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Thursday, July 11, 2013

Where I Create...



Welcome to the Where Bloggers Create party, hosted by Karen Valentine at My Desert Cottage. Thank you Karen!
I am starting my studio tour with some of my ribbon collection, in a nod to the name of my blog. I love collecting ribbon and wrapping paper and obviously, gift wrapping. I do, however consider myself primarily a Quilter.

So here we go touring around my sewing/craft studio. This is a furniture piece I had made custom to fit over my bins of fabric. It's quite high and since I am tall, it's a nice work surface for me.

A couple months ago, we re-carpeted all our upstairs rooms, including my sewing room. This forced me to remove everything from the room, so when I put things back I was able to throw away or give away things I didn't need. It was really the best thing that could have happened. Now, my room is clean and clear and organized better than ever before. When I did my big re-do , I finally got all my fabric tidy and organized. Now I can actually see all the pieces I have at a glance and it's easy to keep it that way.

A lot of my quilting buddies have their fabric folded on shelves, but I prefer to have mine in drawers.

Moving around the room now, I have another smaller work space and more storage. This room used to be our master bedroom before we remodeled, and the shelf you see used to be above our bed.  Now I use it for "bits and  bobs"(forgive me: I watch way too many British shows) that make me happy.

Here's a closer look at a few of them. The large Fairie was a special souvenir I found in "The Fairie Shop" in Bath, England several years ago. The Bavarian candle holder is also some thing I love. I also love all things Scandinavian, Tyrolean and French. I think I was meant to be European :-)

This table comes in handy for smaller projects, but I admit I still go to the dining room table for cutting out quilts.

My little corner where I sew, sew, sew. I have a small ironing board that fits over a tray table hidden behind the sewing machine. It is very handy to have there and my dog Molly loves to curl up there while sew.

Still moving clockwise around the room, this is a cute little table I found at a thrift shop. I keep bias tape and zippers and little notions in the drawers.
This is a large and heavy bookcase unit that I have had for years. I mention the heaviness, because my husband has forbidden me to ever move it again!  I wouldn't want to - it holds lots and lots of stuff!
This is the wall opposite my sewing machine. You can see my acrylic paint holder on the dresser. The door you see leads to our old master bathroom. That is where I keep my large ironing board and the shower holds my pillow forms and fiberfill - seems logical to me!

This is Milicent. She has apparently borrowed one of my necklaces. Her sister Marjorie is in a closet. On the wall you can see the very simple project I did to dress up a $10.00 white clock (a frame from Goodwill, painted white and a piece of scrapbook paper).

We all know that glitter improves just about anything. A tour of my studio wouldn't be complete without a glimpse of my collection.
This is just a small sampling.
This was a closet and the center built-in was already there. Obviously I have added as many plastic bins as I could fit in. This is the least attractive part of the room, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I have included it.

One last shot of a couple of my fairies and my Ice Skating ornament collection. I do hope you've enjoyed the tour. I really appreciate you stopping by and hope you will visit again soon. -Derrith

28 comments:

marie said...

What a nice, bright space to create in...so organized too! I love your little thrift store table....I'm pretty addicted to drawers! Love that glitter collection too!

Sharon said...

Oh Derrith, what an absolutely awesome craft space you have. I love it that the sun shines through so brightly. I used to sew at one stage, nothing fantastic and SO ADMIRE what you Quilters do. LOVE quilts. I think keeping your fabric in those drawers (we call them Buddy drawers in South Africa) is just the perfect storage space. Love your little bits and pieces of furniture too. I love neatness, so your place is most appealing. TFS, hugs Sharon

Duni said...

Hi Derrith!

your studio looks lovely! Clean, bright and organized! I love how you store your fabrics by color and I had to smile when I spotted the "D" on your shelf - I have one too :)
best wishes,
Duni

Judys Lace Creations said...

Yes, lovely and clean, and those fabrics tucked away so neatly!Nice space.Thanks for sharing.
Judy

Bev said...

Just beautiful! Are you free to come to my sewing room and organize and decorate? No...on second thought....the mess would probably cause you to turn and run so it would be a wasted trip. Love, love, love everything you did! Thanks so much for sharing!

Cheery wave from
Bev

Carmen said...

Derrith, your studio is so clean and neat!!!! You're making us look bad... ;-) Just kidding. I completely agree with you about glitter. You just can't have too much. :-)

Mom E. said...

Derrith,
I love your room! I htink I need to organize mine! I have so many things going on in my head and in my life, I am on the run too much and slowing down would be a benefit to me and my family! I have done some re-doing in rooms in my basement since a slight flood last summer...and the studio is the last room to get done. I Hope to be posting about some of that soon!
So much fun to see the things you love and work with and where it all happens!
Hearts,
Betsy

Michaele Sommerville said...

I am completely wanting to raise the height of my worktable now thanks to seeing the one above the fabric drawers: I have to sit at my table, or hunch over it as I stand, neither comfortable for long. Storing the fabric in clear drawers seems logical to me: they won't topple over in a stack, get dusty or have anything spilled on them (I'm a big time coffee drinker and occasional klutz, can you tell?).

I love the amount of light you have in your room- and the bright paint, white furniture and exceptional organization certainly do give it that ooh-I-want-to-be-in-here energy.

Thanks for sharing!

Michaele (Twigs and Tulle)

Tammy said...

What a lovely, bright and cheery room! I like how you have your fabrics folded in the drawers. That really would be a great way to see everything without having to pull stacks off a shelf! Thanks for the tour!

Lily's Lace said...

OK Martha who makes every thing look perfect! WOW now that's organizing, I love every bit of it!-xoxo-cindy

Connie said...

I thought that I was organized until I saw your space. I love how bright, beautiful and organized you are. All that fabric! I imagine you walk into that room and never want to come out :) I love those little house, pot holders, that you have on a past post. Adorable!
I'm having a Give-A-Way on my blog for a $25 Amazon Gift Card. Please come over and put our name in the hat. All you have to do is leave a comment and follow me back. I am excited to have found you, now I going to look at some more of your past posts :)
Have a great day,
Your newest follower, Connie :)

Beansieleigh said...

Hi Derrith! I feel so under-qualified to go calling myself a quilter, but I WILL say I TRY! I have successfully completed a denim memory quilt that I'm VERY proud of. I started another, but got discouraged with it.. And now a friend has talked me into making another, via a shop hop type of event! We have to visit various shops to collect patterns, and kits if we want them... then we piece everything together, sew ourselves up a quilt, and then we can put it in a show! Sounded like fun to me!.. Oh but now that I'm so busy setting up my craftroom, I still really need to set up a place to SEW.. specifically! (I don't like setting the machine up and packing it away over and over again. (sigh).. But I digress. I LOVE your BEAUTIFUL creative space! I agree that storing fabric in drawers is probably a better idea, if you want to avoid dust, right?.. I'll have to see what space allows here at my place... Loved the gingham/checked boxes on your shelves too! Those patterns always catch my eye; I love them!... Thanks for sharing your creative space, and I hope you're enjoying your weekend! ~tina

Cindy said...

Very nice and colourful space! I love it when the fabric sings out like that! Thanks for sharing! Hugs! http://connell-crafts.blogspot.ca/

fairyrocks said...

Oh, you are so bright and tidy. Love all your color coordinated yard goods. And of course that fairy...which I incidentally have an exact copy of, and are those tiny skates in that jar beside her? Awesome goodness. Thanks for sharing, keep smiling and creating

Sugar Lump Studios said...

What a beautiful and serene space to create! I love the colors of your area and how organized you are! Lovely! thanks for sharing.

Nancy
www.sugarlumpstudios.com

Connie said...

Thank you so much for following my blog. Your name is in the hat for the give-a-way, good luck. I'm very excited to have you among my lovely and talented followers.
Have a wonderful week,
Connie :)

Sue @ Miss Phoebes Perch said...

You have such a lovely refreshing and neat place in which to work. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to spend some time there! Sue

Celestina Marie said...

Hi Derrith, WOW what a gorgeous creative space. I love the light and bright style. Love the wall color too and you are so organized with all your supplies and tools needed to design your treasures.
Wonderful wall mantel shelf with your pretty displays.
What a darling idea to place your skate collection in a large jar.

Thank you for stopping by and your kind comment. I am also a new follower here and it is so nice to meet you.
Hugs, Celestina Marie

{oc cottage} said...

such a beautiful room!

m ^..^

Raine said...

Hi Derrith! I am in love with your sewing room.... the blue walls and white furniture 'feel' so peaceful. I too am falling in love with glitter and all things sparkly and shiney :-) Thanks for inspiring us! Love, Lorali

HI! I'm Tabitha said...

I am in awe by how organized your fabric is...I am jealous over all the natural light you have...one day i will have a house where i can have a studio on the ground floor...
your dress form is dreamy...love it all
hugs

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

I love your creative space, Derrith! Love that wall color and how the white looks against it. Great idea to have a work surface that fit over your fabric storage. I find I like to stand quite a bit when I am doing certain projects, too.

MFEO2009 said...

You are so orderly! I'm a bit jealous. I'm sitting in my office at this very moment, looking at my messes and thinking that I should clean up, buuuuut I'd much rather peruse your page ;)

The Polka Dot Closet said...

Yea, a fellow totally organized person, I love it, all of your storage solutions are great. I wish I had a tub for fiber fill!!! It takes up so much room!

Carol

Unknown said...

sucha sweet studio! so cheerful..all those colors. and so well organized! wow! lovely. "merci" for taking a tour of my own creative haven and for your very kind compliments! ;)

Maureen said...

Derrith, I absolutely adore that thrift shop table you got with the card drawers... so cool! You are so organized and neat - what a pleasure it must be to create in there... it is very lovely and bright!

Thank you for sharing with us!

Unknown said...

Excellent advice! you don't know how many marketers need to have these traits ingrained into them. Kudos! Three Musicians

Carrie P. said...

YOur studio is lovely. Love your colorful collections!