Studio Tour

I was invited to join a group of blogging quilt designers for a virtual tour of our studios. I am always interested in seeing how other fibre artists work and how they use their space. Here are some views into my space.

This is where my major 'ingredients' are kept. I think of my fabric cupboard as a pantry. I sort most of my fabrics by colour. I have separate bins for my batiks (sorted by colour), my collection of African fabrics, my hand-dyes and hand painted fabrics. I also stack larger lengths of fabric, all folded the same way (mostly!) directly on the shelves. I think I need to do some sewing to make more space in the pantry!

Here is my main cutting/designing table. I am working on a sample from my new book Simple Stained Glass Quilts using one of Michael Miller's fairy fabrics. I will show it in my booth and at Schoolhouse at Quilt Market in Pittsburgh in May. Just under my table and to the left is a drawer unit with all my threads. It keeps them sorted and away from light and dust. It's amazing how much dust I generate! My sewing machine table is at 'right angles' to my large table. It is great for supporting a quilt when I'm machine quilting and I have an ergonomic chair that I can turn to work at both tables very comfortably. The window looks out on our side yard and faces west. These pictures were taken in the early morning, just as the birds were waking up!

I have two bookcases of books (and another one behind the door to my studio). My library includes traditional quilts, a large section of books about colour and design, many books by famous quilters and over-flow stock of my own books on these shelves. Oh yes, there is a bit of fabric creeping onto these shelves too!

Below the window to our back yard I have two rack shelving units and another drawer unit. These house my art supplies - paints, dyes, paintstiks, non-cotton fabrics, embellishing fibres and whatever else I can cram onto them. They are a new addition to my space and now all these things aren't stored under my main cutting table! The white bin to the left contains file folders with all the paperwork for my current classes - supply lists, handouts, teacher notes - those sorts of things.

To the left of this area is a 4-drawer dresser. You don't want to know what is in 2 of the drawers! UFO's - quilt tops and block-of-the-month blocks. I finish one or two each year and I haven't added any to the drawers for at least 4 years. Those drawers will be empty some day. The other drawers have my stencil collection and more fabric!

I have a great cubbyhole unit on top of the dresser. This houses embelishments - beads, buttons, fibres and embroidery threads, bric-a-brac stuff in jars (old watches and jewelry), inks. The tins on top hold stamps and stamp pads and some painting supplies.

I have an office area in our home as well. It is not in my studio but just down the hall. I have a desk, bookcase, filing cabinets and computer and printers here. You are seeing it on a good day - the desk has been cleared of all it's paper! The 'filing fairies' spent some time sorting/filing/recycling this week!

So this is where I work (and play). I'd love to read your comments about my space.

I'll be checking out other designers' spaces too. To see more studios, click "next" in the "Blog Tour" icon on my sidebar on the right-hand side.