Sewing Room Update # 879

I hope everyone had a good Easter! It was such a beautiful weekend here in Montgomery! On Friday I got my valances back that I had made for our office/sewing room. YAY!! Since we hosted the family Easter lunch and egg hunt yesterday (32 folks), I was so glad they were ready in time and we hung them Saturday afternoon. These pictures are not great. While our office/sewing room has these 2 windows (see below), I can’t take a decent picture in here for the life of me. Outside of these windows is our (covered) front porch, so I don’t get great sunlight (and I am not a professional photographer!!) Trust me – it looks a TON better than white walls and no window treatments! I love the new wall color and the bright valances tie in the green desks. And you’ll see below, the black gingham-ish trim and pleats tie in all the black (chairs, bulletin boards, etc). This is Jeff’s office too, hence the TV mounted on the wall obstructing partial view of my pretty valances. 😉

 I still have my thread stands and Expedit cubbies. Those are several of Browder’s paintings and such from his art classes on top. 2 calendars on the other wall – we keep 2 months pretty full. Side note: I recently asked Steve (Sewingmachine.com) about my thread and the threat of dust. He told me that dust CAN accumulate on your thread if it’s stored out in the open. Such dust CAN get in to your machine too. But, if your thread is not directly under an air vent you should be fine. He saw my set-up and seemed to think mine was OK. I have started dusting mine off before I use it just in case. If you are like me and use your thread daily, it’s not reasonable to keep it stored covered up somewhere. If you store your thread on stands like me, just check to be sure it’s not directly under an air vent. If you see dust on the thread or the spool, wipe it off before using it!

Same setup w/ desks and machine. I had several people suggest me moving things around, but the way it is now I can sit at my desk and everything is within reach (except for fabric and thread). I have my iron, machine, hoops, etc. all within reach, so this is the best possible setup of our furniture. I do share this space w/ Jeff, so it’s not like I can completely take over! 😉

Closeup of the valances. This is Waverly Modern Essentials from Joann.com. The black gingham I got at King Cotton here in town. I love the colors!

 I have posted before that my machine used to be on a Craftsman tool chest from Sears. My machine is now on a file cabinet “desk” from Home Decorators, but I still use (and love) my tool chest. It’s where I store all of my hoops, stabilizers and “junk”. The top is a GREAT surface for hooping as well! I would recommend either of these pieces as a machine stand. Both are sturdy and I have never had my machine vibrate or move AT ALL. p.s. The “real” machine stands are great too!

 Precut 12″ squares from sewingmachine.com on the left, 8″ squares on the right under my machine toolbox. Fil-Tec Magna bobbins and my big roll of sticky stabilizer. All of this is from www.sewingmachine.com! The other 2 drawers were too messy to show you! 🙂

And… I posted a while back about throwing away my samples. Several of you got on to me 😉 for throwing them away, so since then I’ve kept them. They are done usually on stabilizer if I don’t have a t-shirt to do them on. OK folks… here is my pile of samples. What am I supposed to do with them? Any ideas??

Reminder: Our current 35% off sale at www.appliquecafe.com ends this Wednesday, April 11th! We are also gearing up for the upcoming Everything Applique Conference in Birmingham, AL on April 28th! There is still time to register ~ the deadline is Monday, April 16th at midnight. Check out the EAC link to register or for more info! As of right now there are over 600 folks signed up to attend! I’m really looking forward to a fun time and getting to meet so many people I *know* on Facebook and through my blog. SIGN UP!!

Comments

  1. i give my samples to my little kids. they love having them and play with them more than their toys some days.

  2. Throw them away! I started putting my stitch outs on denim. Some I sew into large square quilts some I add to tote bags -all are given away. Just too much to junk up the house with. People (relationships) are more important than things!!

  3. Dianne Carlton says

    Totally cute and very impressive! Amazing organizational skills!

  4. Some of those samples would look cute framed! Any new ones that you don’t cut around would be cute to frame and use as some sort of decor in your office. It is, after all, an applique office! 😉 Everything looks great!

  5. Nina Bean says

    Make a throw quilt with them for the kids! Thanks for blogging your progress with the room , it help me to organize mines 🙂

  6. Iron on some heat-n-bond to them and after they cool you can donate them to a women’s shelter, or church. There is always some group out there who could put them to use.

  7. Rebecca DaSilva says

    Are your cubbies from IKEA??? Everything looks great- I am hoping to get my sewing/work room setup in our basement this summer and looking for organizational ideas. I have a huge room that I am going to use – right now I am in two different bedrooms – one upstairs and one down – not too efficient. And my computer is in our office – so 3 different rooms – ugh!!

    • Yes they are the Expedit cubbies from Ikea and Pjas baskets! I LOVE them!! If you are on Pinterest there are some great ideas for sewing rooms and organization!

  8. For smalled ones they can be put on tabs with buttons and then changed out on dresses or jon-jons for different occasions. I have don this for my little one and it is really cute!

  9. Sorry…for the spelling errors and posting multiple times!

  10. Anne Coleman says

    The samples could be door prizes for a lucky person attending the Everything Applique Conference!!

  11. I threw a lot of my samples away but that was most likely a mistake because I have had so many people ask me if I would sell an applique that is not attached to clothing.

  12. The room looks great! Everything seems to be pulled in together nicely. I love the wall color!

  13. What a great room!
    I love your window treatments, do you mind sharing the pattern you used?

    Thanks,
    Pat

  14. Give your samples to the art teacher at your kid’s school!!! I’m sure she would love them and put them to good use!
    PS I love your blog and your designs!!! 🙂

    • I have to say that I took my samples to the Applique Conference this weekend not really knowing what I would do with them. I ended up passing them around the room in my classes, so I was so glad I kept them!!

  15. Jennifer Adams says

    Where are your desks from? LOVE that color!

  16. Nellie Vice says

    Rosemary, I attended the Applique Conference this past weekend. Everyone did a fabulous job. So exciting! I told a few people about it after I got home and they asked me, “why didn’t you invite me?” Maybe they can come next year. My question is where can I get “Sew What Pro” or the other program that you use.
    Thanks

    • Sew What Pro comes from sandscomputing.com – you can try it free for 30 days. I also use Monogram Wizard Plus for names/initials – needleheads.com is their site and most sewing stores carry it!

  17. I managed to get some really great outdoor shelves from Screwfix not long ago and they’re awesome!
    I am able to put plants on top of or plastic bins of the kids toys as well as placemat settings for our outdoor
    table. Love my Mikel.