Chaos Control

Several weeks ago, I bemoaned with you here about the state of my house. We are painting the downstairs; that mess continues. Some furniture rearranging led to a major overhaul in my sewing room, and that mess has mostly been conquered - at least to the point where I am willing to share some pictures.

This is my new big cutting table. I am so thrilled with it. I can work from either side. I'm using those pull-out trays (where a keyboard is meant to go) for my smaller rulers and rotary cutters. I have my fabric-covered tin can on top for scraps and trash. I have a lazy susan with straight pins, marking pencils, scissors, and whatnot. The stack of fabric is stuff that I plan to cut down into 2.5" squares. Just need to get to it. Under this table are stacks of individual project tubs, most of which are labeled.

I will step back a bit in this next photo and show a wider shot of the room. Previously, this picture would have contained a large navy easy chair with an overflowing laundry basket of "stuff." I have mostly dealt with the "stuff" and moved the chair to another bedroom. This freed up lots of space, let me tell you.

On the door hang two of my hand-quilted creations. I keep them out just because I like looking at them. Knickknacks fill the wall and top of the bookcase. Above the door is a sign that says "Old Quilts;" I gifted it to my grandmother years ago, and now I have it here. That's her little red oval mirror, too.

In the picture above, I have stepped to the opposite corner of this end of the room. You see the design wall above the table where Sharon sews. The ironing board juts out, and then my nest fills that back corner. (Perhaps there is a bit more straightening and tidying to be done there in that "nest.") The window behind my sewing machine looks out into our back yard.

Now for a look from the other end of the room. This room is quite large, as it extends nearly the entire width of the house; it's perfect for a sewing room.

I took the picture above standing at my sewing machine. Right down front you see the two t-shirt quilts I am working on. One is going to be finished and ready for the quilter later today; the other will need a couple more days of sewing. In the distance, you see a large basket on the wall which contains rolled up mini-quilts. A series of dressers and bookshelves line the back and side walls. The window looks out into our front yard.

Finally, this last picture is from the same spot behind my sewing machine, but faces the opposite corner of the room.

The Q-Snap quilt frame is back there, dismantled, but still has Antique Nine Patches loaded in it from History Day. I want to get back to work on it, but it has taken a back seat to Erin's Diamonds. That Veteran's Quilt on the design wall needs its 4-inch border, and would take about an hour to finish. That's just one of the many loose ends I hope to check off my list in the next few days.

Having the room tidied and neat (good enough for me) motivates me to get to work on things. I need to finish the 2 commissions (the t-shirt quilts) and the Veteran's quilt, then all my time is my own! Whoo-hoo!

Happy Quilting, Friends!