Pictures of Sewing/Quilting Room

JodyS — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 14:29:00 GMT

Well, finally got things moved around, put together and I am DONE at this point. So on to the pictures and some information of how this room came to be.

This room takes up 1/3 of our entire basement or approximately 1000 sq. ft. It wasn't being used for anything so I glommed it. Now, a little history of this place. This house is a full log home and was built by my husband's Uncle approximately 35 years ago. He furnished it with all kinds of things from the Catholic assisted living thrift shop his sister ran and garage sales so very little in this home was ours. Our furniture is still in our home in Illinois. This house was built as a year round family vacation home. My husband was the son his Uncle never had and when Joe passed away at age 97, 3 years ago (this man was sharper and in better shape than many I know at my age) he left my husband his entire estate including this place. He knew we loved it here and last November we became Michigan residents. Since then I'm here full time while my husband continues to work in Chicago and commutes here every weekend...that's a 7 hour drive one way. We're also moving things from Illinois to here bit by bit. That being said there was so much stuff in the basement that had to be moved, thrown away or given away it wasn't funny. Plus it's not as though you can really "throw" anything away in the garbage here since we have no garbage pick up. Everything has to be loaded and driven into our tiny township and dropped off at a garbage loading site. Pain in the butt! So, the 1st order of business was get everything out of that area that we could. Believe me the other 2/3rds of the basement is my next nightmare to tackle!

SO, 1st picture is just an overview from the basement stairs landing. I love having the natural light from the window. I supplement with overhead lights plus an Ott lite...the best lights anywhere!

The tables were all tables I've had for years. I simply refuse to pay the insane prices I see on sewing cabinetry. The 4 foot table next to the machine can be moved to wherever it's needed. In fact I made sure that everything could be easily moved. The brown table against the wall is complete with heated cat bed. Yes, they demand to be a part of everything! LOL All the boxes and bins are filled with fabric. The little brown cabinet on the right side of the sewing machine is actually a TV stand that I refused to get rid of because it represented STORAGE!. Yep, I'll reuse anything I can. It's great because it provides fabric storage plus a place for me to watch sewing/quilting DVD's when I need to. Oh, that chair is awful. I have a new chair coming but, hey, I make do when necessary.

My little portable DVD player I've had for years! You can plug it in here, use it with a battery or plug it into your car's cigarette lighter.

My sewing table. This thing is pretty much indestructible. It's 1 of the few things I actually bought new for this room besides the Janome. It's a Sew Perfect t able made for the Janome 6500/6600. It was easy to put together and I love it. That bottom brace by the foot pedal is wonderful as it keeps the foot pedal from sliding all over! The table is also adjustable and it was worth the expense. I wanted a table that wasn't going to shake at all!

The view of the front of the room. I had my husband help me to hang the design wall. We went to the garage and grabbed a piece of molding, stapled the cloth to the back and then hung it. I keep it folded up on itself so inquiring cats don't feel the need to shred it! Oh, all those bottles? Those are Jim Beam collector's bottle that belonged to my husband's Uncle..there are 300+ of them scattered around. Some are very cool!

View from the bottom of the stairs. Got to have a computer available and it fit perfectly in this corner of the stairs.

The infamous ugly Hutch and sideboard! LOL I moved them from the other wall and they are filled with sewing/quilting things! The ironing board just hangs out there for the heck of it.The sideboard also holds my 18 inch by 24 inch spinner used to cut fabric. It happens to be a perfect height to cut fabric standing up. Usually I cut fabric sitting down but you never know. Since it's on wheels it's easy to just swing it out and cut. The next picture is a closer view of these items.

Re-purposing furniture is a great way to cut costs!

The back part of the room. Yeah, it was originally built as a bar room . The wine rack was all hand built so while wines, etc. still take their place fabric resides in all the cabinets underneath! Next to the TV are more boxes of fabric. When I need to spread out a quilt for sandwiching all that furniture moves easily. Of course if I ever get to a frustrated level I can just grab a bottle of wine and pass out on the couch! LOL That couch is covered with a threadbare 50 yr old quilt to keep the cats hairs at bay. (There was no saving that quilt plus we found 3 others that were ok) And, of course, there HAD to be a cat tunnel.

2 of my 5 cats. That's Symba on top of his natural brother Bacchus. They are huge (19 & 22 lbs respectively) and responsible for a good deal of the flying cat hairs! Too bad they can't be knitted into scarves..the hairs that is!

So that completes my sewing/quilting area. The best thing about it was that it cost me very little. I believe in re-purposing. While all that Koala, etc. furniture is lovely it's cost is insane. Since I'm not doing a TV show I really have no need for it. Although if I won it, I'd take it! LOL The only things that are new are the sewing table and the sewing machine and the soon to arrive chair. There's always a way to re-use things. If I just stay in this area I'm OK but start freaking out entering the other 2/3rds of the basement that still need arranging!

JodyS's Blog : quilt room, fun, quilting

Pictures of Sewing/Quilting Room