Friday so Soon?

Thanks to elle for reminding me that I have to weigh in on my fave means of storage in my sewdio today...as part of Week 2 of The REAL Studio Tour...

And thanks to the snow, falling steadily since 9 a.m. (it's now almost 3 p.m.) and now thicker and blowing a bit...for keeping me home from work (43 km or about 26 miles down a narrow rural highway, now snow-covered so you can't tell where the shoulders end and the adjacent fields begin) so I have time to post this quickly before I get back to Christmas gifts!  :-)

My "official" studio is in the largest bedroom of my 1050-square-foot home, which is to say the room is approximately 10 feet square.  It's rather full of furniture, including storage facilities.  I'm mentioning only 3 of my favourite storage items here:

1. Behind-the-door hanging shoe-keeper...for sock yarn:

2. Sears standing cabinet: cupboard on the bottom (not pictured) contains fabric and kitted projects; the top is another shoe-cubby-type cabinet...for more yarn:

3. And my very favourite storage item -- the edge of which you can see peeking into the left side of the above photo -- was a rack, baskets and hooks system I got from a fabric store when it closed (owner retired and wound up the business).  This rack spends most of the year in a triagular stand with wheels, but when I have a booth at an art show/sale, it doubles as a display rack:

What you see above is two sides of the triangle, laden with baskets that hold fabric and batting.  Across the space between the two sides I've hung a caddy for my threads.  On the tops of each side you see the hanging hooks for bags of ribbons and trims, threads, etc.

And here's what it looks like -- sans baskets and hooks -- at an art show -- in this case, the Lacombe Art Show and Sale in April of this year, in which I shared the booth space with my photographer daughter.  We hung pieces on both sides of the 3-piece stand, and I used a basket for my miniatures, each of which were in clear plastic envelopes.

In addition to these three facilities, I have several stacking plastic bins (with drawers), 3 under my cutting table and 1 next to the above-mentioned Sears cabinet.  I also have a barrister's bookcase (the kind with lifting glass doors) and an open bookshelf for my books.  Magazines are in magazine holders (cardboard), labelled.  For easier access, I took off the old sliding closet doors and had their track covered with a solid piece of wood.  In the closet space are two dressers -- one solely for yarn, and a smaller one for fabric and embroidery linens and kits -- and the shelves hold another cubby with yarn, several of my project/online class binders, more magazine holders etc.

And living alone, I'm able to have small 'craft centres' throughout the house -- largely baskets with knitting, and one corner with my wing chair and a side table that holds my embroidery lamp-magnifier station. I haven't even talked about my work table and counter with cupboards in my "back room" -- where dye and paint and other 'messy' supplies are stored...

So you see, I have my choice of fibre fun wherever I choose to spend my time!

Studio Time

I've been working in fits and starts in my studio. There's been some sewing, yes, but it was broken up this week by a mini-reorganization. Harriet's beloved Stettler Fabrics is closing it's doors on January 16th, because Harriet is retiring after over 30 years in business. In addition to deep discounts on all her wares (fabric, thread, books, batting, notions), she's selling off the furniture and fixtures. I've managed to get my hands on her fat quarter display rack, for a very good price. The rack is about 6 feet tall, and includes a base with wheels, 16 storage baskets, and as many long pegs. This first photo is what it looked like, stripped to its base. The white wire

rack is in 3 flat sections, and can be set up without the wheeled base, if you prefer. I want to be able to move it without too much trouble, so I'm using the wheels!

Here's a shot of what it looks like with 2 sides' worth of full baskets. You can see the hooks along the top. I decided not to put baskets on the 3rd side; rather, I have that side backed up against the window. This will change in the summer, when I'll want that window open for ventilation.

I've sorted my fabric into type (batiks, florals, landscapes/nature, silks/fancies, muslin. Within the types I've tried to sort by colour as much as possible. I also have 2 baskets of yarns. All in all, I've eliminated several smaller woven baskets which were decorative, but really rather inefficient. They'll be going to the Thrift Store in Stettler when I'm there mid-month! I've also come across forgotten fabrics which are be ing given away -- some to my friend, B, who's teaching a beginner's sewing class starting next weekend.

I sorted my ribbon basket and bagged them up in categories; the bags now hang on some of the hooks (not visible in the photo).

It feels so good to have this done, and to have the floor space again! Now that these supplies are out in plain view, I'll have them to use at my fingertips. No more digging in piles and coming up empty-handed! This should make my Visioning Project goals easier to achieve, too.