Good Morning, Quilters!
Welcome to The Inbox Jaunt! Whether you are an old friend or a new visitor joining us for the 2018 “Spring Clean Your Studio” Blog Hop–WELCOME!!!
First, a big thank you to Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com who organized the blog hop with more than 20 studios to tour over the next few weeks!
I’m really excited to participate this year and to share a few thoughts about sewing room organization!
I hope YOU will enjoy your stay. Please take a poke around and leave a comment!
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(If you are new to The Inbox Jaunt--you might enjoy these fan favorite pages:
Six Ways to Ruin Your Quilt with Quilting
Seven Steps to Machine Quilting
A LITTLE ABOUT ME
An introduction seems to be in order… My name is Lori Kennedy and I have been quilting (and collecting supplies) for more than 25 years. For most of my quilting life, my sewing room was a few tables in my basement–next to my washer and dryer. Several years ago, we moved to Stillwater, Minnesota where I finally got to move my tables to the upstairs (with great windows!)
My favorite part of quilting is free motion machine quilting. I stitch on a BERNINA 770QE (a domestic sewing machine) and on a BERNINA Q20, sit-down, long arm. (I met Cheryl a few years ago through the BERNINA Ambassador program.)
My second favorite part of quilting is teaching!
MAGAZINES, BOOKS AND VIDEOS
I write a column on machine quilting motifs for American Quilter Magazine and I have three Craftsy videos.
My latest project is a book published by Martingale: More Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 which is adds 60 more motifs (and lots of other machine quilting info) to my first book, Machine Quilting 1-2-3!
ORGANIZATION
People often ask how I get it all done.
I’d like to say it’s because I’m very organized…
But I’m not! Organization and keeping my studio tidy is a real challenge for me!
MY OLD SEWING ROOM
Until a year ago, my sewing room was a hodgepodge of banquet tables, college dorm bookcases and plastic containers. I could never keep my sewing table clean! There just wasn’t storage space for everything.
I knew if only I had more storage, I could finally get organized….
So after twenty five years of quilting, I had custom cabinets made for my sewing studio!
H-E-A-V-E-N
A place for everything and everything in its place!
MY NEW STUDIO
The truth is–my new studio includes a spacious cutting island and ample cupboard and drawer space, but I still can’t keep my work space clean! The island is a huge landing pad for everything that comes into my sewing room!
A FEW ORGANIZATIONAL TIPS
More Space/More Stuff/Same Messiness Level
With all my new cupboards, you would think I’d have plenty of room for everything. The truth is, I have allowed myself to accumulate more stuff!!!
While I thought I’d keep everything very tidy–after all–“a place for everything…”
It seems I have a tolerance for sewing room entropy.
Of course, that tolerance only goes so far…
When my sewing space reaches a critical threshold, I stop to purge and clean. When my sewing rooms was smaller, the “boiling point” was hit more frequently so I cleaned more often.
In my larger sewing room, my “boiling point” has not changed. My sewing room still gets pretty messy before it triggers me to clean.
I guess what I’m trying to point out is that the size of your sewing room isn’t a good excuse for why it’s messy–that may be more a function of YOUR quilting style!
The boiling point remains the same, but the “pot” is bigger–so it takes longer.
My Exposed Threads
Because my passion is machine quilting, I have a huge collection of thread. For years, I stored it in boxes-free from dust and out of the harsh light.
However, it was really difficult to design and quilt that way. Every time I needed thread, I’d pull out all of the boxes, throw the covers on (you guessed it!) the cutting island and made a huge mess.
I now throw caution to the wind. I have all of my threads exposed to the elements, where I can see and use them. (A quilter’s idea of living dangerously! LOL)
I am happy, happy, happy! 
Organized but not Over-Organized
As a photographer, I would love to have a picture perfect sewing room.
But that’s really not functional–at least for me.
I’d rather quilt than clean–until….
I can’t quilt until I do clean!
YOU know what I’m talking about, right!???
For example, I have three drawers for my solid fabrics. I’d LOVE to show you a photograph of perfectly folded fabric….but then I’d have to stop and fold it!
My print fabric is more organized and folded…because I don’t use it as often!
More Quilts than Skirts
I store a lot of my small quilts on skirt hangers. I combine two or three quilts on each hanger and try to organize them by theme.
Vision Board
One of the biggest challenges I create for myself is the assortment of papers I collect. My sewing island is often swamped with photos, magazine clippings, doodles and other inspirations. Recently, I turned one of my design walls into a huge vision board. I LOVE having it all together this way.
I’m lucky to have large, framed cork boards in my sewing room, but a bulletin board or piece of foam core would work as well!
Quilting is an Invasive Species
Here in Minnesota we are always fighting the dreaded Buckthorn. It’s a pretty plant but very invasive!
The same is true with quilting. Quilts, fabric, thread, notions–they are all very pretty, but beware! Quilting is very invasive! Every closet, every box, under every bed…
Beware and purge frequently!
I hope YOU have enjoyed today’s stop at The Inbox Jaunt and will join us again!
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https://www.instagram.com/theinboxjaunt
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And be sure to follow along for the next few weeks as we see more clean studios!
Follow the Blog Hop:
April 23 – Lori Crawley Kennedy – https://lorikennedyquilts.com/
April 24 – Jennifer Thomas – http://curlicuecreations.blogspot.com
April 25 – Robin Koehler – http://nestlingsbyrobin.blogspot.com
April 26 – Andi Barney- https://www.andibarney.com/
April 27 – Misty Cole – http://www.mistycole.com/blog
April 28 – Carolina Moore- http://alwaysexpectmoore.com/
April 29 – Heather Pregger – https://heatherquilts.blogspot.com/
April 30 – Linda Bratten – https://lindabcreative.blogspot.com/
May 1 – Lisa Reber – https://www.dippydye.blogspot.com/
May 2 – Teresa Coates – http://www.crinkledreams.com
May 3 – Lisa Chin – http://www.lisachinartist.com/
May 4 – Jamie Fingal – http://www.jamiefingaldesigns.com/
May 5 – Sam Hunter – www.huntersdesignstudio.com
May 6 – Jessee Maloney – www.artschooldropout.net/blog
May 7 – Rhanda Parrish – http://www.sewartsyfartsy.com/
May 8 – Sarah Vedeler- https://meaningoflifedesigns.com/
May 9 – Jessica Darling – https://jessicakdarling.com/
May 10 – Melody Crust – http://www.melodycrust.com/
May 11 – Debby Brown – http://higheredhands.blogspot.com
May 12 – Cheryl Sleboda – http://blog.muppin.com
