Hands to Help Sign Ups and More

Daylight Savings Time and all I can think of is I’ve lost an entire HOUR of sewing time!

Today is sign up day for the Hands 2 Help Challenge. Drop by Confessions of a Fabric Addict blog and sign up. Then pull out those scrappy bins and create. It’s that simple.

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Why not “double dip” your effort and join the Scrap Attach Challenge while your making your H2H quilts…

I’m busy working on my March string blocks…80 to be exact …and… Gasp! I’ve never made string blocks before. How have I missed this fun band wagon all these years?!

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I can see! I can see!

I’m sooo excited this weekend hubby added LED ceiling lights to my sewing room.

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This year the Quilt Qwazy Queens blog hop over at Seams to Be Sew Blog has an UFO theme. Woot! That starts March 15th.

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My goals for the 2018 Scrap Attack Challenge

1. Make a string project – March project coming soon
2. Make a strip project
3. Use novelty scraps
4. Use  batik scraps – January top completed – waiting on quilting - going to H2H

Free tutorial HERE


5. Use red scraps – February completion – Donated to Bright Hopes

Get my free pattern HERE


6. Use blue scraps
7. Use red, white, and green scraps together Ho,Ho,Ho
8. Use food fabrics
9. Use pink and brown scraps
10. Use black and white scraps
11. Use a rainbow collection of scraps
12. Use scraps with the GO butterfly die
13. Use sock monkey fabric
14. Use dottie scraps
15. Piece backs for UFO tops
16. Use geometric scraps

 

Have a great sewing day!

Quilt Qwazy Queens Hop and a Give Away

Are you a Quilt Quazy Queen?
If you can’t resist petting fabric as you walk by, spend time shopping for fabric only to chop it into bits, and then spend hours sewing it all back together for fun…welcome to the Quilt Quazy club!!!!

Did you know we have our own holiday?
Worldwide Quilting day is in a few days. An entire day of celebrating quilters and quilting all around the world. WOOT!

Today I’m going to let you peek into my quilt quazy space and share some of my little organizing tips because….

Staying organized is the key to fitting more stuff in!

Sooo, WELCOME!!!

SEW true!!!

THE STUDIO

I’ve packed a longarm, 3 work stations, and a design wall into a 10’ x 10’ room with a walk in closet. That’s bigger than some and smaller than others but I’m happy.

Entry and closet doors….and part of my wind up toy addiction

Just inside the door is a shelf filled with little storage drawers. Each machine has it’s own easy to locate tool drawers. Below that threads are sorted and safe from dust.

Doors are also usable space. There’s a foam board mounted to the back of my door with Command Strips for notes and tape measures are always easy to locate hanging on the door knob.

Each machine has a bobbin ring. These are WONDERFUL, easy to carry, hang and sort.

Turning to my right ~ My longarm is on wheels so it can be pushed back against the wall. There’s no need to waste that floor space when it’s not in use. The “air” space below is used for storage.

Walls are for inspiration and swap gifts. I have fun little things that I enjoy tucked around the room.

 

Hair ties are great for keeping pantographs neatly stored. Grid rulers are safely stashed in slotted boards between the cabinets.

Turning to my right again ~ I have 3 work stations. This one is used as my work desk. A crate turned on it’s side doubles as file storage and shelf space. 

These little hanging baskets great catching threads and other doodads. You can find a free tutorial HERE. 
Tip: Don’t sew the notch in step 2. Wait until step 4 otherwise it’s thick to sew through.

Music is kept in another cute basket.
What do you wiggle to while you work?

And another turn to the right ~ Almost back to the start
I found that the best set up for me was pushing two tables together. My main sewing station is on a sturdy old desk with extra drawers for storage. The second table is handy when sewing large quilts so they don’t drop down and pull. It’s also my cutting table on normal days.

A design wall is tucked behind the entry door ~ space that normally would go to waste. It’s also hung with Command Strips like everything else.
Design wall Tutorial can be found HERE

All drawers are divided with little basekts and bins for better use of space. I can’t stand “digging” to find things.

Not a storage tip but if you THINK you can see then you haven’t seen Inspired LED lights!!
I’ve added them to all my machines. You can even customize them like I did.

THE CLOSET

This is where the tour ends for my husband… LOL

Don’t settle for one closet shelf…fill that “air” space with cubbies.

TADA!!!
Projects are cut and waiting in bins ~ some days I only like to cut and some days sew. Quilts waiting for the longarm are on hangers.

Sort, sort, sort and label!

All scraps are sorted into color coded tubs. All supplies and notions are separated into shoebox size totes. It takes some effort to get organized at first but you won’t waste time later digging for things.

More cubbies were added below the closet shelf to hold color coded yardage.

What fun tricks do you use for storage? 

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The Electric Quilt Company is offering a 30% discount
to everyone during the Quilt Quazy Hop.

Use promo code EQHOP2017

Good from 3-16-17 to 3-27-17
Can be used for upgrades from EQ6 to EQ7 and EQStitch
Exclusions: Electric Quilt 7, EQ7 Migration Kit, Upgrade from EQ Mini to EQ7, EQ Mini Migration Kit, EQ Academy classes, and EQ University classes.

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Give Away

One winner will receive (3) fat quarters from Northcott Noah’s Ark collection. Enter below for a chance to win. This is a one day give away.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Give Away

One winner will be picked from all of today’s blogs to receive (1) Martelli Notions - Rotary Cutter with 5 additional blades. Enter below for a chance to win. Winner agrees to pay shipping costs as listed.
Shipping Costs:
USA Priority Mail: 6.75
Canada: 15.50
International: 23.50

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Don’t miss any of the Quilt Quazy FUN!!

March 16
Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats
Resourceful Momma
UCanQuilt2

March 17
Freemotion by the River
KwiltKrazy
FunThreads Designs
Pink Doxies

March 20
Jane’s Quilting
Seacoast Quilter
Words & Stitches
Quilting Affection

March 21
Thrift Shop Commando
Batts In The Attic
Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Sew Many Yarns

March 22
MooseStash Quilting
Life in the Scrapatch
Seams To Be Sew

 

 

#Quiltquazyqueens #worldwidequiltingday #sewingorganization #sewingroom

Our Favorite Things Blog Hop

We hope you’ve been enjoying the sewing space tours. The final stop will be tomorrow with Happy Cottage Quilter.

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Welcome to my little corner of the house!!

This is the view looking in from the door. My sewing space is a 10’ x 10’ room full of my favorite things. I’m blessed to be able to have a space where I can keep my mess set up all the time.

Looking to the left side of the room you can see my Voyager on a 9 foot frame. At the moment we are having a love/hate relationship. My hubby added some heavy duty wheels from Home Depot so I could push it back to the wall when not in use. On the right side of the room I have my sewing station.

A design wall is tucked behind the entry door on the right. That’s one thing I couldn’t live without. It’s made from foam board and you can find my tutorial here.

I’ve tried lots of different layouts and the two tables pushed together against the wall has been my favorite. My primary machine is a Baby Lock Jane. It’s a fast, strong, straight stitching machine.

There’s a sneak peek of the fabulous Island Batik fabrics and my project for the August Summer in the Country blog hop

Thread and machine attachments are stored in little drawers behind me. Lots of my favorite things are tucked in every corner of the room. Yes…that’s a prehistoric boom box.

Everyone should wiggle while they work! Hahaha. My current selection has something for every sewing occasion:)

I LOVE buttons and trees. The set of seasonal trees on my back wall were designed and made for me by a friend on Craftster.

A view from the window looking back at the door. I’m working on a new home for my growing pincushion collection.

For a while I was hooked on making paper “stars”. Three are still hanging in the corner.

I guess if I was forced to pick two of my most favorite things in the room….My first would be this quilt. When my youngest graduated high school we took our last official family vacation. We went on our first cruise and this photo just says “mom and dad you got it right!!”.

Did you know….The photo was re-colored using EQ7 and printed on inkjet fabric sheets.

Did you notice my little toy collection? This is my second most favorite thing even though it has nothing to do with sewing. I’m fascinated by wind up and solar powered toys. As you may have already guessed…. I’m soooo easily amused:)

The cute sock monkey on the lower right is my latest addition. He jumps rope!!

What’s in your closet? Well, mine is a tightly packed walk in closet. I added some cube shelving on top of the regular closet shelf for more vertical storage space.

looking right - tops and project bins

looking center - scrappy bins by color

A few items have oozed out of the sewing room…..My ironing station is in the hall and my cutting table is in the guest bedroom beyond that. That all gets packed away when company comes.

Thanks for visiting. Y’all come back August 17th for the Summer in the Country hop.

Everyone that was on the tour…..

• Monday July 13 - The Patchwork Pearl

• Tuesday July 14 - Bejewled

• Wednesday July 15 -  Mary Mack's Blog

• Thursday July 16 -Made in Scraps

• Friday July 17 - Maria's Scrap Quilts

• Saturday July 18 - Tamarinis

• Sunday July 19 - Moosestash Quilting

• Monday July 20 -  KISSed Quilts - Keeping it Simple

• Tuesday July 21 - Purrfect Spots

• Wednesday July 22 - Adele Mogavero Fiber & Feast

• Thursday July 23 - For Quilts Sake

• Friday July 24 - Beaquilter

• Saturday July 25 - Freemotion by the River

• Sunday July 26 - Pamelaquilts

• Monday July 27 - Kauffman Designs

• Tuesday July 28 - Lemon Tree Snippets

• Wednesday July 29 - Fun Threads Designs
• Thursday July 30 - Happy Cottage Quilter

I actually met him in person!! Hahahahaha.

Hop, Hop, Hop…

Our Favorite Things Blog Hop started today. Join us as the Island Batik Ambassadors share their sewing spaces and favorite things with you. A new sewing space every day for 17 days! Who doesn’t like to peek into sewing rooms!?!?

Complete tour list….….

• Monday July 13 - The Patchwork Pearl

• Tuesday July 14 - Bejewled

• Wednesday July 15 -  Mary Mack's Blog

• Thursday July 16 - Made in Scraps

• Friday July 17 - Maria's Scrap Quilts

• Saturday July 18 - Tamarinis

• Sunday July 19 - Moosestash Quilting

• Monday July 20 -  KISSed Quilts - Keeping it Simple

• Tuesday July 21 - Purrfect Spots

• Wednesday July 22 - Adele Mogavero Fiber & Feast

• Thursday July 23 - For Quilts Sake

• Friday July 24 - Beaquilter

• Saturday July 25 - Freemotion by the River

• Sunday July 26 - Pamelaquilts

• Monday July 27 - Kauffman Designs

• Tuesday July 28 - Lemon Tree Snippets

• Wednesday July 29 - Fun Threads Designs

• Thursday July 30 - Happy Cottage Quilter

Keep an eye out as you tour the sewing spaces. You may spot some of the projects we’re working on for the August blog hop which will showcase Island Batik’s new fabrics using a Summer in the Country theme.

Sewing Room Tour

I was cleaning up my messy sewing room and got to thinking that I never gave a tour of the organizing madness I did back in the fall. After numerous changes I’ve finally found a set up that I really love.

My current work station is a cube. It holds two machines and a handy little cutting mat. All the embroidery related items are in a cubby under the brown table. The design wall is to the right just out of view.

Thread and machine parts have all been organized in little drawers that are just a chair spin away. Yup that’s a prehistoric boom box with CD’s in the fabric basket. Hahaha.

Pantos are in the Route 11 chip tins so they don’t get crushed. Have you ever tried Route 11 chips? YUM!!

A view in the other direction. I still need a cute little wall shelf for my growing pincushion collection.

The quilting machine runs down the wall opposite my sewing station. I might add some more cubbies along that wall since we got heavy duty caster wheels at Home Depot so I can move the frame around as needed.

But the BEST changes were done in the closet. Do you have split closet shelves like these? They are such a waste of space when it comes to storage so I added a 9 unit cubby from Target in there.

Now look at the stuff that fits! Works in progress are in snap totes with a notecard tucked so I can see it through the box. Can you tell I don’t like to do the actual quilting part of quilting??? Look at all those tops. Shameful! Gah!

Center shelf holds all my bitty scraps sorted by color, themed snap totes of notions, and bags hung using Command Strips.

Another cubby unit was added to the opposite wall. Buttons were sorted in jars by color. Fabric yardage is sorted by color in the floor totes on both sides.

That’s it. This is where all the nuttiness happens every day!

Does anyone craft with selvages? That bin is getting full and needs a home.