A Busy Week of Crafting

My creative juices have been flowing a bit better since I moved my sewing cabinets and set up my Sewing Area. It has been very helpful to have everything together in mostly one place (with a few exceptions). I still have yet to purchase a cork board to put over my desk (and paint for it as well) and I also have to move some pictures/posters and put up a flannel board over my cutting/ironing area (which are used to lay out quilt blocks - the pieces stick to the flannel)

As mentioned in the last post: I put together a quick Babywearing Bag. My slings/wraps don't have pockets (although they can be added) so this little bag can be attached around the knots/rings so I have a place to keep my debit card, keys, phone, etc. There are poly resin snaps on the strap so I can loop it through whatever I need to. It's a very handy little thing...I got the idea after making a bag to keep clothes-pins it. Same construction for the most part. Because of the snaps you can hook it onto the line and pull it along with you as you hang stuff. Very handy for either jobs. This one was pieced together from six 5inch squares from a batik charm-pack I've had for ages.




Next, my attempt at baby shoes...sorta success. Sorta failure. I'm having a difficult time getting the right fit on my child...so while these shoes came out well, the puzzle shoes are too easy for her to get off and the striped ones are a little too tight around the ankles. Argh! I got tired of wasting fabric under pressure so I purchased her a pair of leather ones over the weekend. I will attempt shoes again...but in the mean time at least my little walker will have something to put on her feet.

My most pressing project at the moment is my daughter's baby quilt. I started it while I was pregnant...but lost momentum at the last minute...so here comes her 1st birthday in under 2 weeks. Ugh. Thankfully I'm doing this one a bit different from the other baby quilts I've done in the past. I'm not going to back it in flannel or use batting between the layers becuase Bear is hot-natured and I don't want her to boil using it. I'm also going to tie it instead of my usual hand quilting. It shouldn't take that long as a result, but it will still require opportunity as well as a run to the fabric store. Sadly my fabric stash is not so impressive that I have everything I need on hand for any project. To purchase this week: soft cotton woven for backing, flannel to act as the batting, silky blanket binding, curved needles, and thread. The photo is 2 of the 5 pieced blocks in the quilt.

Then I have a few random projects floating around. I have a lion washrag almost finished and a stack of 5inch batiks in rainbow colors that are just itching to be turned into a bag like the one I recently made for my aunt.
And then one for the road: Bear seems to dig the Sewing Area too...though I imagine the location of her toys in that corner helps.

A Room Of My Own

I am in desperate need of a sewing room.

Growing up my mom always had a sewing room. In The Old House it was what was once a screened-in porch off the living room. At some point actual walls and windows had been added, the cement floor had been covered with tile that posed as wood flooring, and later a hole was knocked in the back wall to connect it to a newly built utility-room. It was a small room from what I remember. It had a nice sunny glow to it. My mother's sewing machine sat in its cabinet under the front windows. My play kitchen and, a bit later, my roll top desk lives across from it. As I recall the sewing-room was my favorite place in the house. I still miss it.

In The New House the sewing room was actually known as the "school-room". I suppose because we kept most of our books there. Sometimes we actually did school in there (because the couch in there was the most comfy), but not always. You were just as likely to find us at the dining room table, in the living room, or (and heaven forbid!) on our own beds. Sadly a lot less sewing went on in this particular incarnation of the sewing room.

By the way, Mom's sewing room has since moved into my old room. Even less sewing happens there than ever before.

One of the major excitements for me with almost purchasing a house recently was related to the potential for me to finally have a sewing room of my own. I had previously been inspired by the following photo:
I adore this room. It belongs to SouleMama and was recently featured in Mothering magazine. I fell in love with the color on the walls and have since decided that my future sewing room will be painted a lovely shade of Robin's Egg Blue.

Of course, the house purchase did not work out as of yet. We will be in our apartment for an unknown amount of time so I have decided that it is vitally important for me to eek out my own usable crafting niche somewhere in this small space I call home. My sanity may depend on it.

I know that sounds somewhat ridiculous, but that doesn't change how I feel. Since getting married I have given up having any space to decorate as I see fit and call my own. That bothers me to some extent. I'm a creative person...I need a place to get that out. Also, for more practical reasons, I need a place where all my crafting paraphernalia is all together and easy to access. It's hard enough to find time and opportunity to sew! Having to search all over the apartment for an embroidery hoop or pinking shears does not help.

So, is a sewing room possible? No. A sewing area? Maybe.

I'm taking over a wall in our living room. I'm going to have a table for my computer, a desk where my serger and sewing machine live, and then 2 white cabinets that contain fabric, quilting tools, and various other craft stuff. I'd also like to purchase a cork or peg board that I can paint Robin's Egg Blue to put up over my desk (so I can have a bit of that color I dream of) and maybe a few storage cube units to top everything off. I'd also like to hang some of my posters, post cards, and other odd little things on the wall to give my area some character. I'm so sick of plain off-white walls I could spit.

So, the next step in making it all come together: Move said white cabinets and buy some paint. Is it a bad sign that I hear an evil cackle in my head? Most likely, yes.