Wednesday, July 10, 2013

My Upstairs Studio Tour

Hand dyed silk ribbons
A little planter became a pin cushion.

 Again thanks to Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage for this wonderful gathering of studio artists.  

My studio consists of two large 18 x 20 foot rooms which adjoin my mother's apartment in the second floor of the Art & Antique Gallery. This is my sewing and quilting room.
This work island is on wheels and provides a lot of storage in its base.   Mainly it is a cutting station.   I added hooks for scissors and rulers.  The canopy holds four fluorescent tubes plugged into an electrical strip on the side.  I also keep my spare machine and my serger on this counter.


My sewing station with an extra large table for quilting.  It is set on a adjustable height portable table with the machine set in foam insulation and topped with slick wall paneling.  My pressing station is on the left.

I love this vintage ironing board but I rarely need to use it.
 It completes my collection of sad irons scattered
around the studio and reminds me
 of how many modern conveniences I enjoy.
I love thread and these two picnic hampers
 are filled with crochet materials.
Most of the time the lids are closed and
they are shoved under my sewing machine table.

This pottery bowl sits on my sewing table to hold bobbins and feet.  The heavy glass flower frog is perfect for holding pencils, rippers, brushes, and markers.

This door adjoins my mom's kitchen.
 I love to use antique hangers to display
vintage embroidery and a souvenir shawl
from my trip to Florence, Italy.  

My thread cupboard provides a mantle-like area for family photos and keepsakes.

Just a portion of my thread library.  I have at least three spools of each color. Please hit the read more button below to see the rest.











This assembly table is actually a four foot kitchen base cabinet on wheels. To replace the missing counter top, I put a folded up six foot table on the top.  This stores many large quilts.


The top of this cupboard serves as another display area. 

The lower portion holds sewing baskets and unfinished quilt tops.  I have plenty of work lined up for my retirement.


I gathered the reeds, and wove the seat for
this dainty chair many years ago.
It is a handy display area.

Ribbons, lace, vintage post cards, and buttons fill these shelves supported by empty sewing thread spools.

My grandma born in 1900 wore these shoes when she taught school as a young woman.
Every quilter needs a stash.
The tall bookcase holds my wool and silk stash and the brown recliner behind the lamp is where I sit to blog and watch TV.  The tall secretary provides more storage and display area.
 
Fat quarters stored in a suit case.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you will follow my blog  or take time to leave a comment.  To return to the blog hop list go to http://www.mydesertcottage.com/

14 comments:

  1. Love the dyed ribbons! What a beautiful and inspiring quilt studio. I can't wait to start some projects with you!
    -Angela Niedermyer
    Austin TX

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    1. Oh Angela, Let's plan to finish the flying geese first thing. Glad you like the ribbons, they're done with alcohol spray and bic markers.

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  2. I looooove your grandmother's boots! I wish they still made shoes of that kind of quality. Thanks for sharing your space. :-)

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    1. But I'm glad I don't have to lace them up!

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  3. Very nice craft space! I love the fat quarters in the suitcase...what a great idea!

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  4. What a wonderful studio. I love all of the antiques you use for storage.
    I especially love your use of suitcases. I also love the rabbit pin cushion.
    Thanks so much for taking the time to share your space.

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  5. Hello Carol,

    What an interesting place you have !!!
    ....and what an interesting lady you are!!
    All the things you did and learned...
    Thank you so much for being a follower,
    I am your newest follower now.
    Hope to visit you more often.

    Blessings to you Carol,
    Wilma, Shabby Royale.

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  6. What wonderful spaces you have in which to work. And, three cheers to your mom! My dad just turned 90, is still going strong, and interested in everything! I love that you have your grandma's shoes from all those years ago. Thanks for letting us visit! Sue

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  7. Love all the antiques and that bunny planter turned pincushion is too cute!!! I love that you still have your Grandmother's shoes - awesome. Thank you for the tour and both posts about all the lovely things in your studios!

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  8. Thankyou for the tour. It is taking me quite a while to get through all the studios. You have some lovely antiques here.

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  9. Wow, you have a lot of space for creativity. Thanks for showing us. Love the Victorian dress form.

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  10. What a fabulous space for creating. Thanks for sharing

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  11. What's the reason for the foam under the sewing table? Is it to absorb the motion when the machine moves (when zooming along sewing?) BTW, I spy with my little eye the SAME little Rattan 'suitcase', that I have. I bought a set of three from Lilian Vernon decades ago, and still have them stacked on top of each other, with "stuff" inside of them :)
    Kate

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    1. Kate, the table has adjustable height legs and the foam sheets bring the table level to exactly the right height for me (elbows at a 90 degree angle). I also added about 1/2 inch of plywood under my machine to bring it to the correct height. Thanks for asking.

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