Miracle in the Quilt Studio!

Have you ever felt like someone or something is trying to give you a message? The same topic comes up over and over from totally different places?
I got a message recently. It was "Time to say goodbye....to fabric you won't be using." It appeared in books, on blogs, and was even part of the Becky Goldsmith lecture at my guild meeting!
This is why:

And you know this is not the entire stash...

You have seen my studio in it's "natural" state, and this mess is usually behind closed doors....well, when it's possible to close them! Basically the stacks are done by color (the blues are in the lower part of the cupboard).
But what's here is mainly fabric I have had for a long time. A really long time.
I'd rather have all my batiks out their storage boxes and on display here...so I must say goodbye.
I started off with the reds. I thought I might be able to deal with this mess one stack at a time. I got about 6 fabrics out, and they sat for several days on my table.
Then, in a sudden burst of inspiration one night, I rooted through almost everything. I tried to be ruthless. This is what I got:

More than a laundry basket load!

Some of this will be donated to good causes, some given to friends, and the rest will be made into patchwork backings for quilts (the larger pieces) and anything else will be stripped up.
Eventually.
Now I have this to look at:

Who knew this cupboard has a back?

These fabrics will trade places with the batiks when I get to the next phase of this project. And there's the bottom section of the cupboard to do as well...never any lack of Things To Do!
It's important to remember that anything done is better than nothing done. Even avoiding one task by doing another is OK when you're making progress somewhere.
(at least that's what I tell myself....)
But it's still a miracle for this packrat's studio!

New Year's preparations...

It's the last day of 2011...time to get ready for the traditional Quilt Studio Clean-Up for the New Year!
This time I decided the "divide & conquer" routine is best, so I will look at the areas in my studio and choose one to work on first. You might think a room this small doesn't have areas, but it definitely does!

A place for everything...?

This is by the door, but actually to the left as you walk (squeeze) in. Really, the ironing has to go...that's a big mental road block in a studio! And how can I open the nice, labelled boxes when small items have used the lids as a landing spot?

Why the door doesn't open completely

Why, yes...this whole mess does collapse under the force of gravity upon occasion! And what you can't see on the floor is a stack (there's a box under it somewhere) for things to get rid of....one may ask why they are still there!

Ah...a new sewing machine!

Here's a bit of a breather...except for the true Neat-Niks, but they've already clicked away to another blog by now, if their hands weren't shaking too much.
YOU CAN SEE THE FLOOR!
But the trash basket is full. At least that's easy to fix.

Really...this is a cutting table!

This is to my back when I'm sewing. It's a very good example of how any horizontal space collects stuff.The plastic box contains a lot of decorative threads, and it has a place to be put away in, too!
I'm sure if you like TV shows such as "American Pickers" and "Storage Wars" you are really enjoying this post...and you're wondering what all is on those shelves in the background.
This is:

The WOW factor

I know the vinyl I need for the Betsy Goldsmith applique class is in here somewhere...down on the lower left is the home of the Infamous Over-flowing Scrap Basket, my lecture prop. 
But the place that really needs clearing out the most has to be here:

Total confusion...or is it?

It's a mess, but I do know what's in there! It's the magnet spot for all UFOs and other things that need to be set aside temporarily...like maybe for 5 years or so!
This is the ideal place to start the clean-up, as these items are beginning to block the way to my sewing machine.
But no matter how cluttered it gets, I will never utter the words "I can't get in there". That is a bad sign, friends...it means you are not able to get to your creative work, and that's the beginning of the end!
If you ever reach that point, let me know and I will come over to help you shovel a path to your sewing machine. Do not, under any circumstances, allow yourself to be cut off from sewing, gluing or whatever it is you love to do. Even the tiniest bit of creative action keeps your soul alive.


OK, I'm ready now to do battle with my PackRat side. Like battling the Dark Side, it's never-ending...but it is a lot more fun and colorful!

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Quilt Studio: Fantasy vs Reality

It's true: quilters love "fantasy magazines"!
You know what I mean, the ones that show the winning quilts from Big Shows, make claims about "quick" and "easy", anything with paper-piecing a gazillion little bits (OK, that's just me.., some of you really are good at that!). We love to dream about The Perfect Quilt Life.
And just in time for our Summer-time fantasy reading, there is a new issue of Studios from Quilting Arts magazine (Interweave). I know, from subscribing to "The Quilting Daily" email that QA sends, which is sometimes an ad but often has very good tips.
The following are "Tips for Making Your Studio Unique" from the new magzine (as sent in The Quilting Daily today 5/20/10), and a few of my comments.
WARNING: some photos are not for the faint-of-heart

"Punch it up with bright colors"-- I believe they are referring to painting the walls, which would have to be done before the room was turned into a studio. Or maybe some painted furniture...that's good, as many of us have re-cycled items in use. But it's not going to get painted once it it is in the studio!
I say, punch it up with your own bright fabric, no doubt on display from being pulled for a project-in-process!

Yes, siree...there is nothing for decorating your studio like reurning home from Paducah and a retreat! The combination of purchases, multiple projects in progress, and inspiration (overload) is just divine!
(bright fabric was just pulled to complete the quilt top recently made with blocks from 1993!).

Use every inch of space-- What space? Oh, the space I already have filled up! If you've heard my lecture "Taming The Scrap Basket" you know Sunnie's Rule of Storage: All horizontal surfaces (including the floor) are storage spaces...until gravity takes over!

Carve out creative time-- Always excellent advice. Note the use of "carve", which Webster's Dictionary defines as "to cut with care and precision". Friends, be sure your knife is sharp, and carve out that creating time! I suggest you get it from house cleaning. Obviously, the amount of cleaning time I have should all be spent in the studio!

Get organized once and for all-- Being organized is good. Having a place for everything allows you to find it when needed, and put it back when you're done. Or when you finally get around to it....

 The "once and for all" is the fantasy here. There is no end to it! Organization is an on-going process...yeah, that's the ticket! Treat it as another hobby.
(Oh, no...I think I see some un-used wall space near the Kit Kat Clock! Quick...get the stick-on wall hooks!)

Bring the outside in-- If you work in a basement this is very important. You need some daylight bulbs, maybe a nice large picture of a meadow or garden. I am fortunate to have a wall of windows, and on the second floor, it's tree-top level.

And being large windows, I can usually see over the stuff stacked all around!

But they are also 100 year old casement windows, and I assure you...they definitely let the outside in!

Create all over the place--I've said it before and I'll say it again: you cannot justify the cost of purchasing dining room furniture unless you put that big table to good use! At my house, there is no telling what can end up on that table. You may remember this picture from two years ago:

                              

Over all, it is good to be married to another creative person. You may have to fight for the use of the Big Table, but at least you can be forgiving when it's unavailable (sometimes for months...).

I do recommend the Studios magazine for some very good ideas & inspirations.
And the Spring issue (I believe) had Robbi Joy Eklow's studio.... I salute her for keeping it real in a world of  fantasy!
Do enjoy this magazine (and others). Then get into your studio and make art!
(well, after I manage to put a few things away..)

Studio saved from disaster!

My 100+ year old house is being painted.
It began with a Power Wash...which came right in through most of the windows, including my studio.
Those casement windows are no match for a clean machine. I knew it would happen....but I forgot to take precautions. (darn...it IS always my fault!)I was too busy mopping up to get any pictures of the soaked cardboard boxes that were once stacked on the floor here. And the window sills were filled with button jars and, well...all the junk that hastily been transferred to my sewing desk, cutting table and any other remotely flat space!

I know a sewing machine and a chair are in there somewhere!

Even as accustomed as I am to working in the midst of clutter, there was no place to get any work done...especially as the Main Project is quilting on a quilt I need for a class on the 16th!

Indeed, the pigeons of "I'll get around to cleaning that later" had finally come home to roost, and did they ever leave a mess!
So I started by cleaning the windows and thinking about getting rid of some of the stuff stored back there (between my desk and the wall). I am pleased to say that two boxes of doll making supplies will be used by the BGPC for an angel-making day next month (and I hope to send all the remaining supplies home with my friends).

And some items could be combined...

so it was off to Wally World to buy three new plastic boxes!

TIP: Label boxes before filling!

I could not believe what I found inside the lid...a yellow warning sticker that shows a child inside a plastic box and in 3 languages it says "Suffocation Risk"!

While I was peeling it off, I noted that the same warning is molded right inside the lid, too!

I was reminded of the TV show Eerie, Indiana where a woman kept her kids inside Tupperware containers so they would "stay young forever".

As you can see, this box is being prepared to hold UFOs from a couple other boxes. I tape a label inside each short end, so no matter how it gets shoved back in place, it will be indentified.

There were so many UFOs to put in there, I sub-labeled one end "Area 51-2-3".

I knew you'd want a peek before I closed it up!
The UFO you can see is...(OMG!)...hand pieced trees from a Quiltmaker pattern (198??), partially hand-quilted in Quilt As You Go style!!! This is actually getting to be vintage!

How can I get rid of something like that????
Especially, as readers of this blog know, in regards of my rampant PackRatism.
And as eveidence, I ask you to look at the cardboard box behind the plastic one.

That, my friends, is an heirloom cardboard box!

It was first used to transport electric parts from the THOR company in Chicago to my grandfather in Dayton, Ohio. There's no date, but that was probably 70 years ago!
It has been used for several things...it is marked "New towels" and "Hobbies" and has numbers from at least three house moves. My father gave two of them to me when I collected my pre-marriage stuff from the attic, and I was instructed at the time that these were the most excellent boxes and not to just get rid of them!

Someday, I will pass them on to my son.... filled with:

Travel back to those by-gone days of blue & mauve!

I knew you would want to know! This is the sample (and also supplies, etc.) for the first beginners class I taught when I became a quilt teacher. All hand pieced and quilted, this sampler had 8 blocks to chose from, and totally prepared you to be A Quilter!

This class has since been replaced with a machine techniques one. The original is going in the THOR box and stashed up high where it is no longer in the way of anything else.

How do you like my baskets-as-a-valance? They DO have stuff in them, too!

The rolls and bolts of fusibles and other paper supplies have found a new and bigger box. The Steam-A-Seam packages are old...how about a 5 cent price for them at the Quilters Flea Market in July? (a guild activity, but do stop by if you are in town on the 25th!)

And at last my sewing machine and chair have re-appeared, ready to get back to work!

Oh, you noticed that flat thing? It's an old cork board that I rest between my desk and the window sill, to support the quilt as it comes out of the machine, and keep the weight from dragging it down.

I'll really need it now....there isn't much stuff piled up back there anymore!

Trash Talk

No matter how careful you think you are, someday you may write something not very complimentary in an e-mail, and then you are apalled to find it has been copied off to a large group of people!
But the trash talk here is about your very own trash can in the sewing room/ studio.


Look! Actual floor space showing in my studio! (the white thing on the left is NOT a trash can...it's a Scrap Basket!)


This odd contraption is exactly what it looks like: a brown paper grocery sack stuck into a cardboard box. The original intent was to have a disposable bag, stabilized by the box. Over time it has all become stuck together and the space between the box and the bag makes a convenient place for stashing odd bits of possibly-useful-in-the-future cardboard.
(OK, we can talk about my Pack-Ratism at a later date.)
Meanwhile, when it gets filled, I just dump the contents into a large trash bag.

I learned to make the paper bag trash container at an early age, and I highly recommend it for all class situations. The turned over edge keeps it open and sturdy. It is an excellent "green" recycling item, especially as I believe a paper bag is a better grocery holder than the plastic thingies.
(of course, a cloth bag is the BEST!).

SECRET DIRECTIONS:

Fold over the top edge of the paper bag but do not crease! Just bend the paper, working your way around. Then go around a second time, making the crease. If you crease it the first time around it will tear at some point.
You can throw the entire thing away when it is full.


Recently the Mysterious Ms. E asked me about disposing of sewing needles.
While I admire her for putting safety first, I personally don't care, and just chuck the needle right into the bag. Often, they are parts of needles, as yet again I have managed to smash one up by aggressive machine quilting, or forgetting to replace the single hole throat plate with the zig-zag one. You know what I mean!
Otherwise, I must lead a charmed life, as I have never had a bad encounter with a discarded needle while pawing back through the trash looking for a scrap!
I know you know what I'm talking about!

Rotary cutter blades are another matter. They are round razor blades.
I wrap them in sheets of paper....or even a piece of that cardboard... which is so handy, waiting right there with trash!
(this is the root of Pat-Ratism... can't throw this away, I really will need it some day!)

Post Script & Happy Talk:
I really cannot leave you with "trash talk" and that strange photo.
Do you remember this quilt, started in a Dianne Hire class?


Today it will be going to it's new home...at Cherry-Cherry's house! She doesn't even know it yet.
Happy Birthday to my Alpha Beta-tester!

Getting Off the Floor

Just in case you have never heard Sunnie's Rule of Storage, here it is:
"Any horizontal surface becomes a storage area, until gravity takes over."
This includes the floor.

My studio is small, maybe 10' x10' in a strange old-house sort of configuration. It has a floor made from heart-of-pine, but you wouldn't notice, because the entire floor has become a storage area (where it isn't covered by furnture). It's a one-woman, one-cat operation, and right now the cat doesn't have enough room!

My goal until the end of the year is to try and uncover some of the floor. I guess that means I am concentrating on UFO's that have landed! So far, so good... I have emptied tote bags that held old class projects (finished the items and returned the remaining fabric to the shelf or box where it belongs) and managed to corral fabric back into containers.
This morning I took all the pieces from a Diane Hire class (3 years ago!) and finished a small wall hanging. Then I grabbed a red tote bag from under the ironing board and discovered a collection of blue & white nine-patches. Not only have I got a start on another new quilt, but a sizable area of floor was exposed!
I feel like I am really accomplishing something!

Please don't ask about the batik stack, though....it is not in an actual walk-way, and will be saved for later!

Now, if I could only figure out getting digital pictures posted here, you could really appreciate my work!