Something About Nothing

With the kids gone and empty bedrooms, or sort of empty bedrooms, I decided to take over a second bedroom for my studio.  I decided to make it my sewing room. After moving out the bed and night stands, I brought in the shelving unit I had downstairs filled with fabric, as well as fabric from under the tables in the studio. It is always required to make a mess before you can tidy up! I also bought a second set of shelves and some new bins.  The extra space has given me a spot to have my Folio set up permanently.   Things came together eventually.  And I even left space to hang up a flannel sheet for a design wall.  I'm sure I'll be able to make just as much of a mess in two rooms as I did in one, but now everything really does have it's own space.

It's here!   The article I wrote for Quilting Arts Magazine has been published and my copy is here! It is moments like these when I am listed alongside artists I admire, that I feel humbled. There are so many talented people out there (just check social media!).  How did I get here? How did I get lucky enough to be a part of this publication? Luck might be a part of it, but It has also been a lot of work too.  Work I have enjoyed immensely. I am grateful to be a part of this fiber community.   Keiko is now famous with her photo featured in my studio article. She is a big part of my studio! I'm not sure which editor wrote the article about my studio but I really like what she wrote. I sent in answers to some questions and then she made it all sound fabulous.   I am also excited to share my process of creating a repeating pattern stamp. I look forward to seeing what designs people create. And out of the entire magazine t...

Cheryl Sleboda's call to clean each spring is always needed in my studio. The piles seem to form all by themselves somehow, but cleaning them all up is my job. Sheesh, where does this stuff all come from! Perhaps unpacking from one trip and packing for the next? But on the bright side. . . What the heck is this piece of plastic for?  Do I keep it or toss it? If I toss it, I will surely need it tomorrow. I made it useful again by wrapping some binding around it. It is always so nice to have a clean surface again! Keiko (far left) approves. They just invite me in to dig in and get some work done. Come visit the rest of the blogs on this clean up crew to get your own inspiration. April 23 – Lori Crawley Kennedy –   http://theinboxjaunt.com/ April 24 – Jennifer Thomas –   http://curlicuecreations.blogspot.com April 25 – Robin Koehler –  http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com April 26 – Andi Barney-   http...

I love doing these spring clean your studio blog-hops because they force me to organize a little at least once a year. This year's clean up has been very hard. I have not felt very motivated. I've had one child moving out and another child moving in over the past month and their stuff has been all over the house.  This weekend I decided I had to do something about the messes everywhere.  I honestly should have videoed my entire house before and after I cleaned and moved furniture and used that as my post!  Hubby was out doing the yard work while I cleaned.  The girls were gone and I was very happy about that.  It is so much easier sometimes to just do things all by myself. Hubby did, however, help out in the afternoon and I was grateful for his help with the heavy stuff!  So, after all that work, I was exhausted and exhilarated! It felt great to have everything back in order.   Then today, I came in to the studio.   Oh MY! My ever faith...

The Fruit Trees are blooming so that must mean. . .  It's time to Clean! I posted a photo of my very dirty 9'x10' studio on social media and Cheryl Sleboda over at Muppin.com  immediately invited me to be a part of her Spring Clean Your Studio Blog Hop 2016 .  It's so nice to have supportive friends that encourage you to get your rear in gear and start cleaning! I could have ignored her request and kept making messes, after all I could still see most of the floor, but when all the table and ironing board surfaces get covered I start itching to clean. Of course cleaning creates all kinds of new messes. Items must be moved, cleaned (the fan was full of cat fur!), or tossed, before finally making their way back home.   (Some day I'll have a naming contest for my mannequin.   It seems a shame that she is nameless.) Anyway - one of the studio assistants decided I cleared this spot out just for him. Of course that stalled progress ...

Where's Keiko? Keiko loves finding the best places to hide out in the studio. It's always a surprise when I find her. Mister on the other hand is a paws on kinda guy. I leave the studio for two seconds and this is what I come back to! How can I get anything done with those gorgeous eyes begging for attention!

Welcome to the  Spring Clean Your Studio  Blog Hop! Do you know what inspires me to clean? An episode of the reality TV show Hoarders . Consider this post your own personal Hoarders episode. hahahaha It's not quite that bad, but because I had a number of deadlines all come due at the same time and because I had moved the studio upstairs without getting it fully in order, my studio was a great big mess ! So, spring or not, Hoarders episodes or not, I was motivated to clean! And when the mood hits, I go with it! Stuff was EVERYWHERE. The space that is suppose to be empty behind my sewing machine was completely FULL. The only reason the ironing board wasn't totally covered was because I had shoved everything into a giant pile at one end. The space in front of the closet was three feet deep full of STUFF. Stuff which I hadn't taken the time to separate and organize since I moved into the new studio THREE months ago. It was next to imposs...

Things started out well enough as I moved into the new, smaller studio once the bones were moved in.  However I have a lot more than bones that needs to go in my studio! Messy, messy, messy!  It's still not as orderly as I would like but it is now in working order. I still want to put up some shelves.  All of the green lidded bins are going to be on shelves above the work table but until then they are out of the wayish.  I'm liking the new dry erase and cork boards. All of my rulers still don't have a home.  I've been wanting to buy one or two of these rulers to put them in: It might be time to finally do that. How do you store your rulers? Anyone else have any brilliant ideas?