family art 101

Putting a long shelf board across the two cupboards has been a perfect solution to working on my journals and the grand kiddies smash books.  I am so pleased with my new art room.

And after a long day everyone came home with me including their mother as we have an early appointment in the city tomorrow.  A good opportunity for a family art photo and we were so busy I forgot!   oops!

Easy as riding a bike!

Yesterday I experienced blowing snow, a freezing cold draft, hard slugging and lots of sweat equity in my cleaning.  :(

Today the sun is shining, a window is open, ease as the last bits move into place and lots of glowing!  :)

I'm not sure this book case will stay but I've never worked from the end of the table, the light isn't being blocked, and it will stop me from piling things on those two lower cupboards.  The ceramic houses are for my series project so they are handy and again, I won't stash stuff up there.  ;^)

When I was shuffling fabric around it really irritated me that I hadn't moved the extension cord from between the middle and the last unit.  I had it in the middle for access but I don't need it there anymore.  So while I was tweaking the shelves I moved that cord behind the last unit and closer to the ironing station.  I hate cords all over the place.  Then I saw the nice wicker basket on the top shelf holding garment patterns. eek!  Since I had already removed the fashion fabrics and the how to fit and how to sew books, I clenched my teeth and refused to be enticed by the flashy, flirty models! okay, so I saved a couple  :}   Often when I clean things up, I cheat with a few short cuts.  This is feeling so very nice.  :]

I imagine this storage area will evolve with the using but I am terribly pleased with how well it looks!

Disclosure:  While I feel I have been very diligent in getting right down to corners and floor washing;  I didn't do drawers.  And the craft shelving unit is not as congested but I didn't do every shelf.  I also have two trays of paper stuff to go through. BUT,  I am feeling so good!   Perhaps I could now try unicycling!!!!

Lets try again!

A place for everything  and everything in its place!

First the good news!

The printed paper has been relegated to 15 slots in my wall mounted files. Green is GO and Sew.  Blue is sky is the limit for Mixing up the Medias.  Orange is ornga glad to be working with the kids.  Red is remember strategic planning or there will be a fire!  And purple is the royal kingdom of design.   Phew!  I'm glad that is done.  I should be able to find things but I have a bad habit of leaping in without checking through the helpful stuff I've saved. :(   Note to self-  remember the red!   A few Really good ideas are pinned on my idea board which is behind Mini and is kept small on purpose.  It hopefully reduces visual clutter and I can pin block patterns up for correct placement.   The irons are out of the way so they don't get knocked over when I don't need them.  I couldn't get the basic books into the hanging files but I had a wee bit of room at the end of my big table area.

It is a bit cramped along my sewing wall but I'll stand to sew on Mini.  I had to make some compromises and this just means I can't pile stuff in the walkway.  A bonus for sure.  lol

A deterrent to piling things in front of that west window is the sun.  It'll likely fade anything left laying about for any length of time.  A good incentive to keep the clutter down, I hope!

I haven't actually sat down to Nina and sewn but again, a compromise.  She has room behind her and is easy to slide onto my new stool.  My threads are accessible and  the stash/design wall is handy.

I did put my design board against the fabric wall.  Again a compromise but every time I pass through the upstairs hallway I'm glad to not have to negotiate around it.  Think midnight runs!  :O

The most important piece of furniture in my playroom is the large cutting table. I store rolling storage carts under it.   I had to leave one leaf down.  But it is accessible on both sides because I have a large cupboard against the wall.  I've not much in it but could roll the table forward to access some stuff I rarely use.  I'm not ready to part with the cupboard just yet and if the drawers aren't handy the top is sure useful!  The other end has the ironing station on top of a cupboard of colour coded papers for journals and such.

I've spent some time reflecting on what exactly I want from my mixed media corner.  Fibre is my first luv but this corner turned out to be the roomiest.  The door is off the closet so I can get at things easily.   I have learned that lots of counter space isn't necessary because I only seem to be able to keep about two square feet clear enough to work on.   This is also kinda cluttered visually but I need to be able to reach for the things I need when I need them. Much as I'd like to keep the cutting table for fabric I'm back working with girls who want to develop their creativity so the table sees lots of mixed media use. I just flap down Dollar store shower curtains on it.   It also helps me keep on top of clutter.  ;~)

The die cutter is in the only spot that makes it useful and one bookcase on the fabric storage wall holds finished journals and memory books, beads and buttons,  polymer clay and novelty fabric.  Some of that may not survive the 'next'  purge. 

But for now, everything seems to have found a place and I am back to bare floors!  Now to see if I can keep it that way.  aw! I think even messes may have their place! 

HSTerical

                                         HSTerical

It may not look like it, but I am having fun!  I get some sort of 'jollies' from sorting and organizing messes!  I decided to tackle my fabric stash and see why piles of fabric weren't finding resting spaces behind those white design wall curtains.  Isn't that hysterical!

The good news is that I don't have as much fabric as I thought.  The bad news is that I have way more wips than I thought.  I also decided that many of my 'sometime in the future' projects that I have stashed in plastic shoe boxes need to re enter their designated colour piles.  I could have used some of those fabrics in recent projects.  :{

One of the plastic boxes has all kinds of Half Square Triangles!  I had an old Debbie Mum Noah's Ark fabric that was perfect for a wedding quilt, but not the arks so much.  lol   I cut off the arks and a great idea was born, started, but never completed.  I do believe its time has come!

I'm thinking this layout and I'll figure out the borders later.  It just floats my boat ark. ;~)

This whim (work hidden in my mind) has come up to see the light of day as well.  I found the print somewhere a long time ago.  It just appeals to me.  I have this block in mind and will use all the colours on the taupe background.  No already done or even cut hst's but I can maybe redraft the block to fit my die cutter.  :)  I also may find a better taupe background now that I see the photo.  :O

I am just thrilled to have dealt with old stacks, (from at least 5 years ago) and got everything organized.  I had already purged what I won't use.  Most of the fabric groupings stayed intact with their idea attached but I just better placed them in the shelves in case I 'need' what they have to offer.  Surprisingly everything pretty much fits.  On the cutting table is a big basket holding a current project. Pinks are also ready for cutting.  The other two I had totally forgotten about and again one has the blocks done.  sheesh!  I feel like some extra weight has lifted though as I look around and see bare floors and table tops.  vbsigh

I think I am now up to 5 different ideas to toss up on the design wall concerning half square triangles.    Do you think that is hysterical?  ;^)

I am linking to Vicki's HSTeria Quilt Along.  :)

The REAL Studio Tour- mid project

  Welcome to The Coop and Saucer Playroom and the mid project reveal for the Real Studio Tour. 

It seems like I am always mid-project and I am always mixing wet and dry projects!  I do try to keep my fabric stash, my sewing and my beading on the right hand side of this room.  My large craft table divides my space nicely.  The window faces west which isn't the best for light so I keep sheer curtains to diffuse the strong rays.  The wall on the left is designated for my mixed media projects.  It probably gets the most cluttered.  The cubby with the green baskets used to store fabric scraps sorted by colours but now holds paper, also sorted by colour.

Much as I try not to get stuff on my fabric, my impatience leads to just one little quick technique on the table.  I suspect that even when I get a workshop for all the messy stuff I will still try for that quick little thing in the corner of my designated sewing space! lol

My fabric is stored in two Ikea bookcases which fit nicely in the chimney corner.  I made covers to hide everything with white feather ticking which is very cheap at the large discount store.  It also my design wall.

I have two sewing machines.  Nina is an 820 Bernina and has the throat space for my machine quilting and the design stitches for my fibre art.  Nina is sandwiched between bookcases and I am deciding if this will work.  She once was permanently alongside the cutting table.  But she was in danger from paint spray and spilled stuff!  :(   I am not planning to make very many more big quilts but if the need arises I would drag Nina alongside my cutting table so I can spread the quilt out more

Mini is an old  Bernina and she is up for quick mending and  quick stitching on paper.  I had coveted a Feather weight but Mini is pretty light and a lot of the feet I had before I got Nina fit Mini.  She is a lot more portable than Nina who is a big girl.  The sewing machines do tend to stay clutter free.  Thank goodness! 
. 

The bookcase to the right of my sewing area holds backing, buttons, beads and thread. When I found this over the door ironing board I was ecstatic.  Then I decided last week to remove the door from the closet and moved the ironing station inside my main door.   I thought it might not work.  But when I am 'in the zone' I don't leave the room and it retracts pretty easy.

My cutting table has gone from being half used to always fully extended.  I luv the height and it is always cluttered and always in use.  I purposely put it in the middle of the room so I can access three sides.  I proceeded to completely fill underneath it with storage.  The two Ikea drawers are repurposed from my girls' bedroom and are shallow for 12 " blocks and pattern pieces.  The  plastic carts hold all kinds of supplies and I wish they were almost all shallow.  Beats digging!  ;)   My Rooster did put two legs to support the corners better as that tends to be where I cut.

The mixed media wall gathers many of the supplies for altering cloth and paper for my art.  The wall is short due to the roof slope but I'm pretty short so I can't reach much higher.  The near left is for my scrap booking.  The centre counter is all about wet.  The last section is an old wooden office cabinet and will probably collect my idea folders and my latest technique book.

I am just thrilled with the results of removing this closet door.  It has really opened up this whole corner.  The door is stashed behind the cupboard and brings it forward which means I'll not be able to pile things on the floor.  ;)  I've added more shelves to the cupboard and it holds scrap book supplies. Tucked out of sight and under the roof slope is a bookcase for more of my book stash.  A light in here would be a help!  lol

My big cutter moved from the old office cabinet to between these doors and  it hasn't collected too much stuff during this week.  My grand son (5) has already tried out the new set up and approves!  lol

One good thing is that my centre table doesn't get horribly cluttered because I am forced to clear it off regularly for the next project.  I have made many changes over the years and once again I can't imagine improving my work space again but I've learned to never say never when it comes to the creative process which seems to have me always in mid- project. 
 
Thanks for visiting.    I hope you visit more 'real' studios over at the Field Trips in Fiber blog who are also in mid-project.   May you be blessed in all your projects wherever you are in the creative process. :)

Once upon a stack!

 I retrieved my camera and had a fun day with my grand girls.  No brother!  But now it is back to my stacks.

Once I had a plan!  These images were going to be layered onto these blank canvases.   But I am thinking the orientation of the canvases is wrong.  drat!  When the Rooster sees all those holes...  :(   I need to be more mindful of the table, window and tall bookcases whose orientation is also longish, vertical.  So the canvases themselves should run vertically and not horizontally as they are positioned here.  This time I shall place them on a large sheet of paper and nail through the paper.  Live, learn, and ...
 

I had hoped to have the basting done so I could spread out the canvases I had so carefully spaced on the wall.  I want to stack up layers of paint and use the figures as masks for a couple of more layers that are needed  to finish them off.  Some of the gals are on the backside of the paper but I only need outlines so I traced them and I'll mac tac them and cut them all out.   But I need a large work surface. 

I am also wondering how I can MQ with Nina jammed against the wall.  She is fine for piecing but  I need to be able to push everything beside and behind her.  I had the ideal placement once upon a time but not much else funtioned well.  I will just have to put her beside the cutting table for big projects.  But then I got to thinking about my cutter. Another big girl she needs lots of room to slide back and forth.  hmmm

So I dragged out my old sewing cabinet from under my cutting table and set her on it and between the doors.  Even her handle fits inside the perimeter of the top.  She actually started life here but the surface was too narrow and I was afraid of breaking off the handle.  I just switched the narrower unit to the end of the cutting table.  I need to go find where I stored the door for the cabinet.  A bonus is that I can put my mood board up where it is out of the road and can remind me of what I'm supposed to be doing but I'm not! lol  Speaking of doors I just may ask the Rooster to take off the closet door so I can get at my supplies easier.

Then that brings me back to the empty place where the cutter was.  It quickly filled with the current stack!  Not only does my tablet take pictures but I figured how to do e-books.  oooh!  The best part is that I can read in bed without an extra light which eliminates the Rooster's deep sighs and comments about how can I still be reading!  

I saw another tutorial on painting shoes so I washed up my canvas runners.  I will try to get a few creative layers on them as I reconsider these canvases.  I can do them on my counter.  If I remove the stack!  lol

And to think- it is all the fault of those lively jumping girls!

The REAL Studio Tour - tool

 

                                                     To The Coop and Saucer Playroom

And a real welcome to visitors for The Real Studio Tour.  I am happy to have visitors.
But I must confess that this is just about killing me!  I really am messy and my studio is usually messy but my most favourite thing in the whole wide world is arranging artful vignettes and styling pretty photos.  And I don't think this is gonna rank up there with the prettiest.  ;)  ha, maybe the most memorable!  ;)

Sew...

I started with traditional quilting.  I had the quilt police firmly fixed in my mind.  ;) When the quilt stack got really high it began to lean towards art quilts and then did a very rapid slide into mixed media fibre art.  I did try to keep the wet stuff over on the left side and the dry stuff  on the right but once again I went from lean, to slide, to sloppy!  If this ever becomes the primary bedroom again it will need to have the floor refinished! :(  But I also started losing track of what the quilt police thought. ;) ;)

My favourite non traditional tool took a bit of feather fluffing.  I'm a bit of a tool junkie so I tend to collect the real deal.  But I think my favourite non traditional tool would have to be a telephone book, a thick one.  Surprised?

I really am a bit of a dizzy chick and I very rarely sit down.  I did buy a traditional sewing cabinet and it is buried under my craft table because I finally figured out that sitting down to sew didn't work for me.  I was getting a crick in my back sliding in and out as I picked up patches from my design wall which was out in the hallway!  Then I read that Hari Walner did her machine quilting standing up.  Really!!!  I didn't know that was allowed.  But it made sew much sense to me.  I put my drop leaf craft table at the end of the sewing cabinet and parked my sewing machine on top of it and I haven't sat down since.  No more cricks in the back and I do believe I am saving time by not sliding and sitting, nor sliding and skipping.  But some times I felt like a horse that kinda stands wonky and with one hoof poised.  Hence the thick telephone book.  I stand on it and my driving foot presses on that pedal.  :)  I think this works as well if one sits to sew.

Now I am in the midst of another favourite activity and that is organizing everything. I'm purging because all this clutter is making for a very messy nest. This auction sale find is an old wash stand. My Rooster trimmed it down a couple of inches and my Nina is ready whenever I am and most of her accessories are in the cabinet.  I pruned my books so I needed a dual purpose book. I don't do much phoning in my studio so I found a Vogue Sewing book that makes a nice foot rest and if I ever get back to garment sewing I can use it for reference! ;)

Sew glad you hopped by!  I shall be hopping  about myself during this Real Studio Tour. I hope I don't get a ticket from the quilt police. ;) ;)                   

Hop Here

wow, organized or what!

This is not what this worktable looked like 24 hours ago!  But I was, pant, pant, ready for Creativity 101 by the time the girls showed up.

The Rooster added the rods and made the box for the last bookshelf.  I had decided to put all the mixed media supplies in that last bookshelf and that meant moving all the fabric that was grouped for future projects.  I had started rearranging fabric but the Rooster felt it was much easier to take the top boxes down and work on the floor Monday night.  It was but I had to empty them.  :O

The worktable got some extra support with two legs on the end corners.  The ironing board still needs to be put inside the closet door.  I found the Rooster's handy dandy chop saw while he was at work and I cut one more shelf and a divider for this bookcase and I think it'll be good now.   See.  I'm not totally helpless but the quality isn't up to Rooster requirements. 'sokay!
The Rooster mutters about how long before I'll change things again.  I'm hurt.  These are upgrades, not changes!  ;^)

I now have a helper on Tuesday afternoons and we purged and organized.  I would look at some fabric, remembering when and where and what for and wax nostalgic.  But the two questions that solved the dilemmas were- 1) Would I want a quilt from it?  And 2) Would anyone else?  Surprisingly my young gal okayed some. I did give her all the novelty fabric to sort and she commented that she could see some would indeed be hard to part with!  lol   I'm embarrassed by my excess but I am already feeling way lighter, freer and definitely happier. 

After she left it was up to me to bag and load the trunk of the car.  I'm sure the hood/nose is pointing slightly heavenward as if to say 'Really!'.  I did scoop up one or two, no more than half a dozen,  as a last moment reprieve.  I also forgot to edit the green fabrics which are squeezed into their allotted shelf.  oops! The main colours aren't stacked nicely but they are in their place.

Oy!  Now I need to organize all this side of the room which is for the wet stuff.  We need to find stuff easily and quickly.   Next worktable session is scrap booking but a lot of sorta wet stuff is also on this side of the studio like stamps and stencils.  How much better can it get?  :) 

I must remind the Rooster that it takes a lot to personalize a house to make it a home and that applies to my Coop and Saucer Playroom as well! 

Uplifting!

I need to rerun last week's focus again this week. So it is DD and aprons for the kids cooking class. I shoulda thought about the fabric a bit more. In the rush I forgot that I lay the aprons on horizontally The suns are laying on their ears but the moons are up and paying attention. So some loss and some gain. I was a tad awake as I considered that I'd chopped about 5 metres of fabric into 2" diagonal strips for the binding. What if... but I've made these before. It's okay!

I am off to make arepas with my DD and grand kids. I try to spend one day a week with them. I think I'll make them some aprons too! An apron for an 8 week old. Too cute!

I keep thinking the playroom is perfect but putting the taller drop leaf craft table over the end of the drop leaf sewing cabinet is 'perfecter'! Two sewing machines is heaven.

Cutting high is great. Fiddling high is even better. Ironing high is delightful so now I need to get that tweaked. I saw a 36" x 36" cubical that would be perfect and have nine 12" storage cubes. I have to actually try sewing high. The extension cords don't thrill me but that is a major electrical upgrade for this old house that could happen someday.

I'm off for an uplifting day!

Fixated

I'm kind of an all in or all out person. When I began to think about journals, altered books, fibre art, and embellishing with beads I leaped high in the air and came down a little more spinney than usual. I folded up my sewing cabinet and shoved it into a corner. I flapped open my big tall craft table and bought all kinds of supplies and books. My ladies craft night never really got going and then I began to wonder if I could really do all this. So I turned to the yard and began to harass poor plants and defenseless trees. Winter has covered the dead bodies but there is a finger that crooks in my direction from the playroom. Come!!! I still want to do it all. I try to keep 2 square feet clear on the table and just stack stuff higher. I am piecing. MQing: not so easy. Focus also means reality. Craft table is nice but not usable because of the piles. MQing doesn't work for anything bigger than a place mat. I gave away my ironing board and the cabinet top is too small. What can I give up? Actually, it turns out, very little; a few cubbyholes for 'stuff'.

Back from the basement comes my counter. It replaces the the 2 square feet and hopefully more. I put the old ironing cabinet under it. well it actually holds up the counter. I flapped out the sewing cabinet, a little crowded getting up from the chair but not unduly so. Actually it even works better with my big cutting mat on one end although it requires a bit more bending. The small bookshelf gives more support to the end where I lean to cut. It stores magazines. The small table will fit under the edge. I really like piecing on that end. The craft table is all folded small but is a perfect ironing station and right behind where I piece. It could open some but I could also roll it into the hall. I have a white microwave cabinet in the basement so I brought it up by the counter. I can roll it about and it could even move over beside the sewing cabinet to hold up bigger quilt sandwiches as I machine quilt. I'd need to shift things a foot or so for that but when I MQ I don't usually do anything else. The U-shaped walk area, maybe more H shaped because of the 2 doorways, makes the best use of the room. Crafting is great but the reality is I sew more than I craft at this point. I also think the counter is a bit further away from my sewing stuff and I am messy. I'll need to move my art supplies closer to the counter though. Anyway, I'm quite pleased. I need 2 machines up. That just works SO well. The curtains over the stash bookcases are quite handy for little design projects and the big design sheet in the hall is as handy as it can be. I have also found that too efficient is detrimental to my physical well being. I need to move about.

So it took some pondering but I did get a creative solution. Now I need dear hubby to support this counter better; I just fixed the darn computer tower and it is resting on a bread pan on a plastic rolling shelving unit. The shelf above the counter needs leveling. The power bars would be better affixed to the walls. Dare I press for a new plug for the iron??? But I think I have a Triple F happening. YAY!!!

I did get the water running up and down hill. This isn't exactly bargello as I didn't want green up in the 'sky' so that had me considering my options. 3/4 inch cut strips. What was I thinking??? I must have been fixating on the water! LOL