OTHER sewing spaces

I have used the linen closet, the coat closet, the laundry room, the highest shelves in the master bedroom closet and behind a diagonally placed chair in a corner of the family room. And the shelves in my sons' closets when they were young and couldn't reach that high. So far my pantry has always been safe from fabric storage. But then in my 'next house'..... who knows???

This is a fun question! Thanks for asking, Polly- I look forward to some outrageous answers. ;-)

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

PS: In cool/cold weather I store a big, heavy bag of dog food in the back seat of my truck. I'll do about anything to put off carrying the darn thing into the house. I wait until I need it to carry it inside. And I always keep a spare bag out in my truck in the winter in case of a snow or ice storm. Can't be running out.... and I could eat it, too. If I *had* to. HA!!!

I kind of have stuff all over the house sort of. A lot less than I used to. When I sewed in a corner of the bedroom or family room there was a lot of overflow everywhere. I have a lot of fabric in sterilite buckets in the garage and storage sheds. I have our bed on risers so I can store patterns and vintage stuff there. I like fabric more than clothes so there is some fabric in the big bedroom walk in closet. I really am trying to corral the inside the house stuff to the sewing room at this point, some success some not so much. I bet fabric could be stashed inside the fold up sleeper sofa. Baskets used to be everywhere with fabric. Sewing machines and cabinets are bedside and lamp tables sometimes. I have a picture in my mind of a gazebo in the yard for a sewing machine to use outside. Hasn't happened yet but you never know. DD lives 4 miles away and is living in a big house with lots of storage space. She has been generous in sharing storage. There is a lot there. She hasn't done a thing with the front room and said I could put a long arm set up there is I used it often. I won't be doing that but she is a good sport to offer. : ) The idea of more stuff is dangerous. I'm curious to hear of good stash ideas. Taria

A gazebo? Oh Taria, how you are after my heart! Wouldn't it just be wonderful to have a gazebo for quilting? There's a wonderful place in Tennessee that we visit in November with several magnificent gazebos; screened for the occasional no-see'ums, fire pits to ward off evening chill and surrounded by beauty. AHhhh. YEs! Polly

Got'cha Leslie. Being ready to go with those precious furry faces and a good supply of puppy chow is big-time important when treacherous weather threatens. We do have our priorities. Polly

Places I have sewn (with a sewing machine): In a church In a church hall In the village hall In a school hall (during rehearsals, by the light of the sewing machine ONLY! School classrooms not usually used for sewing The conservatory The upstairs landing The dining room In the garden

Places I currently have sewing stuff in my house: In the sewing room/guest bedroom/library On the landing In the loft In the conservatory In the living room

I don't have a sewing room and refuse to give up the second guest room, so I have quilting things tucked away all over the house, excepting only the bathrooms and kitchen. The Featherweight is in its case tucked into a well-hidden corner of the living room, and other stuff is also in the living room. A fold-up sewing machine table is under the sofa, and my traditional sewing basket is tucked into the Victrola record storage area. Daily stitching things are in the hidey holes of a corner table by my favorite chair, and the good sewing light is behind the chair. The fireplace mantle holds the current cut and sorted bits of fabric I am piecing. The dining room has lots, too. Between the dining room table pads and a second set of table pads are my cutting mats, and boxes of threads are in baskets stashed on top of a breakfront. A basket of "take it to the front porch" sewing stuff is under the silver chest. Completed blocks for the top currently being pieced are in a basket tucked on the bottom shelf of a small table, together with threads for that quilt, all covered with two tea towels to discourage the cat. Another basket holds the colored fabrics I have chosen for a Baltimore quilt, together with the pattern/instruction book and photocopied patterns. A smaller basket sits in the top and holds all the matching threads. In my bedroom are the 99K tucked into a closet, along with a laundry basket full of fat quarters and smallish lengths of fabric, all miscellaneous. Also, under the bed is a rolling storage thing with all of my stencils. In the large guest room there is a WW2 footlocker with the white fabric for the Baltimore quilt, a full bolt of white fabric (I just had to have it!), and about 6 yards of white-on-white that I will use for the backing on the current quilt I am piecing. On top of the footlocker is a storage box with bags of pre-washed fabrics chosen for lap quilts, tote bags, and two other future quilts. In the dresser are two drawers with of boxes of miscellaneous tools. In the small guest room there is a rag quilt on the bed that the cat can nap on and that can be removed easily and run through the washer and dryer at home, and just under that is a very nice quilt and the bed made up for a guest. However, under all of that are at least a half dozen currently- not-used quilts all spread carefully and stacked -- kind of a hidden storage area. Finally, in the basement there is a set of shelves that has all of my quilting books, knitting books, tatting, crochet, and miscellaneous "sewing and yarn and threads" books, all of which I organized very carefully a couple of years ago so I can always find what I want. Another set of shelves holds packages of batting. This all probably sounds like the home of a crazy lady, and perhaps that is true. However, it makes perfect sense to me, and I like it!

I didn't post a single picture of my sewing room. It's a bedroom in our house and it IS a mess. That is the only place I have my sewing/crafts/yarn/card making stuff. I used to sew on my kitchen table before I had a sewing room. I've sewn in a cabin and it's "barn" when it was finished being fixed up. The most unusual place I've sewn is at the Police station.

I'm a take-along quilter, so it is probably unsurprising that I have been found sewing:

In a police station A hospital (actually, quite a few) Mad house (only _I_ am allowed to call it that!) School staff room Bus stop car; boat; train airport ballet class campsite - in a tent, of course Theme park (I HATE the rides, so I get to be anchorman) Museum (the light is awful) cricket matches (everyone laughs, until it gets cold...) Church (not during Service, I hasten to add) Caf=E9s hairdressers The open air (all the time)

I only work with one needle at a time, when I'm peripatetic. That way I can be sure I leave with everything safely stashed away, and I am not a sharps hazzard. Nowadays, airports frown on me, but other places don't seem to mind. And it whiles away the wasted hours otherwise reading endless gossip magazines, which I hate with a passion.

In the house, I am systematically moving the 'downstairs' stuff to the sewing room. One of the original problems was the long-search-before- I-could-start problem. It all got too frustrating.

Nel (Gadget Queen)

It's not exactly 'creating'.....but roughly 1/3 of our basement is also my sewing machine workshop/repair center....it is FULL of vintage sewing machines, some completely restored, some in pieces (being restored) and still others which are 'organ doners,' who will 'live on' in their fellow machines.

-Irene

I started out sewing in my parent's basement, then on to a card table in NJ, followed by an actual sewing cabinet in Ohio in our bedroom, then a guest bedroom in Italy, our bedroom in Texas, a guest bedroom in Germany, the computer room in Virginia, and now a guest bedroom in Pennsylvania. Other places included a community center, friends' homes, several church halls, the car, a cruise ship and my nextdoor neighbor's garage. I manage to keep all my "stuff" in the one room, except when my buddies come to sew....then we spread out all over the dining room and living room..

As soon as my son moved out, his room became my stash room, with the closet doors and hall door removed to make even more room! My koala table and Bernina is permanently set up in the dining room, with one wall dedicated to my design wall. The book shelves in the dining room are filled with bins, mostly, of non fabric supplies, mostly mixed media, and photoalbum stuff. Oh, and there's a sturdy card table set up in the living room with all my paints OR my cutting mat and rulers!

Musicmaker

Hey Kate, you really get around. LOL Taria

I hand sew so have sewn

around the house at the swimming pool at the climbing centre at leisure centres at childrens parties in the car waiting for children to come out of school at the local play park (don't try sitting on the roundabout you get really dizzy!)

One of the nicest places is on our group retreat at Kielder in Northumberland, I'm off again in a couple of weeks. I'm wish that I could go for a week like the retired ladies, but for now I enjoy a weekend away.

I keep my extra cutting boards back under the sofa in the living room. They stay flat and out of the light that way. Believe me, in my house, nobody but me will ever look back under the sofa. I also have moved my hand stitching upstairs to the good chair by the good lamp. And of course, the equipment and thread and whatnot needs to be there where I work in the evening. My extra sewing machines move around the house. As long as one isn't in one place too long, nobody notices. And that way they don't take up space in my sewing room. Of course the best one is the sauna, which is in my sewing room (it's a great cedar inset, fully functional -- until I threw the breaker switch for that circuit). I keep folded fabric, stuff, wips, batting, stuff and more stuffi n there. Including my very tiny stash of fabric for making myself clothing. (a dream, it's only a dream ....)

Sunny

When we bought this house with its lovely studio space my husband pointed to the door leading to the studio and said that he hoped I would keep my "stuff" behind those doors. I try to remember that moment and keep my stuff out of the living area of the home. . . but those closets and cupboards are fair game.

Family room entertainment center. Antique quilts look lovely folded on the shelf over the TV. Cabinetry below the TV originally housed Lego's but now it holds pieced tops plus a few quilt kits and UFO's. Book shelves either side of TV hold needlework and history of needlework books plus my collection of quilting books from other countries.

Book shelves in living room hold history of quilting books.

Son's former bedroom (don't you love it when they finally move to their own home!) has three work stations. My AccuCut die cutting machine and dies finally have their own permanent place with enough space to actually use the machine. My recently acquired treadmill is there for daily use. The majority of my quilt pattern books are on the shelves left behind by son. A comfortable reading chair is nearby as space for dreaming and planning quilts. Half of the closet is stacked with tubs of fabric. Not wanting fabric stored here to be forgotten, I have placed full categories in this area: Christmas, African and felt. The other half of the closet holds finished quilt tops hanging on hangers waiting to be quilted. The top shelves hold fleece.

The other son's former bedroom must double as a guest room now that Mom is permanently in the old guest room. But guests do not need much space for hanging clothes and they only need two drawers at the most to store their undies. The small chest of drawers holds my miniature quilt collection. The tall chest holds quilt kits. The closet houses the non-quilty bargains I buy throughout the year and hold for Charity Christmas giving.

Quilt batting and stuffing are stored in the closet of Mom's room. Finished quilts both old and new are folded in the armoire with a few neatly stacked on top.

I think of the laundry room as an extension of my studio. After all it is right next door. I do try to keep a clear path to the washer and dryer so Dave will help with the laundry. There is often a stack of pre-washed fabric next to the washer awaiting the iron.

When I visit friends who have downsized their homes I spend much of the visit planning where I could stash fabric in such a small space. I recently heard a great idea. My friend was moving her mother from the assisted living apartment to a full care nursing facility. When my friend thought they had removed every thing her mother pointed to the ceiling. She told them to lift the tiles and they would find her storage area!

Susan

On Mon, 18 Oct 2010 22:48:30 -0500, Polly Esther wrote (in article ):

Hmm, right now my machines are being stored on the sun room floor, I have a laundry basket of started projects and some supplies in the dining room. The dining room is also where my hand quilting frame always is.

I have a small sewing basket under the end table next to the couch and usually have a handwork sitting on the table.

In the communal laundry room and our storage space I currently have another laundry basket of fabric, and unbelievably large pile of tubs and baskets holding supplies that came out of the flooded sewing room, my dress form, three little sets of rolling drawers with thread, embroidery supplies, and some of my stamping/scrapbooking supplies, and my ruler rack for my large rulers.

Everything else is still in the unusable studio, but topsy turvy and sometimes impossible to find.

I have a wall-mounted ironing board in the studio, but am currently pressing on a little tabletop board that sits on top of the guest room bed.

Maureen

Group retreat at Kielder? What a lovely idea. Is that a specialist group? Is it your particular group? A group retreat might be just what I need right now.

Nel