My new sewing area

A couple of weeks ago Don and I decided to convert our back bedroom to a sewing area. Until then, I had a desk and some on-the-desk shelves in the corner of the living room. I did my cutting and ironing on the dining room table, and had to constantly put everything away and take things out.  But I managed. Now it's so much better!  Every time I walk through the room I smile - I sometimes stay in there all day!

This is my pride and joy.  When I was still teaching in a classroom (before I became president and moved to an office), I had this drafting table I used in front of the room. It's tall enough to stand behind and teach. I moved it into this room and just love it. It has the largest cutting mat on one side, and a large ironing pad on the other side. Behind the iron you can see a red thing - that's my printer, covered by a red plaid cloth, topped with a little doll my son made when he was 9. (He's 28.) There's still room for a large basket of neutrals, and work area between the ironing pad and cutting mat. There's a long narrow drawer I use for some supplies, and my rulers all fit in the wide skinny drawer. As you can see, there's room underneath for even more stuff, including the stool I used in my classroom.  As I stand and cut or iron, I have a wonderful view outdoors.

 In the bookcase next to my drafting table I have 3 shelves of books and notebooks, and this shelf. The two cardboard file boxes hold some of my strings - separated into lights and darks. (After the most recent donation of strings and crumbs, I've had to cram a bunch of strings into two large ziploc bags.)  The little drawers hold squares.  As each drawer gets full, I pull them out and put them into bags. But with the drawers right next to my cutting mat, it has gotten so easy to cut and sort as I go instead of all at once.  I can also reach into a drawer and take out a bunch of squares when I need them for a project.

 This very messy area is my sewing desk, my Featherweight, and a couple of shelves that hold my smaller than FQ/larger than crumbs scraps. I have more storage drawers on each side of the shelves, where I keep assorted papers, patterns, templates, and such. I have a view out the window from here, too.

This little chest of drawers is full of completed small quilts, stacks of blocks waiting to be pieced, a few projects kitted out ready to sew, and a bunch of "made" fabric (fabric made from sewing crumbs together).  The TV is on a lot while I"m in there - but I can only listen most of the time since it's behind where I sit.

This is about 80% of my stash. The shelves are built-ins behind the door. I just recently got the comic book boards, and there are 96 of them on that top shelf. The next shelf down is fat quarters, and then  3shelves of assorted sets of pieces - I know what they are : ).  The next-to-the bottom shelf is all solids.

This is my happy place!