When Cheryl Sleboda first mentioned she was thinking about having a blog hop for studio cleanup, I knew I needed to be on it. I had started transforming my sewing space into a for-reals studio for my longarm quite a few months ago, and needed the motivation to get it finished. Other deadlines had been taking precedence, but its half-finished state was a major thorn. This room has been used for five different things: Ben’s office, a toy/play area, my sewing room, and now it is my longarm studio. I am totally going to set ego aside and show you how bad it looked after I had finished writing my book:
At the time, this was “moderately clean”. It had been a whirlwind 4 months of writing the book. The green on the walls and the area rug are left over from the previous room usages.
This was in October 2014. The following stages all took place in October and November 2014, and then… it sat for a bit.
First, I wanted better cabinets that weren’t cobbled together from years of mismatched furniture. These are the Billy series from Ikea. We took the mismatched bits out, painted that section, then put the cabinets in and started refilling them.
this is what is behind the closed door on the left:
My fella is the best thing that ever happened to me. He was a huge help and drove to IKEA 3 hours away, picked up the cabinets, and drove back immediately just for this. I am probably adult ADHD, so organizational stuff and cleaning can sometimes literally manifest itself as feeling like ants are crawling all over me and I have to get! out! but he really helps me to stay on task.
I donated about 200 yards of fabric to various causes. Not everything in this picture 😉 I still have 300-400 yards left, I guess.
And from this point, this is where it sat since about December 2014:
SO, given the timeline of this Spring Clean hop, here is where I’m at now! I finished painting, and reorganized my shelves so that I could have a shipping station and better storage for all my longarm stuff (and realized I have a bit of a template collection). Of course, it had gotten back to being messy first, so I had to clean that up, but here is the finished series:
Ta daaaaa! walls are painted and blinds are taken down!
Fabric folded: smaller cuts up top, big cuts on bottom. I have my photo stuff and collapsing design wall in the cabinet at left.
Shipping station and quilt storage as they wait in the queue.
inspiration wall
looking back from the opposite corner.
It’s still not perfect or completely finished, but the biggest needs I had have been met, and I am really happy with the results. Thanks for checking it out! Here are the links on the blog hop, go and see other people’s befores and afters! I love seeing how other people have themselves set up.
May 7 Kathy Matthews http://www.chicagonow.com/quilting-sewing-creating/
May 8 Misty Cole Http://www.dailydesignwall.blogspot.com
May 9 Heather Kinion http://heatherkinion.com/
May 10 Jessica Darling http://jessicakdarling.com/
May 11 Lisa Blevis Filion http://upstatelisa.blogspot.com/
May 12 Peta Minerof-Bartos http://www.thenotsewguiltyquilter.blogspot.com/
May 13 Mandy Leins http://mandalei.com/
May 14 Amalia Teresa Parra Morusiewicz http://funfromatoz.com/
May 15 Sam Hunter http://huntersdesignstudio.com/
May 16 Debby Ritenbaugh Brown http://higheredhands.blogspot.com/
May 17 Debbie Kleve Berkebile http://www.mountaintrailquilttreasure.blogspot.com/
May 18 Michelle Mattingly http://stitchesofjoi.blogspot.com/
May 19 Cheryl Sleboda http://blog.muppin.com
Thanks, y’all!
Looks wonderful Mandy!
Thanks Jan! It was a long time coming, but we had to work around everyone’s needs ha!
Huge ‘kudos’ to you!!! Staying focused and on task is a problem for me (too?) and the lure of a “bunny trail” can cause me to stray very quickly…….sigh…………………….
What a huge transformation! Your husband sounds like a great guy. Well done Mandy.
Seeing your studio transformation always makes me smile. My fav picture is the one with the kids on the shelf — I love thinking of all those wonderful quilts coming out of this happy space! Go For It All!
Rose, that is one of the nicest compliments! Thank you so much!