I actually started working in the new studio mid-November when I made our niece's quilt for her wedding, but it was a mess!! There were items from the old sewing room and the old studio piled under and on top of the longarm and under the sewing tables and any place else there was room. I finally have it picked up and everything is in its place now.
I need to make the cover that goes on the cushion in the thread nook. It was a chore to dye and the color is not exactly what I wanted, but it will work. There will be some bright pillows in there eventually.
Just about all the drawers are full of thread, which didn't surprise me. It takes a lot of thread to quilt. The nook is one of my favorite places in the room and the bench is perfect to sit down and put ones feet up.
This is another favorite place to sit. It is the table that my husband made for me to pound on or at least that was the original request. But it is too beautiful to pound on. It is made of reclaimed wood. The legs of the table are from wooden legs from an old windmill and the top is made from boards off the corral. The light hangs from a pulley I picked up on ebay.
This area is where most of the storage is located. I store books, notions and fabric in the storage area. This is some of the hand dyed fabric I have. And you got it, my husband built those little cubies.
This is the center of the studio where the HQ Sweet 16 and my regular sewing machine are located, along with the design wall. Hope to get some of those things off of there by the end of the year. One needs to be completed right away so I need to get on that as soon as I get all those pesky tax forms completed. Joedy built the sewing cabinet over 10 years ago. Did I mention that he built the doors for the storage area, along with the awesome thread cabinet.
This is the other end of the studio and these cabinets were built by my husband as well. They use to be in the old sewing room. The drawers are full extension and deep. They hold some items that need to be finished as well or just started.
The cutting table can be seen in the corner of this photo and below. I love this table!! I have had it for 14 years and it was in the old studio. It is 6'x8' and rolls.
It has storage on both sides and holds PFD fabric, other types, batting and bags. I don't know what I would do without this table!! It also has a large cutting mat on top. It has electrical outlets on either end as well. Comes in handy.
I dye fabric on it when I am doing the large pour pieces that I use sometimes. It also works well when ice dyeing. I will have to be a little more careful now when using it.
This is the inside of the large cabinet. And yes, my husband made it as well. The top use to sit on the cabinets in the old sewing room and we had to redesign it. He built a bottom and used the two drawers that had been previously built and incorporated them into the lower part. Then he made the pulls where the rulers, cutting tools and whatever else I have that use to hang on the peg board in the old sewing room. I didn't want peg board on the walls in the new studio and there wasn't a good place to have it either. I much prefer the buttons and other items hanging on the walls. The inside of the cabinet holds embroidery supplies and more books. I have learned a great deal from books, one of the few sources I had before the internet.
This door leads to the fabric dyeing room. It was in the house my husband grew up in here on the farm. When his parents remodeled the old farm house 33 years ago, they removed the door. It was in the top of the garage for many years then moved to an old pump house where he found it and thought it would work in the studio. So glad he did!!! We stripped the old finish off of it and stained it. It has all of the original hardware on it with the exception of half a hinge on the top and bottom. I found those on ebay as well. They are a perfect match.
This is the fabric dyeing room. I wanted it closed off from the rest of the studio to prevent any stray dye from attaching itself to other pieces of fabric. And here again, my husband built these cabinets as well. They are full too. It is absolutely wonderful to have more than 17" of counter space and something other than the toilet to hold the containers of dyed fabric while they are batching.
And a double sink so that I can rinse out in one side while opening bags in the other one and dumping dye. This area was commonly referred to as the kitchen by the builders, electricians and anyone else who worked on the project.
The cabinet to the right holds the dye powders, chemicals, soda ash, etc. used when dyeing.
On the left is the old ice box that belonged to my sister, it is one of my treasures. Thanks Jim for giving it to me.
The farmhouse vanity on the right is in the bathroom that I share with the guest room. Joedy made it with the left over wood from the two large storage doors that are made of knotty alder.
So that is the tour. I would like to thank my husband for making it all possible and building so many of the things that make it the special place that it is.
I missed the floor joists and the sub-floor photos. They are really not much to see, the walls are a lot more to my liking and show some real progress. They have been moving right along lately. Wish it could go faster, but that isn't the way building projects work. It has been unbearably hot and I can't expect them to work on it day and night!! Even though that would be fine with me.
The second photo is from the corner of the garage, where I have taken a number of photos to document the building. The area that comes forward in the photo is the north end of the studio where the storage area will be. There is about 27' of wall on this end and it is going to be one of the focal points in the studio when it is completed. That will come in time.
The hallway window is in the wall running into the the studio wall.
The first photo was taken out the front door. The new front door will be in the area of "Do it Best". The window straight in front of me is the east window on the north end of the studio.
This area is the hallway to the studio, which lines up with the current office, that also becomes part of the hallway and on the far side is a new bedroom. It will have a small bathroom off it. So now friends can come and stay and have their own
private little suite.
This photo shows the bathroom area. It is also shared by the studio area. I had a dream the other night that friends I have met from classes I have taken came and stayed at our home and we had a great time. Barb from MI was here, along with the sisters from Maryland I met in David's class last fall, Ricky came from Canada, Keri from HI, Michelle from AL, Priscilla and Karen came from Texas and Hollis even showed up.
This is a photo of the dyeing room. I have to be careful when I say that and usually have to add "fabric" dyeing room. I get some funny looks on occasion. Joedy has the cabinets built for this room, has had them built for some time. I have an awesome pantry type cabinet with numerous drawers in it where the dyes and chemicals will be stored. On the wall shown in the photo there will be an opening for a small refrigerator to store unused dyed, a small 12" cabinet for some items, the sink and two other cabinets. I will have 3' of one side of the sink and 5' on the other side of the sink to work. I am not sure I am going to be able to handle that much room. I currently have 17".
The door going between the main studio area and the dyeing room will be at the end of the cabinets on this wall. It is a special door as it came out of the original farm house that was built here. When my f-i-l and m-i-l remodeled their house 30+ years ago, they took it out. It has been stored and Joedy found it about a month ago. I am very excited to have it be a part of the studio
This shot was taken from the east side of the studio looking west. I will have an awesome hutch that will hold my rulers and rotary cutters on the bottom that Joedy built. The top is from the cabinets I currently have in my sewing room and it will hold books, it think. Lots of decisions to make as to where things will go in the new studio.
This is the southeast corner of the studio and bedroom area. The dyeing room is in the southeast corner with a door that will access the outside. The rest is the studio area where some cabinets I currently have in the sewing room will be moved upstairs and set below the windows on the left hand side of the photo.
They are putting the sheeting on the outside today and the trusses should be here sometime next week.
We have a long way to go before the move in date, but we are getting closer. I did find the vinyl flooring I wanted, so that is one thing I don't have to worry about anymore. That was a big consideration for me. We did come across some really cool new flooring, but it is too much like the feel of tile when standing on it. I am getting anxious, my dream studio is becoming more of a reality each day.
