our happy cam-purrr...

My favorite place to spend the afternoon is in my sewing room, and Java usually is there with me. She's not a housecat that's allowed on the tables, but in my sewing room she does use it to climb onto the windowsill, which is her favorite place to spend the afternoon. Well, if you take a regular sized windowsill, and a mid sized cat, you'll discover that they're not the same width. It was getting really funny watching her try to position herself so her stomach wouldn't make her fall off... so we came up with this solution...

Yesterday Robyn built a custom kitty bed for Java's place in the sun and we outfitted it with a little quiltie to make it her own (and so kitty hair clean up was a little easier for me)...

I think she looks pretty content, don't you? She's a regular little happy cam-purrr!

she is my Sunbeam...

se...my brand new Sunbeam,

she'll press my fabric,

and match my nails...

she really wasn't

all that expensive

(I love my habit of shopping

the sales!)

do you smell what I smell?

And no, I don't mean the wonderful smell of Emily's homemade crepes coming from the kitchen. No, I mean the stench of my iron doing a number on my ironing board cover. My barely two-year-old iron doing a number on my ironing board cover. My expensive-for-us barely two-year-old iron doing a number on my irong board cover. I'm just thankful it didn't do a number on the even more expensive-for-us Strawberry Fields jelly roll I was working with at the time. Know what I mean?

I'll be shopping for a new iron if you need me.

undercover project...

I've wanted/needed a sewing machine cover forever and finally got around to making one last night. I based it on this tutorial and love how it turned out! It felt good to use up a bunch of fun scraps... Dick and Jane always manage to make me smile!

my sewing room 're-do'...

This weekend, our home office got a new lease on life and has finally become a room that I'm happy to share with my hubby. It's not a large room, just the second upstairs bedroom, but it is responsible for a number of functions. It's my sewing and painting room. Important. It's Robyn's office space. Also important. And until this past weekend, it was our computer room. Very important, especially with the girls' school needs. But it was massively cramped with too many pieces of too large furniture. I was finding it stressful just being in there, never mind working in there. And so we decided to do something about it.

First up, the old computer and corner computer desk had to go. Especially since we're now using the laptop for pretty much everything. So my girlfriend (bless her heart!)came over and shared her skills to help me transfer everything important from one computer to the other. Check that one off the list and clear it out of the room. I'm starting to smile at this point.

Secondly, empty one of my black cubby units and slide it into the place where the computer once lived... freeing up space along the wall for a sideboard to reside... a side board that now holds all of my projects on-the-go... thus freeing up space on my work table. My smile is growing, and the tension is leaving my shoulders.

Step three, haul my BEAST of a sewing table out onto the deck and have hubby cut a total of 18" in legnth off of it. Yes, you read that right - we REMOVED 18" from my beloved table to make it even more functional for me. Actually, through the years, a fair bit of legnth has been cut off of this sucker, and I wish we'd kept track of just how much. The reasoning for cutting it down? Obviously, no more "drop zone" in the room at the end of the hall. Smiling and laughing inside... because now my kids actually have to learn to PUT THEIR THINGS AWAY instead of stashing them in the office! (Ok, ok... I'll learn to practice what I preach, too!)

And the last step of our little makeover... creating a design wall in the newly freed up wall space! I never thought this would be possible in a room this small, but we managed it. It's not huge, it's not professional, but we made it together and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Oh, and I'm beaming at this point.

So now I've been sorting and organizing fabrics, as I'm sure a lot of you have to also do now and then. Today, I'm cutting scraps into 2 1/2" squares and strips to store away for that perfect project.

Here's a little peek into my "new" sewing room... into my wonderfully organized wicker fabric drawers, into my collection of thread displayed on a $.5o thrift store shelf, and at all my lovely quilting patterns on the wall. I'm sure you'll be just as thrilled with it as I am!

sewing space redo!

Yes, my office/sewing room is getting a little bit roomier... and this is big news as far as I'm concerned! Remember the fabulous storage units that my fabulous husband built for me? Well, let's just say that the space is about to be put to even better use than before!

Hopefully this weekend we'll get things finished up and back to normal. I'll keep you posted...

What a wonderful Wednesday!

I am so happy to finally announce that my office is FINALLY being put to good use once again. Organization reigns supreme. I am clutter free. And I am quilting again. It's a wonderful day!

You remember this picture, I'm sure...

Now add a little of this... hoops, cutting mats, and rulers in their place... sewing station neat and tidy...

Patterns sorted and accessible over my quilting fabric drawers... and my new drawer unit just for bib fabrics...












The computer corner of the room, where I spend a lot of my time visiting all of you, my blogging friends!
And this is a new crib quilt I started last night... Winnie-the-Pooh and brights. I'm loving it so far. It's so much more cheerful than the dreary snow outside!
I hope you're having a Wonderful Wednesday as well!

Ok... here's the big reveal...

Yes, my friends, my wait is over and therefore, your wait is over! Are you ready...

My amazing husband Robyn, who I, once again, am so very thankful for, built me a pair of cubby bookcases to organize and house all of my necessary "stuff". Can I hear a "what a guy"? These babies each measure 7' tall x 3' wide, and at only 12" deep, they don't intrude on my working space at all. I may never leave this room!

The reason we made two is simple... my ironing board needs a place to live, doesn't it?

As a painter, so do my brushes and paints... (mentally spin the paint rack around to see the neutrals, yellows, browns, and pinks on the other side)










As a pattern book/magazine gal, so does my reference material...

As a quilter, my sewing essentials...

And as an embellisher, my embellishments...

In spite of this incredible custom storage system, the room is not finished quite yet. What you can't see is a big mess on my big table. But I'm so excited that this much is taken care of and am in no way complaining!

One big thing on the horizon for this room is another one of these for organizing my bib fabrics... (this one is full of fat quarters and other quilting bits)

...and the great part about it is, I am getting it for free. I redeemed points through HBC and it should be here in a couple of weeks or so. Woo Hoo! This will free up four larger baskets that are now holding bib fabrics, so I can use them for Fall and Christmas themed supplies.

So there you have it... the first half of my "New and Improved Office" reveal.

What'ja think?

Are you ready for the unveiling?

Good, because I'm not. But I will be later!

peek-a-boo!

...my two new black beauties should be ready to go to work on Friday...

I'm so excited I can braely tpye!

I got the urge to purge...

...and last night my studio/office looked a bit like this...
There was stuff in the closet that I haven't looked at in years. And most of it was not stuff that I have a use for. Let's just say that the thrift store is gonna love me today!

I did a little organizing... (took the closet doors off for shelving to go in) and a little rearranging... And this is what I ended up with.

Now I have no excuse to not get anything done!

What are you doing with your rainy last Friday in August?

~Kimberly