When my husband John and I retired, we downsized from a
five-bedroom house. While I miss the square footage, I don’t miss the upkeep. That
was the place however, where I made my first two quilts. The funny thing is, I
didn’t have a quilt studio then either. It was just a room with a table and a sewing machine.
I was a beginning quilter, so I had no fabric stash, and just
one quilting ruler that came with a kit of sorts with a rotary cutter and cutting
mat. I did have a quilting book or two and was starting to collect quilting
magazines. Still, I had no idea how much fun it would be to collect all the
goodies we quilters swear we can’t live without. It was, after all, the early 1990’s.
I had no idea what I was doing. I only knew I wanted to do more of it. Those
days were way before I ever considered turning my spare room into a quilting
studio.
I realize now what a treasure that little room at the top of
the stairs could have become. But alas, that was then. This is now. I do all of
my work, with a few exceptions, at a small breakfast counter just steps away
from my kitchen. I have divided the space into two main areas; the left side is
for cutting/pressing and the right is for sewing. What more could a girl need?
I really can’t complain. My space may be small, but it is
mighty. Every quilt I’ve made in the last 16 years since we moved to our little
house in the woods in the Arkansas Ozarks has been done in this space. I’ve free-motion
quilted several huge quilts and put together several quilt-as-you-go projects.
Both of these require maneuvering bed-size quilts in my tiny space.
No doubt I am envious of the beautiful quilt studios I’ve
seen in magazines, or online which resemble quilt shops I’ve visited over the
years. But, I’ve made this work. It is all doable, as long as I follow the
guidelines I’ve laid out for myself.
Rarely can I work on more than one project at a time, unless
they are small projects. But that fits into my philosophy of finishing what I
start. I like working on a project to completion.
In the near future I want to make The Quilt Show’s Ricky Tims’ Kool Kaleidoscope quilt – there will
be more on that when I get into it. But suffice it to say it will require that
I have some kind of design wall. For non-quilters, a design wall is a
designated area, often covered with batting or felt, where quilt blocks or
other elements of a project can be placed for review. Fabric can be placed upon
the wall and it will generally stick without having to use pins. It can be
viewed so as to check for color, placement, or layout. It offers a distant
perspective that is next to impossible any other way. Many quilters consider a
design wall to be mandatory.
For this specific project, it will be necessary to create a
design using many small pieces that fit together like a puzzle. Without it,
this project might not be doable. I currently have no space for a design wall. I
can pin some batting onto one of the small walls on either side of my space,
but it is hardly big enough. I suppose I could cover my window with batting and
use that, but I like my huge picture window overlooking the backyard and the woods
behind. I also like the natural light from that south window.
I have been thinking about ways to solve this problem. I
think I have one. I have a folded cardboard cutting board (for scissors, not a
rotary cutter) that I could cover with batting. It is about 3 feet by 6 ft., so
it would serve my purpose. And, it could be folded up and stored when not in
use. The more I think about it, the more I think this might be my next project.
Because my space is so small, the only way I can make it functional
is to keep it organized. I don’t think quilters set out to be messy, but it is
almost impossible not to be. While I haven’t quite gotten to the point of
throwing things over my shoulder and onto the floor, Eleanor Burns style, there
are always scraps of fabric, threads, pins, pin cushion, scissors, needles, a
seam ripper, extra bobbins, spools of thread, templates, rulers, as well as fabric
that needs to be put away, to name some of what quiltmakers need. My space
requirements just dictate that I have to clean up my mess before I start
something.
Fortunately, I rather like the cleaning up and organizing my
precious ‘stuff.’ I consider it a part of ‘quilting.’ It is a project all its
own, that is almost as satisfying as quilting itself. It is positively mindless,
which makes for good therapy. When my mind isn’t wandering, I’m listening to
music or an audible book on my earbuds. Either way, I’m in another world, one
where there is no pressure or pain, no drama, no obligation. It is freedom! What
could be better?
At the same time, sorting scraps of fabric into squares and
strips, often times by color is a way to keep things neat. Big pieces are put
into a basket—I have baskets for everything—and scraps that are too small are
either thrown away or kept for applique projects. I am not quite as organized
as I’d like to be in this area, at least not yet. Maybe someday…Usually, I just
discard small pieces because I really don’t have the room to keep them. I have
to say though; it is painful to throw them away. I dearly love fabric, even little
pieces of it. When I’m done with a project, I sweep all the scraps that aren’t
big enough to sort, into a brown paper grocery bag. When it is full I will make
the painful decision to finally toss it into the trash. Until then however, I
can always rummage through it to see if there is anything I’d like to keep.
Saving tiny scraps that way postpones the inevitable, but because it takes so
long to fill up the bag, I might have a better solution before that happens.
My quilting space may never be a feature in a magazine, but
it will suffice because where there is a will, there is a way. Oh, and bigger
is not always better.
