Thursday, It's Technical: Optimizing your Sewing Room

This is a confessional. I, Lauren, have an out of control sewing room. Seriously. It's ridiculous. Seven months ago, I had a functional sewing room with a sewing table and shelves and a closet and it was all reasonable organized. Well. My best friend moved in in April and she's lucky I like her because there went my sewing room, and entire room got relegated to oh, a 6'x12' "breakfast nook." But I got the little place organized and optimized, and until my fabric shelves broke and spilled everything everywhere, I ran a tight ship there.

So if you're thinking of organizing (or re-organizing as the case may be) your sewing room, first of all, consider the following questions:

- How large is your proposed sewing room?
- Will it be used for more than just sewing (scrapbooking, jewelry making, etc.)
- What is the lighting like in there?
- Will my typical organization methods work in this space?

Those questions will help guide you in how to best use what you have and what kind of supplementary items you may need or want. If your sewing room is large, you probably have room for different work stations - a cutting area, a sewing area, a pressing area, and then areas for other crafts like scrapbooking and the like (if that's your game). But if you're like me and have a teeny-tiny, eeensy-weensy sewing room, your objective will be how to most efficiently use the space you have for all of your sewing and/or crafting supplies.

If your lighting is mainly coming from one source (an overhead light, for example) then consider adding task lighting for your projects. If it comes from multiple sources, like an overhead light and a large window, be careful of where you place your fabric so it doesn't get sun bleached.

Consider how you organize in the rest of your home. Are you by nature neat and organized - do you label and categorize? Or, are you (like me) a whirlwind with a haphazard and case-by-case methodology? Set up your sewing room to play to your strengths. If you have a tendency to stack things out where you can see them, then shelves are a good thing to consider. If you like things put away, then a chest of drawers might be your best bet.

Once you figure out the larger furniture and placement oriented aspects of getting everything squared away, here are some ideas get things neat and accessible:

- Use wall space to your advantage. Wall mounted shelving, hooks, pegboards, bulletin boards, design walls and wall mounted magazine racks are all great ways to keep things organized and out in the open, yet taking up zero valuable floor space.

- If you are lucky enough to have a closet in your sewing room, take advantage of that space by housing larger or less-used items away in there, either on the shelves under the bar or hanging on hangers. The closet is a great place for batting, large ironing boards, sewing machines you seldom use...using pants hangers (the kind with the squeeze clips) you could clip up and away less-used rulers and templates as well as large pattern pieces that just will not fold back up, or pieces of material (like pleather, vinyl, laminate, wool) that are difficult to fold or shouldn't be folded.

- Rolling carts or small, portable kitchen islands are great for housing your projects and/or supplies and they are easily rolled out of the way when you aren't using them.

- Cabinets are perfect for closed storage, but think about how you use them. Once the shelves inside are filled, use the inside of the doors too! If the space between the door and shelves is wide enough, put some nails in and hang small items. If it's not, use it to hang fabric swatches with the selvedge on from your latest project (in case you run out of fabric, you'll know what to get) or put up pictures of your favorite color ways to inspire you. It's your very own Piniterest in your home!

- Wall mounted thread racks are Godsends. See your thread right away without having ro rummage through a bin.

- Store away your scraps in shoeboxes. The cardboard breathes better than plastic, so you don't run that remote risk of mildew (if you're worried about that), plus they're something you probably already have around. Organize as you see fit - by scrap size, color, print style, whatever - and stow away.

- Foam core or comic book inserts are great folding aids. Wrap your fabric around those and you'll have your own mini bolt of fabric for whatever size cut. It keeps more fabric more compact than just folding and you can set it on end, fitting more fabric on your shelf/in your bin than folding and stacking.

- Labelling the yardage amount on your cut pieces and scraps (if it's not readily apparent) is a lot of work but if you work out of your stash more often than not, it's a good way to know which fabrics will work for your project and which won't.

- Hang dowel rods on the wall or inside a cabinet to keep your ribbons and spooled items out of the way and untangled

- Small plastic baggies are great for housing buttons and other embellishments because they stay contained, and most of those baggies have a hole in the top above the closure so they can be hung on a pegboard for easy identification and access.

- Put patterns in binder sleeves in a binder. One large binder takes up less space than the same amount "ziplocked" bags the patterns come in with the pattern inside. Plus, using dividers or sticky tabs, you can quickly find the pattern you need without rifling through a large box of patterns.

- Hardware stores carry wall mountable storage drawers, used there to house screws, nails and all that small stuff. Use one in your sewing room, wall mounted or not, to house your sewing machine needles, buttons, embroidery floss, bobbins etc. Each drawer can be labelled too!

 - Portable toolboxes are great to house small notions of a similar type out of the way yet easily reachable. They're great for buttons, clothing closues (like hook-and-eyes, zippers, snaps), beads and other embellishments, sewing machine parts, etc.

- Use the ArtBin project bins to keep current projects, class projects, Block of the Month programs and UFOs organized

- Mint tins and the like are great for storing broken needles and bent pins safely contained.

- Magnetic bulletin boards with the magnetic tins are perfect for storing buttons, pins, needles, in a more visually pleasing way.

- Use a dry erase board to write up your project list, items you need to buy at the quilt shop the next time you're there, cutting instructions, or other notes to yourself as you work.

There are a million and one different ways to organize your sewing room, and it takes trial and error to figure out what works best for you. I hope this has given you some food for thought and helped you with adding to the great ideas you all ready have!

Sources and Other Links
All People Quilt
TipNut

Bad Blogger...Bad!

Well, since we got back from Quilt Market, I know I haven't been the most diligent blogger around. Truth be told, I've been busy as all get out! I've been getting projects done (like you saw in the last 2 posts) and I've been working on the new ideas for the shop that we learned at Quilt Market. Plus, for the month of November we're short staffed at the shop so Mom and I are pulling double and triple duty to make sure things go smoothly. That being said, get better soon Debi! We need you :-)

So in the mean time, I'm running out of informational topics to write for you about. If you want to see something quilting related discussed on this blog, leave a comment and I'll make it happen! Untill then...I'll have a slew of neat new tips for you tomorrow.

Tippy Tuesday

Boy howdy. September hasn't been kind to us. Of course with all the stuff going on with mom and our local hospital ardently trying to kill her (not kidding), I'm sick for the second time this month. Hey, September, knock it off! Anyway, my fall table runner is back from the quilter and ready to be bound. I have that leopard print quilt yet to bind, and I'm slowly but steadily piecing all the 312 triangles together for my pumpkin quilt (pictures to follow) and my log cabin/star quilt is looking pretty fancy (also pictures to follow). So even being sick there's no rest for the stitchy.

On to the Tips! Oh, and by the way, if you send in your own tip to thecottonpatch@msn.com and it gets posted in the Tips section in the weekly newsletter, you get a prize! Even if you think everyone knows it, submit it anyway - free stuff is a wonderful thing! Unfortunately this offer applies to local ladies only - we don't do prizes by mail, but we still welcome your tips!

* The cardboard trays that soda packs come in are great for holding projects, because despite their size, they take up very little room when stacked up, and they stack very nicely. Label them as you see fit and there you have it - an inexpensive storage method, plus you're reusing something you might otherwise just throw away/recycle!

* Put an empty tissue box next to your machine to toss threads, paper piecing bits, fusible applique waste and fabric snippings into. It's reusable and its contents are easier to throw away.

* If you're having a hard time gripping the needle as you're hand stitching, try using a finger cot on the fingers you're using to pull the needle through. That little bit of extra grip works wonders. Plus, for this purpose they aren't only good for one use and a $2 pack of finger cots will last you a long, long time.

* If your cutting matting is looking pretty haggard with years of cutting grooves on it, fliip it over and use the underside. If your mat is that translucent plastic, then the lines are still visible and you can trace them in permanent marker on the backside, of course being very careful to trace accurately. If your mat isn't the transluscent plastic, well, measure out lines the old fashioned way, or just use your ruler to get your measurements.

* If you're having a hard time maintaining a good 1/4" as you sew, use a piece of blue painter's tape and tape it to your machine below your pressure foot, in line with the 1/4" marker on the feed dog plate. This will enable you to see that 1/4" farther down and  give you a larger guideline to go by.

* This one is one of my tried and trues, and I'm not sure if I've posted it before but what the hey, here it is (again): Those gallon sized ziplock bags (with the movable sipper thing on top) are a godsend. I have a tendency to leave and lose blocks and this keeps them all contained and protects the raw edges from ravelling and anything from stretching or wrinkling. The bags are reusable project to project and a box will last a long time.

* Before each project where you need to be using a particular bobbin thread, fill several bobbins with that color to save you time later. When you'r ein a groove and run out of bobbin thread, it's a groove crusher to spend the additional time away from working to wind another bobbin.

* Need a circle template? Use a sample CD that AOL and other companies send around in junk mail. They're durable and just about the perfect size for most projects.

* For posterity, sew your quilt label onto your backing before quilting your quilt. It makes it more stable and more difficult to remove later on. That way everyone in years to come knows who made the quilt!

* Use muslin or fusible interfacing to stabilize t-shirt blocks before you sew them - it'll prevent the knit from stretching funny when compared to the flannel or cotton you use for sashing.

Tippy Tuesday, only on Wednesday

Well, life has been crazy lately (and not in a fun "Barrel of Monkeys" way). Too much time has been spent in hospitals and at doctors appointments, and I've been triple-timing it at work so my time for anything more than work and sleep has been extremely limited. But we did finally get some good news - Mom doesn't have a heart problem. Her heart attack and related issues were not caused by a faulty ticker, but because of a thyroid disorder called Graves Disease. Don't worry, it's named after the doctor who discovered it in the 1920s, not after where you end up if you have it. Luckily it is easily treated and hopefully life will return back to normal for all of us soon. Needless to say, everyone in the family and at the shop are so very relieved it isn't anything more serious.

So, now to the tips. Since I haven't had a whole lot of time, I haven't gathered that many so I'm gathering while I'm writing. I haven't been able to test any of these out so they mayt or may not work for you but hey, it never hurts to give it a go on scrap or test fabrics/notions. Here we go!:

* Flannel works as a good batting subsitute if the quilt you're making is thick enough on its own (a Minkee quilt, for example) or if you want to keep your quilt really lightweight. Back in the day flannel was often used as "batting" because batting of a good quality wasn't always available where flannel was easier to obtain.

* Dishwasher utensil baskets make a great notion storage device - they are narrow and compact so they stay out of the way on your table, and they are easily hung up on the wall to be out of the way entirely. So if you're getting rid of a dishwasher, save that basket! Or, you can purchase one relatively inexpensively.

* If you're binding a quilt, and it's getting too warm to do while it's draped over you, move your ironing board to where you're seated and lower it to just above your lap. Drape the quilt over it and continue binding. The ironing board prevents the quilt from overheating you, and there is a nice draft between the quilt, board and you.

* While you're working on a project requiring several bobbins, stick a Q-Tip in the spool of thread, and then the bobbin through the Q-Tip. If you run out of thread, you will quickly know whch thread you used for that bobbin in case you forget.

* Keep inexpensive makeup brushes (eyeshadow and eyeliner brushes work best) as well as the fuzzy dental picks in your sewing kit. They are great for cleaning your machine when needed, and get into the nooks and crannies better than the brush your machine came with.

* If you have a cat or small dog, fabric scraps (apparently) make good chew toys. Tie a knot in it and let 'em at it. My chihuahuas can hardly wait until I start having scraps falling. I give them the big ones I know I won't use later, with the knot tied in it and believe it or not it gives them literally hours of entertainment gnawing on that thing. Sometimes they'll steal away the smaller ones and chew it to bits after it falls from my cutting board and I don't always catch it until it's been in their slobbery little mouths for a bit. They just shred them up, so it's not really a choking hazard, but it could be - stick with larger pieces.

* Clean your blades, both rotary and scissors, with rubbing alcohol to keep them gunk free and cutting smoothly.

* If you are thrying to thread a clear monofilament through a needle and not having much luck, there are two things you can do: first, thread it against a dark fabric since that makes the thread easier to see. or color the very tip of the thread with permanent marker so you can see it to thread it and then snip it off.

* Making cloth napkins and coasters are a great way to burn through your scraps/stash and they make nice gifts for people.

* Speaking of cloth napkins, if you have a theme decor in your dining room, buy cloth napkins that complement your color scheme or dishes and use them in a table runner. While the fabric quality may not be the same as quilting fabric, it's an inexpensive way to tie your room together. Plus, it's not a piece to be washed regularly so using the napkins is just fine. A heavier weight napkin tends to work a little better than the lightweight cotton ones.

* The edge of the selvedge tells you more than just the line and manufacturer. Those colored dots tell you how many different dye screens were used to make that whole fabric. As such, those are the individual colors that will match and blend nicely with that piece of fabric. So if you're stuck on the color choices with your go-withs, that selvedge is a great place to start looking!

Some Finished Projects, and Tippy Tuesday!

Well, it's been QUITE the weekend. I can honestly say I pushed myself to the point of being so physically and mentally tired I couldn't think of the word for guacamole (and I love guacamole). We changed the store up...just about the only things that didn't move are Color Wall and Clearance. It looks pretty dang good if I do say so myself, but it was a LOT of hard work. Mom is notorious for pushing herself too hard, and so considering a week off of her heart attack she was wanting to move things, I made sure I stayed late and came in early so I got the heavy lifting done before she got there so she wouldn't try to do it herself. Who'd have thought that there would be heavy lifting in a quilt store? Well, there is...those bolts are heavy if you move more than 2 at a time (which I did). But it wasn't all me thank goodness, we got my folks, my aunt, brother and my roomate to help get things done and after 3 days of moving I swear I couldn't have done it without their help! The busted their rear ends too and for that I thank 'em. So y'all will have to come in and see!

Besides doing the big fall floorset, I got a couple quilts done too. The first is a quilt from posts past. I finally got the borders on and it looks fabulous! It was really hard for me to do a random and scrappy style quilt, especially one that is really heavy on pattern, so I'm happy with the results. We were going to have kits for this, but when I discovered how the borders had to be cut to look right, it just wasn't going to happen. So, just about all of the fabric is still available, but no kits.

The whole kit 'n caboodle. Scrappy, yes?

A detail shot. I am in LOVE with that border print. It's a strong pastel, which, any pastel isn't really my thing, but this one is really cute. And it's a sewing theme too so it's gotta be good ;-) In case you're wondering, the beige in the print is actually a sewing pattern for clothes, the kind that comes printed on the it's-so-thin-you-look-at-it-sideways-and-it-tears tissue paper. It's a little hard to see in this picture.

A detail of the ceter of the quilt. And my feet.

 The other quilt is a quilt from a postcard pattern. They're $2 apiece and all of the quilts are simple and of various sizes, from wall hangings to very large throws (this one is I think about 74" square). I started this in January and obviously got very, very sidetracked. But it turned out nicely, and it's definitely in my favorite colorway.

Simple, but it's one of those quilts where color and value placement make a world of difference. This quilt could look completely different by turning the blocks different ways and placing the color differently.

A little more detail of the fabric, sans feet. I am also in LOVE with that border. this picture doesn't do it justice, the color is so vibrant.

So enough of my quilts, now on to this week's tips!:

* If a spool of thread you're using doesn't have a notch or anything to keep your thread from unwinding when it's not in use, cut a thin strip of Saran Wrap or Press & Seal wrap and rap it around your loose end. It prevents the thread from unspooling, it's easy to remove when you need the thread, and it doesn't damage the thread either.

* To keep scissors or thread clippers handy near your sewing machine without having to watch that they don't fall of the table while you're sewing/cutting, a suction cup hook from the Dollar Store attaches/removes easily from the side of your machine and keeps what you need easily accessible and out of the way.

* A Boning gun (the gun that attaches the plastic "bone" to both a garment and the price tag) comes in handy when you want to keep blocks or like scraps together for use later. The hole it creates is no larger than a T-Pin and your pieces won't come separated from each other until you decide to use them.

* If you're quilting a large quilt and find yourself struggling with the weight of the quilt forcing it to fall off your table while you're quilting, the following 2 tips help combat that weight: 1) if you're able to, put your sewing table in a corner while you quilt - that elimiates 2 sides from which your quilt can fall over and pull while you're sewing, and 2) if you can't put your table in a corner, take the loose end of your quilt and drape it over your shoulder and chest - it won't fall and your arms are still free to quilt the way you need to.

* For smaller quilts, use a spray adhesive on the back of your backing and of your quilt to baste it to your batting. it saves you time on pinning, doesn't come undone, and doesn't gunk up your needle or machine. Just be sure not to spray the adhesive on to your batting - it will simply absorb the adhesive and your fabric won't adhere.

* If you are quilting a quilt yourself and don't want to use a stipple and youdon't have access to a computerized longarm for designs, your local craft store has a large selection of stencils that can be used as quilting patterns. Use a chalk pouncer or a water soluable pen to trace your design, and stitch on your marks.

* If you don't have a hard floor, go to your office supply store and buy a hard mat that is for underneath a rolling chair, and put it under your sewing chair byu your machine. Threads and scraps fall to the floor all the time, and this hard surface is a snap to clean - just sweep your threads/scraps up and you're good as new. A magnet will help pick those pins that fall on there quickly and poke-free too!

* Most stores when you're buying clothes will either give you the hanger, or ask you if you want to keep it; if it's a clip style pnats hanger, say yes please! Those clip hangers are great for storing finished, unquilted quilt tops up and away from anything that could damage themor cause your fabric to ravel. They are also great for storing odd pieces of batting, quilting stencils, large pattern pieces, large pieces of template plastic or odd sized cutting mats.

* To keep your cutting accurate, use the right ruler for the job and measure using your ruler, NOT your mat. Over time and wear, mats can groove and warp, making your cuts less accurate as time goes on. The hard acrylic rulers are made from does not warp with time and your cuts will always be accurate. It also enables you move where you cut, which causes less wear on your mat over time. This method works for cuts as larger as youer needed ruler allows, from strips of varying width up to 25" square.

* The rubber stops on knitting needles are great to use on your small sharp scissors. They prevent your points from getting dull from storage (other items may hit your scissors) and it protects both you and your projects from accidentally getting poked or cut.

What a weekend. Thank God it's Tippy Tuesday!

Well that had to be one of the top 5 worst weekends ever. for those that know all ready, Mom is doing fine now and she's moving forward with cardiologists to determine what needs to be done, if anything. For those that don't, Mom had a medical emergency on Thursday and is now doing fine, but wont be in the store much the next few weeks. Until then, y'all are stuck with Debi and I! :-)

Now, on to cheerier things...it's Tippy Tuesday!

* We all know what a hassle bias binding can be, so whenever you've got enough extra that you could use for another quilt, wrap it gently around a toilet paper tube. Be careful not to stretch it. But that way, it's flat so no need to iron it, gently wrapped so it won't get stretched badly or caught on anything, and it's easy to find and to store.

* If you need a little bit of stabilizer, but don't have any on hand....head to the laundry room and use a USED dryer sheet instead! The fabric softener has all ready dried away, so the sheet is thinner, easier to take out and won't leave any residue on your fabric.

* Personally, I'm not a pre-washer of my fabric simply because I prefer the look of the quilt after it gets quilted, then washed and dried, but this is a great tip anyway and has saved my bacon more than once. Shout Color Catchers are AWESOME. When you wash your fabric/quilt for the first time, dye may come out of your fabric especially if the fabric is a lower quality (think Wal-Mart, JoAnn's), and that dye run-off is just about guaranteed to ruin your fabric and anything else you wash with it. toss in a Color Catcher or two and voila! The dye has run off, but nothing gets stained.

* Orphan/extra blocks make for cute pillows! Add fabric to attain the desired size, choose a back and there you have it!

* Just like with medical sharps, thought for different reasons, used needles, rotary blades and pins can be dangerous to just throw away on their own. For pins and needles, use an old, empty medicine bottle. punch a hole in the lid large enough to fit the pin heads through, and super glue the lid to the bottle. Pins and needles aren't too likely to spill out if dropped, and curious kids won't be able to open the bottle. As for rotary blades, keep an old rotary blade case and mark an "X" or "OLD" on it in permanent marker. That way, the old blades are still contained, and you know that case is not full of new blades.

* Save leftover batting that is at least 9.5" x 9.5" because it can still be used for potholders! You will still want the thermal material in there too, so you don't burn yourself while using them, but that batting helps insulate further.

It's "Tippy Tuesday!"

So I've decided that this blog filled with only my projects can get boring and monotonous (I'm sure some of you out there will scream if you have to see one more BooVille photo!) so I'm going to start doing a few episodic (weekly) posts and hopefully it'll jazz this up some and stay around! So...let's start with some tips to make your quilting life easier with Tippy Tuesday!


*Not all of us are lucky enough to have the space for a pre-fab Design Wall. If you have limited space, a large piece of white cotton batting/white flannel is a great substitute! Hang it up  or drape it where you need it while you're sewing, then fold it up (even with your blocks still on it, they'll stay put!) and put it away when you're done.


*I'm a bad quilt girl and I don't pin my binding while I'm hand stitching it on. If you too hate pinning, a great alternative is to your the snap hair clips (you know, the ones you bend and they snap open) instead. They keep your binding in place and you don't have to watch where you stitch (or sit!)


*If you're looking for use applique ideas but don't want to draw them out yourself, check out your local scrapbooking or craft store. They have lots of stencils, punches and die cuts that might be just the design you're looking for.


*Do you like the idea of saving scraps, but then don't know what to do with them after the fact? Try cutting them into manageable sizes that you know you'll use down the road. For example, if you have enough cut some 2" strips, 2"-3"-4" blocks, half square triangles, whatever you think you'd use. whatever's left you can keep in a box for future applique projects - as we all know those applique projects can demand some tiny pieces, and a scrap earmarked for that may be just the thing you need.


*If a piece of fabric is the right color but a few shades too dark, there's nothing wrong with using the "wrong" side! If you have a good quality fabric, the print will still be visible, bit it'll be a paler version of the "right" side of your piece. No one will know the difference unless you tell them!


*"To help determine the value of a color (light, medium or dark) look at the fabric through a clear piece of red glass or plastic. The red neutralizes the color allowing you to see only 'black and white'" This is a good one! I don't know where to find a plain piece of red plastic, but my best guess is that an art supply store is a great place to start looking.


*Quilters are extremely skilled at dropping pins on the floor and forgetting about them, especially if it' s a carpetted floor. At the hardware store you can find telescoping magnets, and they are fantastic for pullin gpins off the floor/carpet without you having to spend a while bent over picking them out by hand.


*If you're travelling and can't have little embroidery scissors with you (yeah, I'm looking at you, TSA), wind a bobbin with the thread you are working with and put it inside a dental floss container (they're very simple to take apart and the center spindle is the right size for MOST bobbins). The cutter in the floss container is sharp enough to cut through most threads without fraying them.


*If you're having difficulty threading your needle try one of these methods if a needle threader isn't available: If you're having trouble seeing the eye, thread it with a white piece of paper behind it - that makes the eye much more visible. If the eye of your needle is large enough, you can use a thin piece of paper folded in half the same as a traditional needle threader. If your issue is the thread catching on the needle and not making it through, cut the tip of your thread to a beveled edge and try that - that will get rid of any little fibers that might be snagging. Also, every needle nowadays is stamped out of a larger piece of steel when it's made, so every needle has a front and back side; usually the front is easier to thread than the back, so just flip your needle over and try threading it again.


*Napkin holders are a great way to store the rulers that you use the most by your cutting mat, if you don't want to poke holes in your walls to hang each one




Well, that's it for this week's Tippy Tuesday. check back next week for more, or if you have any tips you'd like to share (hint hint hint) comment on this post and I'll post them for everyone next week!