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Sunday, April 7, 2013

Workspace

Like most quilters who blog, I read a lot of quilting blogs. Every so often some one will post a picture of their sewing space (usually an actual sewing or craft room). It will be beautifully lit with natural sunshine, have darling refinished furniture & a bounteous stash organized by color & displayed in some cute shelving perhaps (or maybe trendy hat boxes, or tidy rubbermaids.)
I see those pictures & spend a few minutes drooling, & wishing for the day when I too will organize my fabric by designer & hue, (HA! who am I kidding? I'll be glad just to get it off my floor!) or have a cutting table you can walk all the way around (writers of quilting books seem to take it for granted that we can all find & house a tall table, long enough to accommodate & yards & yards of fabric.)
Then I remember I'm a cop's wife & a stay-at-home-mother of 4, & I'm lucky simply to be able to indulge my favorite hobby, even if that means sewing in our crowded, noisy kitchen while my children make capes & headbands out of my stash of quilting cottons.
This doesn't mean I don't still enjoy ogling other people's gorgeous workspaces, but I'm learning to be content with mine, in all its messy, inconvenient imperfection.
So here it is:
My machine sits on a battered old desk that used to live in my husband's parents' barn. You can see years & years of his father's & grandfather's signatures scratched into the wood. (Which might be cool if it were an antique, but it's a 1970ish piece of funk.) But it is sturdy & it serves. It lives in our kitchen now, where I can catch moments of stitching between all the crazy that goes on in our house. (That's my Star Wars quilt getting a binding put on. My dudes were so excited to finally have this one done!)

This is what my workpace usually looks like- kids, fabric & playdough everywhere! (We're on a serious play-dough kick here. They play this at least once a day, usually twice. In a week or so we'll have a new obsession, but for now I'm loving that they're loving something I love. Who doesn't dig play-dough, after all? & yes, I keep the rotary cutter far from little fingers!)
Anyways, that's a peek into my little "sewing room", aka our kitchen. Linking up to Plum & June's Let's Get Acquainted. Happy Monday!
Kate

9 comments:

  1. I too quilt in the kitchen. When my granddaughter is over I get very little done. Congratulations on the star wars almost finish!

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  2. Hi Kate! I am in the same situation! I cut on a board I lay on my bed, I iron in the 2nd bedroom and sew on the desk in our Living Space! By the time I get one block made I am dizzy!! Then I dream about the day that I will have a designated sewing area!! lol!!
    Visiting from Let's Get Acquainted link up!

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    1. oh my goodness! you must get quite a workout every time you "sit down" to sew!

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  3. Our kitchen is too small to sew in, so it's usually the sitting room. You're right about most quilt books assuming readers live in mansions with oodles of spare space! Just found your blog via Nat at Madeinhome's link up, look forward to reading more.

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  4. I sew at the table too. What kind of machine do you have? I have a viking sapphire and it looks a bit like yours from the back. Kids are grown up but the table shows all the love of paint, scrapbook stamping and cutting on it, glue stains, etc. I have a craft room but I don't ever use it, cuz I like the table and family better!!

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    1. It's a viking sapphire-- my Christmas gift from my husband. & I agree-- if I'm honest with myself, I really like being in the middle of things while I sew too!

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  5. You're making it work! Right now I am lucky enough to have a big den with lots of afternoon lighting (the morning sucks) that I share with my kids. But we are trying to downsize, so I try to expect some diningroom/kitchen sewing in my future!

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  6. Love your sewing table! It is good to watch the kids! Multi tasking! Thanks for sharing on let's get acquainted!

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  7. I will admit, I am lucky to have an area to sew in. I have transformed a spare bedroom closet into my sewing nook. The ironing board can be set up right behind where I sit, and I use the bed in the room to help layout items. If I want to cut tho, I tend to use the coffee table in the living room. When I baste, I move my bed in my bedroom, so the quilt can lay completely flat. When I get my new place, I am hopeful to have more of a little nook for my sewing obsession. :)

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