I’m quite sure most of my colleagues are enjoying their days off work with their feet up, recovering from the excesses of Christmas, but for me, what I was most looking forward to was getting new storage for my sewing area and clearing it all up.  I know, I need help and need to get out more, but really, it was a disaster!  I wish I’d taken before pictures now, but I just didn’t think about it – doh!  

So it was that on Wednesday, having dropped my gran back at home, I hit Ikea, and oddly, despite the carpark being packed at 3:30, I was in and out again by 4…  I came home with a new DVD tower (actually nothing to do with sewing, but I needed it in the reshuffle), an Expedit bookcase and one of the Trofast units with a selection of drawers.  I spent part of Wednesday night building it (ignore the fact that I’d already driven 200 miles home in the pouring rain and horrendous rain, plus humphed all this stuff in from the car, down the long path and up the stairs to my flat) and then I finished building yesterday after I nipped into town for a few things in the morning.  

There was much hauling out of fabric from its previous location (under my cutting table in what was becoming and increasing guddle) and sorting what would be going where.  I did the big pieces yesterday and this morning I sorted all the scraps and fat quarters.  Then I did much more cleaning, and I hoovered more thread up than I care to think about.  I’ve sat here this evening admiring it, and read some blogs and a magazine rather than create anything new and make it messy again lol  Still, I’m feeling all geared up to hitting it tomorrow with a vengeance!

And here it is, looking at my cutting table from the hall doorway.  The tall towers hold DVDs, the CD racks hold my scraps.  The white one holds the bigger pieces roughly fat quarter sized, or still foldable that way, and the black one has the smaller bits, however they’re all split into zip lock bags, 2 colours per cubby hole.  I thought about setting them free, but with only 7 cubbies, I couldn’t have done every colour separately and my anal side objected ;o)  I still have to hang my rulers up, but I need to think on that how best to do it.  Under the table I have a bin for interfacing scraps, my interfacing and fusible fleece is on the trestle leg shelf, and I have white experimental fabric that I use mainly for dressmaking under the drawer bit, plus my jersey fabric bundle.  Behind the bin are a couple of baskets with my dressmaking fabric.

This is looking back to where I was standing in the last one.  The bookshelves are new (this is actually where the 2 original DVD towers and CD units, holding CDs, were)  This has all my larger cuts of fabric, quilting on the left (mostly 1/2 yards), bag making heavier weight on the right, except for the top shelf, which has my quilting fabric precuts.  I took some time working out how I was going to arrange this.  I had all the bag making fabrics from a spending spree at a moving sale over the summer, and that is mostly full, but I didn’t have anywhere near as much quilting fabric except for the solids.  I think I’ve got it working for me now, and thank you to Hawthorne threads for their fabric folding, as theirs fits exactly 2 across on a shelf, so I refolded the rest to fit.  (I also have to commend them on their fab packaging in sealed plastic bags inside the cardboard priority envelope, because it was POURING when I walked up to the sorting office yesterday morning to pick it up, and it had to survive the trip into town and back – the cardboard was distinctly worn)  Also in view is a notice board on the kitchen door I’ve been meaning to hang for about 5 years (and which I’m hoping to hang the rulers from, but the pegs at the bottom are just a teeny bit too wide, so I’m thinking some S hooks off these)  My ironing board now has a place to stay so it won’t crowd me next to the sewing machine – previously the DVD/CD units had a crate in front with all my camera gear and laptop in it, which have now had to find other homes, but now I can set the board up here.  You can also see my light cube/tent backdrops hanging on the door, and then, on top of the shelves, I have an embarrassing pile of WIPs (more of this in an upcoming post).  My sewing machine is to the right of this pic, you can see the chair, but I didn’t bother with a pic of this bit.

This is the other end of the room – the sofa (left) is about the size of a double bed, and separates this area from the sewing table and the rest of the room.  The new Trofast units are at the bottom, under the carts with all my bear making mohair.  You can see the geeky labels I put on all the drawers telling me what’s in them.  They are my own haberdashery, holding the likes of bag hardware, buttons, zips, velcro, bias binding, purse frames and associated glue, grid bag bottom, freezer paper, double sided interfacing for applique, iron on laminate, PVC, insulated batting, colour catchers and more.  Next is my desk and computer, and on the floor in front of the radiator, you can just see my photography and craft book library (held here rather than my bedroom so that I actually remember I have the bloody things to use them!)

For full disclosure I feel I should point out the TV is in the remaining corner you haven’t seen, to the right of this pic, just in case you thought I had a monk like existence that way ;o)

Anywho, as I was coming in yesterday, I ran into my neighbour, who suddenly remembered she had a parcel for me – according to the box, she’d had it since the 15th!  Good job I ran into her, because they didn’t leave a card, and apparently the baby has fried her brain…  I couldn’t imagine what it was, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover it was my winnings from a giveaway that Dorian at Busily Spinning Momma held back at the beginning of December.  If you’re wondering why some of it’s in the bag, it’s because one of the bottles leaked, and I was a bit worried about opening it, however when I did finally get to it, I found it was all dried.

The giveaway was sponsored by Plaid, who make, among other things, Mod Podge, which should be in every crafter’s arsenal.  This bag contains bottles of acrylic paint, and Extreme Glitter, both in red, green, black and white, and a bottle of glitter Mod Podge.  The other bit is, obviously, a range of brushes.  This should make for some glittery Christmas card creations next year :o)

My 2nd win was on Tuesday in the Pink Chalk Fabrics weekly giveaway of a $25 gift voucher (which I’ve already spent, along with a dollar or two I threw in myself ;o) )  There’s a giveaway each week for blog commenters and newsletter subscribers, so check it out for a chance to win yourself :o)