From K - Craft Room Reveal (Part 3 - Design Wall)

Welcome back to the third and final episode of my mini craft room reveal. The last and final wall of my craft room is the wall that has me most excited... why you ask? because it's a ginormous design wall of course (emphasis on gi-nor-mous)!

When you first walk into our new craft / sewing space, this is your typical first glimpse of the room:

You'll notice that two of the walls are pretty bland, and pretty white... but that's all to ensure that the main feature of the room is always ever changing, and consistently remains the main feature. Right now that wall is looking a little something like this:

Look progress on my first of two Ghanian wax print quilts! But I digress... so back to the topic at hand.

This design wall has been a work in progress for some time now. I am fortunate to have an amazingly handy husband and he took some serious time planning this sucker out to make it just right. It didn't always look like this... actually to be quite frank, it looked a lot like this for some time:

The hubs used a combination of three foam insulation boards, two sheets of white laminate, and some remnant wood to create two portable 6.5' x 4' foot design panels (6.5' x 8' feet when combined). Each design panel is hung using hardware found at a local hardware store, and the panels can be moved about using handles that are attached to the outside edges.

  

Undoubtedly my favorite aspect of this design wall thought is that it's multifunctional! When I hang the board batting side out, I can lay out a project. If I hang the panels laminate side out I can spray baste a quilt, and if I lay the panels out on the ground, I can use the laminate side to pin baste on (saving our hardwood floors from future scratches).

Because our walls are near white right now, the back of my design board doesn't show up prominently, but here is a peek to settle your curiosity:

I count myself truly lucky to have my own sewing space, and a giant design wall is definitely the cherry on top. This wall is going to get some major use!

From K - Craft Room Reveal (Part 1 - Productivity Table)

Working on a quilt top is one of my favorite aspects of any quilt. I love the motion of cutting the first few pieces and getting a glimpse of what the project will turn out to be. When I initially began thinking about making a sewing/craft space, one of my main objectives was to have a comfortable and permanent productivity station. About a month ago I gave you the first glimpse of this table when I posted a table top ironing board tutorial.

My intention with this table was to create some permanent space to both cut and iron on while I work on a project. Lucky for me, my brother was getting rid of this ikea desk and I knew right away it would be perfect for the task at hand. The best part about this table is that the saw horse legs are height adjustable using wooden dowels, so the table can be lifted to accomodate my tall figure. Cutting can be extremely painful on my back if have to slouch over a short table top, so this works wonders for me.

Realistically, this productivity table has become more of a productivity wall. Early on in my planning process, I knew I didn't want a heavy desk against this wall, but I still needed some storage. This desk works well for me as I have clutter free storage on both sides.

On the left hand side of the desk, I have a wooden notion tackle box that was handmade by my father-in-law. I have been oohing and ahhing over antique sewing boxes on ebay for years and he definitely took note last christmas when he gifted me with this. I currently hold my more used notions in this tackle box, including spools of thread and my gingher scissor collection. To the right of the notion box, I have two wicker baskets placed on the saw horse base. One basket holds marking notions, a tape measure and a jar of pins. The second basket is used to collect scraps when I'm cutting on the table top.

 
In the right hand saw horse leg, I store my Janome so it can be accessed quickly when I need it. A well placed screw in the wall holds my rulers when they aren't in use, and a closet knobs holds my current favorite tote for when I'm out and about.

In the photo above you get a closer view of my new craft room drapes. I used a combination of two Anna Maria Horner prints from LouLouThi along with some Kona Coal to add some visual weight on the bottom third. It was a pretty strong fabric choice and I have to admit I was a bit worried at first, but once I hung them I felt nothing but inspired. I think they made the perfect addition.

In the back left corner of this final picture you can barely make out a folding table. Currently I pull this table out and set it up against the far wall when I sew with my Janome. It shakes a bit if I force the pedal, but for now I'm enjoying the flexibility it gives me to open the space up when I need it. Perhaps in the future I'll find a better long term solution.

I am also on the hunt for some half decent track lighting to help bring some light into the space. The dome shade we have right now isn't cutting it for late night sewing fests and as fall and winter approach, I see more of those in my future.

From K: Prep for a cold-ish week ahead

This past week in western Canada has been sooooo HOT and I don't know about you, but when it's hot and my house is without AC, I definitely limit my indoor exposure. At the expense of my craft room reno and planned sewing projects, I spent most of my time this week outside in the sunshine. Up here in Canada summer doesn't last for long so I figured this week I should enjoy it. With that being said though, I did my best to prep, plan and get supplies for the craft room reno, as well and begin the start of cutting my first of two wax print quilts.

I've had a really hard time starting my wax print quilt for the past few months now. Knowing that the opportunity to get fabric straight from Ghana again in the future is an unlikely event, I have worried about wasting what little stash I have.

This week I decided to make a plan and just jump right into preparing the first quilt top. Katie from Sew Katie Did posted last fall about scrap quilting using magic numbers. I thought this might be the best 'structured but still somewhat unstructured' way to tackle these vibrant african prints. The above photo shows the beginnings of some prepped squares that I plan on sewing up soon.

This upcoming week looks to be more temperate so here's hoping I can bare the thought of sitting indoors long enough to start up my Janome. In the meantime I'm saying goodbye to my vibrant purple guest room in order to make way for a fresh, modern sewing space!