Fall Sewing Room Cleaning and Organization

My Fall cleaning is going well!  Our home looks so much nicer and I am really enjoying the results.  Last week I worked in the sewing room.  I should have taken "before" pictures.  But, trust me, it was bad.

Here are a few pictures of the finished room.

I washed all the windows.  This room has great light, especially in the morning.

These baskets and drawers contain fabric sorted by color.  

I'm thinking of ordering an over the door iron hanger, but for now using two over the door hooks works.  I normally keep the ironing board set up all the time, but the room looks so much nicer with it up off the floor.  So I plan to only have it out when I am using it.  When I am sewing and quilting, that would be all the time though!

I have lots of books and magazines. Some of them have nothing to do with quilting, but most do.  

This area is behind the door, so its not as visible.  These totes contain batting, scraps and the one with the pink top contain children's type fabrics.

These are the 12 blocks I made when I was working on the Splendid Sampler Quilt Along.  I couldn't keep up, so I am going to make a small quilt to hang on the wall in the sewing room.  

This an old dresser that was in the bedroom my sister and I slept in when growing up.  I'm going to hang the quilt wall hanging above it.

This is an old doll cradle with a bear made from an old quilt.

He likes looking out the window too.

Of course, if he had eyes, that would help!

This is my old Singer.  It needs something "quilty" hanging above it too.

Plants:

Small touches.

This is my Mama's old machine. I took it out of the cabinet since I really don't have room for it. Some day I would like to paint the sewing machine cabinets white and use them both in this room.

Nothing helps me get in the mood for sewing and quilting more than having a clean, organized and inviting space.  Lets get busy!

Ironing Boards and Boiling Water

I just couldn't take using this ironing board cover another minute! You can't say I didn't get the full use out of it before replacing it.  Trust me, this was not a result of ironing clothes.  At least 95% of it was from pressing little fabric scraps that became quilts.

Before:

After:  AAAHHH.  That is SO much better!

Its amazing how I keep using something that is obviously dirty and ragged, because the damage happened so gradually.  Then one day it hits me!  For less than $10.00 I can make this thing nice again.

While thinking about this I compared it to my life.  What bad habits have I gotten used to because they happened so gradually?   Remember the story about the frog being cooked in boiling water?  He was put in the water while the water was still cool.  The water temperature rose slowly and he didn't notice until it was too late and he was cooked!  AACK!

In My Sewing Room

I snapped a few pictures in my sewing room recently.

This is a picture that hung in my mother's house.  Its perfect for a quilter's sewing room.

I think the heart is made from an authentic "old" quilt, but I'm not sure.

This sunflower wind chime was a Mother's Day gift.  In my experience wind chimes always end up being destroyed by the wind, so there is no way this one is going outside.  I love it hanging in front of the window.  One of my favorite things is when the sun shines in this window in the morning.

This basket is where I throw scraps as I am sewing.  The plan is the organize them, but the basket keeps getting more full and I just keep sewing on new projects.

The African Violets bloom constantly in the sunny window.

This one was rooted from the one in Mama's Nursing Home window.  I've rooted several more, but they are very tiny.  Love them.

Here's my most recent sewing project:

 

 I spent some time organizing in my sewing room last night. Somehow it always gets back into a big mess! I brought home two old sewing machines that belonged to my Mama, as well as all her sewing supplies and some fabric. The machines don't work and there is way too much stuff in there.... but I love it all. I now have 5 non-working sewing machines, including the old treadle machine that sits in our living room. I would love to have all the machines repaired some day.

Sewing Room Dreams

You might not want to go in there! This was a picture taken yesterday when I was cleaning my sewing room.  When I do a big clean up of a room I tend to start in one corner and push and throw things toward the doorway.  I hope to show an "after" picture later this week.

I absolutely love having a sewing room, but it does take maintenance to keep it nice. I need to do more of this as I go along, instead of waiting until its so bad that I don't even want to go in there, much less sew in there.

This means cleaning up after each project by putting away the large pieces of fabrics in their proper places and then cutting up the scraps into usable sizes and filing them away.

Here's just one basket of scraps that has accumulated!

 

Once I finish my sewing room overhaul, I think I will get more sewing done and enjoy my light filled space once again.