Sewing Space - the Details

The gals at Mad About Patchwork have started their great Sew Canadian blog tour of sewing spaces and I'm up first! You get a peek at how some of your fav Canuck bloggers have set themselves up to sew, and there is the bonus fun interview with everyone as well. I can tell you that I'm most curious about what everyone has named their sewing machines...and also what people listen to or watch while they sew.

 

There is a linky for you to join in the fun and post photos of YOUR sewing space and everyone who shares will be entered to win a wonderful prize!

click on the photo if you need to see it larger in Flickr

I thought it would be fun to share a few more details here, in addition to my post on the tour.  I've added text labels to a couple of my photos to give you a better idea of just where everything goes.  I did tidy for these photos, people. Plus, I still have crap hanging out in the basement from when I swapped rooms with my daughter  a year and a half ago. I Just. Can't. Fit. It. All. into this 9' x 8' room with no closet. I'm not complaining because I feel extremely fortunate to have a room of my own in our relatively small home - I just want you to know that you're seeing the glamour version here.

A bit more info that's not labelled:

• There are 4 interlocking industrial felt flooring tiles (purchased at the hardware store) under my rolling chair.
• The table is an IKEA dining table with both leaves pulled out purchased in the "As Is" department due to some mystery scratch that we couldn't find.
• The 9' wall opposite the window is covered in two 4'-wide, 6' high insulation boards wrapped in batting that I nailed right into the drywall with 2" nails. This is my design wall and I am in love with it.

Yes, that's a chandelier! It's leftover from this being D's bedroom, but I can't think of a good reason to change it out for a different fixture, so it's staying.

• The ceiling is vaulted on a slope (we have a 12-12 roofline, very steep!), so I have some high up wall space perfect for displaying minis I have received in swaps, or made myself.
• Behind my rolling Stanley cart on the bottom shelf is my Go!Baby and dies.
• While I have that big thread rack, there are also two boxes of thread stacked on top of the plastic drawer unit that holds my scraps.
• I love saving and displaying cute postcards, business cards and notes from friends on my windowsill, or stuck on my wall with washi tape.

I love my little sewing room and I'm happy to share it with you! Feel free to ask me if you're still curious about anything.

Here's the schedule of sewing rooms to see:

July 6th – Patti @Retired to Quilt and Krista @Poppyprint

July 13th – Dominique @The Running Thimble and Cinzia @Deux Petites Souris

July 20th – Anita @Daydreams of Quilts and Lorna @Sew Fresh Quilts

July 27th – Shena @Apple Pie Patchwork and Katherine @Sew Me Something Good

August 3rd – Felicity @Felicity Quilts and Josee @The Charming Needle

August 10th – Janet @What Comes Next and M-R @Quilt Matters

August 17th – Erica @Happy Fabric, Jacqui @Treadle Quilts and Adrienne @Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

August 24th – Leanne @She Can Quilt and Jaclyn @Jaclyn Quilts

August 31st – Pam @Mad About Patchwork and Laura @Waffle Kisses

Zip, Zip, Zip

That's the sound of my triple zip pouch. I took a break from scrap sewing and prep work for the 241 Bag workshop I'm teaching this weekend to make this cute pouch. Deb designed this and wrote up a tutorial late last year and is hosting a Triple Zip Along on her blog at the moment.

Once all of your fabric pieces are prepped, this pouch goes together fairly quickly. I love the cute factor here (possibly due to my fabric choice - I finally caved and jumped on the typewriter bandwagon and cut into my new pearl bracelets FQ set, too) however I'm not sure all the fuss and bother is really worth it. My ambivalence is likely due to the relationship I have with my zipper foot. We're not on good terms. I just don't have much control with it. It's definitely the most disappointing foot that came with my Pfaff QE 4.0. For most zipper projects I use the standard sewing foot and move my needle position over as far as it will go towards the zipper.

The pouch itself is about 7" x 5 1/2" and even though there are three separate storage linings (one for each zip) it doesn't have any more capacity than a 1-zip pouch of the same size.  It just might be convenient to keep certain small tools/accessories/makeup in a different compartment from others, I guess.

There are lots of tips and alternate finishing methods discussed in the flickr group for the Triple Zip Along. Plus, loads of good ideas for fabric combinations. There are even several cute quilted versions to see.

As always, beware the directional fabric!  You could seam your main pouch fabric to avoid this, but it sort of cracks me up, so I didn't bother.

Deb's organized some great prizes for people who post a finished pouch photo to the flickr group by February 15th.  Why don't you give it a try?

Tis the Season....

....to sew my heart out, but not be able to share anything with you!  My nieces read my blog, my kids follow me on IG, my SIL reads my blog. It's hopeless, any surprise would be ruined if I published photos before the big day.

Now that the VMQG has held their Christmas meeting I can share one recent make with you, though. I love this one. It's a little beyond the intention of the scrap swap we did (last month we all brought a sandwich baggie filled with our own scraps with our name concealed inside. Then we grabbed a bag off the table to take home and spend a couple of hours making something out of the scraps to gift back to the scrap owner).   I might have spent more than a couple of hours.

I made this machine cover for my lovely friend Berene. In the summer, she bought a Pfaff QE 4.0, the same machine I have. It was my plan to make her a cover for it (since she sews at her dining table) for her fall birthday, but I didn't manage it. This swap was a perfect opportunity and I was happy to score Berene's scraps! All of the wonky stars, patches and the strip along the top of the machine were in her scrap bag. The medium grey Kona were all scraps of mine from this quilt (which, by the way, is now quilted and bound - photos as soon as the rain stops here. I'm thinking maybe May).

Having the same machine made sizing a breeze.  The panel across the top of the machine has a piece of heavy weight interfacing under it so that the front and back sides drape vertically from the top of the machine. These geometric quilting lines are a triple stitch that I love using for stand out lines - here I used a 28wt Aurifil that has a lovely sheen. The cover is quilted with a fun backing fabric that I've enjoyed using on the back of various projects over the past couple of years (yikes, I'm almost out!).

The cover was finished just in the nick of time, so I didn't have a chance to take any photos - thanks for taking and sharing these ones Berene!

I plan to make another appearance prior to Christmas, but if you're taking a blog-reading break, then I'll take this opportunity to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday! xox