piecing (100% cotton), home dec and garment sewing (all-purpose polyester), and hand stitching (silk, lighter weight cotton, and all the heavy decorative threads).mmThat plastic 3-drawer storage unit on the bottom left is completely filled with my collection of serger thread, with 4 cones of each color.  The metal IKEA cart with the removable wood top can be pulled up to whichever machine I'm working with to keep additional supplies handy or just to give me a safe place to set a cup of coffee.  I have just barely enough clearance to operate those bifold closet doors without smacking into my sewing cabinet.  

Also taking up real estate in this closet are project boxes containing my patterns, templates and fabrics for all of the projects I have planned but never started:

• American Jane Good Times "Under the Stars" Quilt Kit, purchased in 2020 when it was on sale
• Anna Maria Horner Welcome Home Quilt Kit, purchased a little over a year ago when I saw a sample hanging in a quilt shop and there was only one kit left
• All of the Laundry Basket Quilts fabric, patterns, and templates for the antique reproduction quilt Star Upon Stars that I purchased in March of 2022 when Edyta Sitar was doing a QAL (quilt-along) with video demos for the block and pieced sashing construction
• Three binders full of patterns for the Sarah Fielke appliqué BOM (Block of the Month) quilts I signed up for in 2022 but never started: Down the Rabbit Hole, Happy Days and Simple Folk
• Kaffe Fassett fabric yardage for a tiered maxi skirt that I wanted to make two years ago

There's also a project box full of completed blocks, partially completed blocks, and supplies for my FrankenWhiggish appliqué quilt that I started in 2014(!!!) and haven't touched since last October, a box for the Tilda Scrappy Celebration quilt that I started during my move and am working on right now, and a box for the Deco quilt I'm also working on right now, begun in 2021.  

You guys -- in listing all of that out right now, I searched back through my old blog posts to find out exactly how long ago I fell in love with each of those projects and revisited how excited I was about making them.  It's shocking to realize that last year I quilted hundreds of other people's quilts to help them turn their works-in-progress into finishes, but only finished one quilt and one skirt for myself.  Meanwhile, all of these other projects I want to make for myself have been accumulating and sitting untouched in closets and cupboards.  

Back to the sewing room tour!

Home Depot Husky 52 inch Adjustable Height Workbench for Sergers

One of my priorities in designing the new sewing room was that I wanted to have three machines set up and ready to use at all times: my primary sewing machine (Bernina B790+ Crystal Edition), my serger (Babylock Acclaim), and my coverstitch machine (Babylock Euphoria).  I have found that machines needing to be hauled out of closets and set up at the kitchen table don't get used as often as machines that have a dedicated workspace, and I would like to do more garment sewing with my sergers.  I purchased this adjustable height 52" x 24" Husky workbench from Home Depot for my sergers.  Since it's meant for use with woodworking tools, it's rock-solid and will not allow my sergers to bounce when sewing at full speed like a plastic utility table would do, and the price (about $300) was way less than any sewing cabinet.  

52 x 24 Koala Artistry Drawer Center Cabinet for my Bernina B 790 Plus

I bought a new Koala Artistry Drawer Center sewing cabinet for my main sewing machine, however.  I'd looked at Koala, Horn, and other specially-designed sewing cabinets years ago when planning my big studio in North Carolina and decided against them because I didn't need the adjustability features of a cabinet that expanded and folded up for storage and it was more cost-effective to build something custom using kitchen cabinet furniture.  However, in my new 11' x 11' sewing room where every inch of real estate matters, those features make a big difference.  There's a big extension leaf hinged to the back of this cabinet and the whole thing is on locking casters, so if I need more space when it comes time to add borders to a big quilt or sew some drapery panels, I can pull this cabinet forward and put that extension up just for that one project and then put it back the way it is now when it's finished.  Another major consideration is that, although Bernie is capable and willing of building me a custom sewing machine cabinet, there are so many more important projects on his Honey Do list already and ordering the Koala cabinet got my sewing machine set up and ready to sew in a matter of weeks rather than waiting months (or years!) for my husband to have time to build something.  (We still have purple walls in two bathrooms and in the laundry room...)

Sewing and Craft Supplies Still Needing a Home

I would love to tell you that, three months after moving to Florida, I've unpacked and found homes for all of my sewing and craft supplies, but alas, the boxes you see above remain unpacked because I still don't know where to put what's inside of them.  The hot pink bag on the left is full of ironing supplies like pressing cloths, sole plate cleaner, etc.  Then there are my appliqué supplies, like template plastic, Perfect Circle and AppliPop templates, starch brushes, Clover bias stem makers, etc.  Two big boxes not even cracked open yet contain all of my garment sewing patterns and garment fabrics waiting to be sewn, as well as elastic, fasteners, and my garment sewing reference books.  The opened box on the right is only about 1/3 full and it has a motley assortment of items from other unpacked boxes that didn't find a home yet.

Here's what really needs to happen to make these last few boxes go away.  I know that I could fit all of my general tools and supplies into my sewing room closet -- IF I got rid of all of the kits and project boxes full of works-in-progress and works-not-yet-begun.  I've got to look at each one of them critically, and then either commit to actually making the project or rehome it to someone else who will.  Easier said than done!

Meanwhile, 4 1/2 miles away at my father-in-law's house, I've been working on emptying out my late mother-in-law's craft room and getting it set up as a long arm quilting studio.  Here's where we started back in February:

Soon-To-Be Quilting Studio in February 2024

I am extremely grateful that my father-in-law agreed to let me have this room for my long arm quilting machine, because our new little house in Florida does not have ANY room that could accommodate the big 13' frame, let alone fit the frame with the required additional space around the frame needed to load a quilt and actually use the machine.  In the photo above, do you see the children's artwork on that back wall?  Those were made by my sons when they were little, and I was touched to see that my mother-in-law hung them up right there in her craft room where she could see them all the time.  The boxes and knick-knacks got piled up in here after my in-laws sold their house in New Jersey; mostly the contents of the kitchen and formal dining room that never got sorted through after moving them down here.

Same Room, 3 Months Later

If it wasn't for the bright yellow walls, would you even know that's the same room?!  I'm still looking for that cool Rebecca Grace Quilting sign my father-in-law gifted me and when we find it, we'll hang it up above my thread shelves.  I kept the boys' preschool art and all the family photos in the room, just moved them to different walls to make room for the thread and quilting rulers.  The yellow walls are a challenge for photography because light bouncing off yellow walls distorts color -- white or neutral wall colors make for much more accurate color rendering in photos -- but the yellow is going to stay because my mother-in-law picked it and it's important to my father-in-law.  I'll just have to edit quilt photos for white balance correction.

Here's a photo of me and Bernie standing in the yard outside my quilting studio at my father-in-law's house.  We have ZERO yard at our new home, so this is where we bring our dog Samwise to enjoy running around off-lease at "Opa's Private Dog Park."  He loves it, and my father-in-law enjoys having Sam there, too.  

The Yard Outside My Studio (Not at My House)

I think we can all agree that this is enough from me for one blog post!  I'll be back in a few days to share some Big Decisions I've made about my longarm quilting business.  Enjoy your weekend, and I hope your weekend plans include some time to sew!