Week # 4 : Fabric Storage!!!

I know you guys have been waiting for this one, haven't you??? This week we'll all get together and drool over shelves full of yummy fabrics from all over the world!!! Isn't that cool?

Now you guys have all seen my N.E.A.T. Fabric storage... Do you know  how it was before???

See those corrugated boxes??? That was my stash! Which then moved to...

the other side of the room... LOL...

A lot of it was folded and then went off to the drawers... Only for a short while...

Soon the desire to look at those neatly folded fabric took over and I got all my cuddly friends out of the shelves and onto the bed and displayed my prized possessions!!! 

I had them sorted by color... But then I realized I cannot work like this! So I rearranged them...

Now they are divided by the way I combine them together in quilts rather than by color... I do have the designer fabric clubbed together with some of my favorite Indian fabric... The other Indian fabric has a compartment of its own...

I went to the doctor on Saturday with Rohit, and I told him that whenever in his lifetime (he's 82 and still absolutely active and perfect diagnosis) he decided to sell a pigeon hole rack that he has, I want to buy it... He gave me a broad smile and asked me if I hadn't read the board? He is shifting his clinic on the 14th of Feb and guess what??? I'm getting that beauty to put up here!!! YAY!!! What a wonderful valentine's gift!!!

It look some what similar to my friend Kelly's unit...

Now tell me, if my wall behind is grey (which it will be very soon) what color do I paint this unit? White or Yellow?

Now for the surprises I was telling you guys about... Well, I have tied up with another wonderful fabric shop!!!

Fabricworm!!! Their button will arrive on my Right Hand Panel tomorrow!!!
And now for the second surprise... This one is for you... This week, we're having not 2 but 3 prizes!!!
The first 2 are by our Fat Quarter Shop!
One lucky person to comment will win a $ 50 Gift Certificate from Fat Quarter Shop.
A second lucky person will win a Sunkissed Layer Cake!

And a 3rd person will win free advice from Sandy Jenney of Organize with Sandy. You will be mailing her your sewing room photos and she will help you organize your room! She is a wonderful lady who will be doing a guest post about YOUR room and mine later in February. She will also be featuring your room on her own blog!
How does that sound???
Then get ready and do the usual : Leave comments! One entry per person! Duplicate comments will not be counted.
So go on and enjoy the week!!!
Cheers!

Winners on a Sunday Morning!!!

I'm so glad that things are rolling well on the home health front... :) 

I realized one thing when Rohit has been feeling unwell, like thousands of Indian Women, I depend a lot on him for even small things... Just yesterday, I had to change the LPG cylinder at home... He does it everytime... I did it for the first time, and believe me, lugging that HEAVY thing up 18 steps is no joke! He does that everytime (once in two months)

I am hoping he gets back to normal soon... He'll need a couple of days rest though... Thank you guys for all the kind words... You dont know how much it comforted me...

***HUGS***

On another front, I used my ever favorite Random.org to draw the winners of this week...

Heather who said "I sew at a card table! That looks like a pretty awesome table! I love compartments!! Heather From and Mommy Only Has Two Hands! and Lynhea Designs" has won the Amy Butler Soul Blossoms thread 

Robin who said "I hear ya! Most men don't do "sick" very well! I hope everyone at your house is feeing better soon!" has won the Metller's Quilting Essentials Gift Set!!!

Also since I have no way to contact last weeks winner Jenny, I used the Random thingy to generate another winner

Peach Rainbow who said "I'm sure making a Sudoku Quilt will be as interesting as the game :)" has won the Sudoku Quilt Kit!

Now, you lucky girls, email me with your addresses and your prizes will be on their way!

I have made some progress on my DQS 10 quilt... Its a story about 3 girls chatting over a cup of tea... I've decided to call it "a cuppa and a catchup" the title taken directly from the name of one of my favorite blogs! 

Here's what they are talking,

Marilyn (the one who actually sent me the wonderful fabric) says "I think I must leave now, girls. I have a dentist appointment" But in fact all that she has on mind is a luxe bath!

Next I'm saying to my partner "______, I really enjoyed making that quilt for you" but all the while I'm thinking how difficult it is to let that quilt go!

And lastly, my partner says to me "Shruti, your sewing room is looking wonderful" And in her mind she's thinking thats its just because I have a broken machine! LOL

Here's the panel

I have finished the embroidery and the conversation applique! This is my second attempt at hand embroidery, and I think I've done GREAT!!! I'm happy with myself...

And now the panel is in my current work bin!!! I am targeting the completion of this one by the end of next week! Do you like it partner???


I did something else this week :

I finished going through all my scraps!!! A-L-L of them... And sorted them... Now, I'm planning to cut them all up :


5" Squares
2.5" squares
4" Squares
1.5" strips


I guess I'll get that done by The Scrap Storage Week!!!


I also have two other surprises for you guys next week... And one of you is going to get lucky too!!! Need some help with organizing your studio??? I'd suggest you keep a lot of snaps ready... We're having someone special come over and help one of you out!!! Want to know more????


Wait for some time... Good things come to those who wait, don't they???


Cheers!!!

SSF Post # 10 : My Sewing Space: A Work in Progress!

Today's guest is a lady whose blog I had won a quilt on! That was the only giveaway I have ever won!!! I guess I have used up all my chances right there... ;)

So go have a look at her sewing space while I get on with looking after my sick DH... Poor thing has caught a really bad virus and is in bed coughing and shivering... :(

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Shurti for inviting me to visit here. My sewing space is a bit of a messy corner of our sitting room.

Here’s a picture taken from my kitchen. The door on the left is our main entrance (yes there’s always a box of stuff waiting at the door for some reason or other) then the space on the right is my sewing space and our sitting room. It’s a tiny room and I use it the most.

I’ve crammed as much into this space as it humanly possible and still be ‘tidy’, haha. There are bags and baskets and suitcases, all with different projects in.

On my sewing table is a tiny space for the machine, on the right you can see plastic bags with projects in progress.

You can see at the back of my table is a wooden letter rack  (which I paid $2 for) which holds patterns etc, my boxes of pearl cottons and one of those old extendable sewing boxes (which I paid $1 for) which holds threads etc.

So there, you have it... my space! A constantly changing, eclectic mix of thrifted treasures. If you want to see what I make in this space, pop over and visit me at my blog http://www.deb-robertson.blogspot.com!

SSF Post # 9 : Susanne's Sewing Table

Today's guest is also one of my Flickr friends... She has been with me (but never partnered, not yet) in a lot of swaps and her work is really great... And so is her sewing room... I learnt to use  what I already had to make a great room from her! Go have a look at her space, and dont you all forget to be a follower & leave a comment to win some fabulous threads (who can have enough of them!) from our own, The Fat Quarter Shop

****************************

I saw that Shruti was looking for sewists to talk about their sewing spaces and of course I thought there's NO WAY I'd want my sewing room all over the internet. It's probably the most uninspiring place on earth. Like a lot of you we are in a rental, so we can only do so much. OK, OK....even if I were to work around the blue walls and YES blue carpet I'm still not very good at interior decorating....

I kept seeing people respond by saying things like they used their kitchen table or didn't really have a dedicated space. I realized that I was pretty privileged to have an entire room dedicated to me and my sewing stuff. (Mostly my own room--my kids have an art table in my sewing room, and inevitability toys end up scattered around in here.)

Oh, and just to make my self feel a little better about my relatively bland space, I did a little photoshop magic on my pics!

I too sew on my kitchen table. I sewed SO frequently on my kitchen table I finally just came to terms with the fact that we needed another place to eat. We bought a new kitchen with the agreement that NO sewing/crafting would take place in the dinning room. Of course this also meant I needed a sewing space. We decided that our "guest room"  would be used as my sewing space and visitors would be left to fight over the couch or find a hotel. You see how this is a win win for EVERYONE involved as MOST people opt to stay in a hotel ; )

I'm an "unorganized organized" person. At first glance things don't look very organized, but I know exactly where everything is at. I keep the things I use on a day to day basis in this little box you see above. Things like my darning foot, my walking foot, my 1/4inch guide foot, seam ripper (unfortunately I DO need it almost EVERYTIME I sew...it's pretty lame.) and my little screw driver. 

I keep most of my sharps and smaller grids in this box (on top of my "Big scraps" box) My kids know not to touch it, but if we have other tots visiting I always move it.

This box sits on top of the table and all of the things that I use frequently, but maybe not everyday live here. Most important things are obviously the rotary cutter and Bee's Wax!! I wax my needle if I'm going to be sewing something thicker than two pieces of cotton. I do this because I bee farmer I met over the summer told me it was good practice. I don't think he sews, but he knew a thing or two about bees wax, so that's what I do. I also have my "Lucky Lights" which I was SO excited to have found over the holidays. You know the bubble gum cigis that we used to be able to get as kids, but them became a bad influence?! I bought a bunch for stocking stuffers (for the adults in my life) and kept a box for myself. They make me smile. 

Some of the photos are blurred to protect the innocent ; ) This is probably the most important thing around me. Seeing those beautiful smiling faces and the thoughtfulness that goes behind sending physical photos. (Don't worry friends, if you didn't make this space it's likely your face is on my fridge haha!!)

I keep my smaller scraps in baby wipe containers. Mostly because we get a new one every time I buy a box of baby wipes. I have a few you can't see (warm scraps, cold scraps, black/grey, white and "I don't know which box you belong in") Once the box is packed I'll sort it and let the kids cut and glue pieces that I'm willing to part with. This helps me with the scraps hording issue.

I have quite a bit of space under the table, so all of the batting and fleece gets hidden away down there too.

If I'm sitting at my table my desk is directly behind me. It has one of those AMAZING side shelves that I just adore!! (and clearly have packed to the brim with...stuff)  

So here's a different angle, where you get a view of the desk.

To the right of that is where all of the (non fleece) goodness is stored.

So there you have it. My sewing space!! Did I leave anything out? Do you have any questions? Let me know!!! Also, I've double booked myself, so if you want to wander over the Gen X Quilters I have a little feature there today, too.

Thanks again, Shruti for having me do a guest post!! As my little pay it forward I'm doing a little give away on my blog! Come on by and say HI!! www.3beansphotography.com/SusanneLoves

I'll see you all in blog land and on flickr!!!

XOXOX,

Susanne (Sujen101 on Flickr)

SSF Post # 8 : Sewing Small

Hi all... 

To all my Aussie friends, Happy Australia Day!!! And to all my Indian Friends Happy Republic Day!

The Republic Day of India commemorates the date on which the Constitution of India came into force replacing the Government of India Act 1935 as the governing document of India on 26 January 1950. The date 26 January was chosen to honour the memory of the declaration of independence of 1930. It is one of the three national holidays in India, and while the main parade, Republic Day Parade takes place at the Rajpath, in the national capital New Delhi, where the president views the parade, state capitals also have their state celebrations.

Today's guest post is by Kelly who blogs at http://kelbysews.blogspot.com/. I know her from the numerous swaps on Flickr!

Hi y’all!  I’m Kelly, can you tell I’m Southern?  Ha ha!  You check out my humble blog at http://kelbysews.blogspot.com/.  I began sewing a year ago right before I turned 30.  I had always wanted to learn so I thought I could teach myself.  Never having operated a sewing machine before, my introduction to sewing was rocky at best.  Little by little I became more confident and now I’m addicted.  Yes, my name is Kelly and I’m a sewing addict………and a fabric addict……..and a Flickr addict.  Yipes!  That’s a lot of addictions!

I began sewing using our dining room.  My stuff was everywhere and it was really embarrassing when people came over because you see the dining room first when you walk into the house.  Fabric and notions everywhere!  See for yourself:

Frightening isn’t it?  Recently, I made the move upstairs to our crafty nook.  We have an open loft area at the top of the stairs.  The loft area is where the kids play, but there is a nook of sorts off to the side that has lots of shelving and great natural light.  My dad got us a super sturdy folding table and I thought it might just work as a sewing table.  It’s half the size of our dining room table, but I have really enjoyed my tiny table!  I have just enough room for the essentials.

Please excuse my son down there, he likes to participate in crafty photo shoots.  Pretty basic, but it keeps me focused.  Because I’m sewing in closer quarters, I’ve become much more neat and organized.  
  

This area is to the right of my sewing table (if I’m sitting at the table, it’s to my right) and is where I store all my fabric, notions, batting and random crafty supplies.  As a side note, I’ve gotten a few comments lately at how quickly I finish projects.  I don’t particularly think I’m fast, but I have a couple of secrets.  Shhhh.  Are you ready?  My number one secret for fast finishes is to only work on one project at a time!  I don’t have a WIP storage because I don’t have WIPs!  I will confess to one exception and that is a quilt I started a few months ago.  I have all the blocks done, but I didn’t buy the sashing until recently.  It’s been so long since I worked on it, I’m not as enthusiastic now.  See?  This is why I try and finish a project before started another.  I know myself.  I’ll lose interest if I project hop and nothing will ever get done.  


Alright, ready for my second secret?  Work in a small space.  You simply don’t have room for multiple projects!  I still sigh with longing when I see other people’s gorgeous sewing spaces with huge cutting tables and acres of wall space, but I’m happy with my little nook and small sewing table!

SSF Post # 7 : Shay's Sewing Table

Today we have the multi-talented and wonderful Shay from Quilting in my Pyjamas telling us about her Sewing Table... She is a lady whom I love to read! Her sense of humor is amazing... And her spirit is inspiring! Her sewing table is fab! Have a peek...

Dont forget to leave a comment to win some thread spools sponsored by our very own The Fat Quarter Shop!!!

Hi I’m Shay from Quilting in My Pyjamas. Pop on over and visit me some time at http://fairybreadmusings.blogspot.com/

When Shruti offered me the opportunity to guest post for her Sewing Spaces Focus, I jumped at the chance.  So get comfy, grab a cup of tea and a Tim Tam and let’s have a look at my sewing table.

I spent years sewing at my kitchen table. This naturally meant dragging the sewing machine out and setting everything up. That meant that most of the time it was too hard to put the sewing machine away and so it would sit for the duration of the project on the kitchen table.  Sometimes that was weeks. Many a lamb roast has formerly been eaten at Maison Pyjamas accompanied by chenille fluff and off cuts of thread and quilting pins threatening to invade your plate. It made eating the simplest of meals quite exciting because you never knew what would end up in your mouth.

When my grandmother passed away a few years ago I inherited her sewing cabinet.  So this sewing cabinet was really the impetus for me setting up my sewing room.  Setting up the sewing room was a drama in itself since we had young people moving in and out constantly so sometimes I had a dedicated space and sometimes I didn’t.  Eventually everyone moved out at the same time , we changed the locks , decreed our house a no go zone for anyone under 30 , and I set up my sewing room with this sewing cabinet which matches nothing else in the room but has great sentiment attached to it for me.

It’s your average every day sewing cabinet but everything I need is close at hand, and exactly where I can find it. And not a lamb roast in sight although you may find chocolate hidden in the drawers on occasion. Purely for energy during those long sewing stints!

I have my sewing machine with one of those cool doovalackeys that hydraulically lifts it up and down, which is fabulous for when I want to change sewing machines.  I have table space and I have my bits and bobs to the right.

I keep a digital photo frame on the side to keep me inspired with all the rotating photos of my work (and of other  people’s things that have inspired me ) That’s an Esha doll from Shruti herself and an angel from Mistea Crafts to watch over my sewing. The pincushion was made by Marg at Sunshine?Paradise for my birthday last year (aren’t blogland friends wonderful?)

I keep all my little scissors and markers, screwdrivers and what nots in this little container for easy access. Those pencils belonged to my grandfather and are probably older than I am since he passed on about 38 years ago. I love using them.

See this pink book? I just started writing down all my quilting ideas in this book instead of scrappy bits of paper that get lost. It’s the best organisational tool ever. Since I work on more than one quilt at a time, I write down things like what stitch length or colour thread I use for each quilt so I don’t forget. I should really cover that book and make it pretty. Ideas for future quilts get written down as inspiration strikes.

The drawers are full of all the things I need. (I’m not sure why I need that many thimbles since I’ve never used one in my life- but if I ever do I have a plethora of them ) Those unpickers sure get a workout some days.

I don’t think I’ll ever run out of needles. Some of those are vintage!

Scissors and tape measures. 

Every type of glue known to man. Doesn’t everyone use glue on their quilts? I’m in love with the staple gun...

This is where I hide things I can no longer look at with affection. (That’s my windmill quilt – we’re not speaking at the moment)

I’m confessing I was actually forced to tidy my sewing table for the photo shoot...it’s NEVER that tidy. Genius is messy you know.

Thanks for dropping by for a look at my creative space!

Shay

SSF Week # 3 : Sewing Tables

First the winners of the Sudoku Quilt Kit...

First is Jenny who said, "your room is so organized! i love it!

i think your quiltie idea is terrible clever! your partner is sure to love it." Congratulations Jenny


Hey Jenny, I do not have a link to your email! Please contact me before Thurday (IST)...

Second winner is Shay!!! who said, "What clever striage ideas. I really need to stop storing things in small cardboard boxes!"

Both you gals, mail me your address along with your choice of Sudoku Quilt Kit!!!

And now moving on to next week... This week we're focusing on the Sewing Machine Tables...

I dont actually have a sewing machine table right now, but am in the process of making one... This one that I found online is my favorite so far... Its simple and yet so efficient! I love the wicker baskets the most... 

From tomorrow, we are having more guests who'll show off their sewing tables... Got yours to show? Or got someone elses' to show??? Show it off... Just send the pictures to 13woodhouseroad (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll feature them on Saturday...

And this weeks prizes???

The very generous Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring us these wonderful beauties this week!

The first winner will get an Amy Butler Soul Blossoms Premium Thread Collection of 9 spools!

The second winner will get Mettlers Quilting Essentials Gift Set of 8 Spools!

To enter, all you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment on ANY post this week!

Enjoy your week!!

Cheers!!!

Some Basting, Quilting and Sunday Posting!!!

How's your weekend going??? Mine is going at top speed!!! It does every time... I wasn't aware that speed of time varies so much... It seems to drag during the week and flies on weekends!!!

So what did I do???

First I finished my Mug Rug for the Scrappy Mug Rug Swap on Flickr.

The package is ready, packed and sitting on my table waiting to go off on 15th Feb!!! Wow!!! Thats a bit too early... Never mind...


Next, I finished all the 6 diner placemats that I was working on... They were fun to make... I am holding an auction for 2 of them and the other four will be listed in my shop on Monday!





Do you remember me telling you that this was on my way...

Well, it has arrived...

Has been cut, pieced, basted!!!





And the quilting has began!!!
What am I making with it??? Well, thats BIG news!!! MY very first sponsored quilt! The very generous Charlie and Lindsay of Hawthorne Threads have sponsored me the fabric for this quilt...
I'll be launching my first pattern on my blogoversary!!! Thats just 20 days away!!!


I also need people to test my pattern... Please mail me at 13woodhouseroad (at) gmail (dot) com if you will be interested. The pattern will be on sale at Hawthorne Threads along with a FQ Bundle!!! You can buy the pattern from my Etsy shop as well.





Apart from that, I also was so inspired by this





by Bloom that I had to make my version of it... She is going to have the pattern on sale on her blog in a few days... But till then, I'll make do with a simpler version...


All my Aussie Friends, if any of you can find the Nov 2010 issue of Australian Homespun, please contact me... This pattern is featured in that edition...


So I made this... I used the Alexander Henry fabric that I ordered from a US Etsy seller...






Forgive the super boring photo quality... What I want you guys to see is my first attempt at hand embroidery!!! I'm so proud of it!!!


I am thinking of making one version of this one for my MMM partner... Only when I get some feedback from her...


What are you up to this Sunday???


Cheers!!!