Happy Place

Now that it's looking a little more lived in, I thought I'd show a few pictures of my sewing room today. It has been absolutely divine to have space for storage and a place for the kids to play while I work on my projects. Almost all of the furniture you see here is from IKEA. The shelves are wonderful for books and bins, and the tall closet is perfect for storing larger pieces of fabric. I seem to have an addiction when it comes to buying organizational containers. My favorite aqua and red tins were all found in the dollar section at Target, and I use them to hold scraps which are all sorted by color.

I have yet to sort my fabric closet into any sort of order. One of these days I'd love to get some cardboard pieces and fold the fabric correctly so that it looks a bit more dignified.

 I've always had a love for retro posters, movies, and music. This room seemed like a great place to display my World War II posters. I especially love the one on the left featuring the different branches of women in the service. Adding a few mini quilts to the room has definitely given it more personality also. I do all my cutting and sewing at the table, just rotating the machine and the mat to the front as needed, and the ironing board is nearby for pressing emergencies.

A wooden tv tray is the perfect place for a little drawer unit (also from IKEA) where I store notions, tools, and thread. The glass jars hold selvage scraps.  

On top of the shelving unit I have two fabric covered bulletin boards where I can post inspirational pictures and ideas. There were some amazing project mosaics put out by some of my favorite blogs at the end of 2011, and a few of them are up on my boards to remind me of things that I'd like to try in the next year. The white wire bins (also from Target's dollar section) are for charm pack squares, white sashing strips, and fabric that needs to be washed before it's used. The vintage radio replica cd player was an anniversary gift from my husband a few years ago. I don't know how, but all my big band music sounds at least 50% better when played on this machine.

Behind my sewing area is an area for Bunny, Bear, and Mouse to play. They can look at books, play with toys, color, or even nap on the crib mattress/couch. It's a relief to have a spot where they can entertain themselves in the same room with me, and it makes it possible for me to have a lot more sewing time than I used to manage in a week.

Today I'm finishing up my pinwheel runners. It will be great to have these done so that I can move on to some other projects (hello, I-Spy quilt!) that are waiting in the wings.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. I wouldn't necessarily say that this room is the happiest place on earth, but it's definitely in my top ten.

Linking up to Work in Progress Wednesday!