Then all of her dreams came true...

I got myself a present when I went to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show... Remember when I brought Bridget home almost a year and a half ago? Since then I've wanted to get a drop-in table so I can quilt on a flat surface.

I tried the Gidget table, and it was way too rickety when quilting, so I returned it. I also looked into Horn and Koala tables, and was disappointed with the quality for the price. So then I looked into building one from components from Ikea/Home Depot, and that would have worked, but wouldn't have a lift capability. I even looked into having one custom made by a carpenter friend.

So when I was at MAQS a few weeks ago, I saw this...

Isn't she pretty?! Solid wood, with a lift, and look at what she does!!!

There is also this little weird drawer thing on the right side, and when I saw it I had no idea what I would use it for, but look - all my little stuff that I need to have on hand when I'm working fit in there perfectly! And I don't have to have everything cluttering the top of the table!

This is exactly what I wanted, with no extra bells and whistles, and I didn't have to pay extra for the flip up table in the back, or the pull out thingy on the left. Perfect! It was a little bit of an impulse buy, so I called my Dad to talk me out of it. Of course he said that since I've been looking for a table like this for a year and a half, I should get what I want. And since it is really good quality solid wood, he said that I could pass it down to my daughters one day. Way to make me tear up in public, Daddy, thanks.

I would love to be playing with it, but I had some minor surgery on Friday and I've been on the couch since! Charlotte is doing a very good job of taking care of me, though - she's a good snuggler!

Studio Spotlight Link-Up!

So I've shown you guys my studio before (soon after I moved into my house a year and a half ago), but since Jennifer at Ellison Lane and Heather at the Sewing Loft have been doing their Studio Spotlight series, I figured now would be a good time to revisit my space!

Here is the view as you walk in the door. I love being able to see my stash first thing as I come up the stairs! The table is a cheap folding banquet table from Target that I've put up on bed risers I had left over from college. So now the table's now at counter height, which is much better for my back!

There are a couple of WIPs on the floor under the table, and some cubbies for scrappy bits and whatnot.

My double wedding ring FMQ sampler got hung on the wall, and I honestly think it's the first thing that got hung up after I moved in! The cabinet the TV is on is one I got for free from a friend from school, and there are more drawers behind the doors.

Bridget (my new machine) is sitting on an old kitchen table I moved up here when I got my "real" dining table set. I'd love a drop-in table one day, because 1) the machine bed is a little high for comfort right now, and 2) my quilts are constantly getting caught on the extension table when I'm quilting, which is a pain. Those tables are a pretty big investment though, so that might take a fair amount of planning. I've had a carpenter friend of mine come to see if he could cut out a hole and sort of make this table a drop in, but it would have involved cutting out the front support, since this machine is a front-load bobbin. Oh well.

To the right of the sewing machine, directly across from the cutting table, is my design wall. (Upon which you can see a sneak peek of my current project!) This thing is seriously the easiest, cheapest, and most valuable addition to any sewing room! I just hung some clear command strips across the wall, and hung up some batting with binder clips. So easy. It seriously took all of ten minutes. And that included measuring and marking a level line on the wall, and cutting the batting to size. I actually just added some more command strips above the closet for when I run out of space on the "main" design wall.

Underneath the design wall I have my scrap bins, organized by color. I'm thinking about reorganizing them by size, though, because I think finding useful pieces might be easier that way. I'll keep you posted if I start playing... On top of the cubbies I've got some jars of selvedges and my pins for basting.

To the left of the cutting table and stash are my pressing table, notions wall, and my Tears wall quilt. Love it all. (except the orange wall. it came like that.)


I hope you guys enjoyed the little tour! I love my space, and that's a good thing, since I spend so much time there! What are your favorite things about your sewing spaces? What would you like to change?

Little Upgrades

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but my kitchen has no counter space and next to no cabinet space. You might remember this picture from the last house tour:

(please pardon the orange walls - I'm planning to paint the kitchen and the living room and dining room at the same time, which will be quite the undertaking!)

Yep. What you see is what you get. The usable counter space is that little sliver between the sink and the stove. Seriously.

Here is a picture of the other side of the kitchen, which I didn't show last time (it has a tendency to be cluttered):

Very messy. The baker's rack is my attempt to free up some cabinet space. The rest is a mish-mash of random stuff that I just had available when I moved in. I've been toying with the idea of adding some cabinets and counters on this side of the room, but that would involve either trying to find cabinets that matched the original ones, or refacing the old ones to match the new ones.

That wasn't going to happen in any reasonable time frame.

BUT!

I went to this consignment shop a few weeks ago, and happened to find an amazing alternative.

Isn't it so pretty?

It's made from pieces of other furniture, and has a metal frame with casters. The back and sides are finished, so it will look good in the middle of a room too. Such a great find!!

I also updated the space by the front door. Here is the before:

And here is the piece I got at the same time as the island:

Yay! Storage galore! Now I can put the mail in the top of the secretary instead of on the coffee table. So much better! It'll look even better after I paint or refinish it (which will happen eventually...)

The room that house tours forgot...

So I did the updated house tour a little while ago, but forgot to include this little gem - the sunroom! It doesn't get much use yet, but I'm hoping this spring I will be able to give it a little more attention. I actually put in a couple little upgrades a few days ago.

Here is how it looked before, which is pretty much nothing. Please excuse the plants that are trying to die.

I love the view. It makes me forget that I live in a city. You can't see it here, but there is a little creek to the left of those windows.

Here is the only thing I bought for the room - and the ONLY piece of furniture I've ever bought new! (except for mattresses - that's gross) It's a loveseat from Ikea.

So I was tired of the concrete floors (those things are COLD!!!) so I went to Homegoods and found a rug on clearance, which I got an additional discount on because it had some weird spots on it from shipping. I don't care so much, it's practically outside.

I also got a cute little accent table I can use for drinks, etc. I'd like to make a pouf or ottoman too, eventually.

Much warmer, and ready for spring!

House Tour - One year in.

It occurred to me that I haven't done a house tour since I closed on the house over a year ago. I still have a long way to go, I haven't even hung anything on the walls. But it's starting to feel like home (belatedly, see this post).

Here is the living room. The plants are mostly dead, I brought them in from the sunroom a little late in the season. The arrangement on the mantel hasn't changed much since I moved in.

Here is the view across from the sofa. I got that chair from Goodwill for $20! I still need to make a cushion for it...

This is the dining room. I've re-upholstered one of the four chairs. At least it's a start! The china cabinet was a consignment store find, for less than $100. I luuuurve it.

The kitchen. Absolutely nothing has changed.

Upstairs - my bedroom you've seen since I painted it. I love this color. I'm considering reprising it in the living room.

The studio! Also a space I've shared before. Also where I spend a good chunk of my time. You can tell from the earlier post how much more settled in I've gotten.

The guest room/office. It's still a catch-all for the crap I don't want to deal with.

Aaaaand the basement. Rarely used, lots of potential. Maybe the home of a long arm one day?? Haha I wish!

Goings-On

Not much, actually. Well, a little bit. But everything I've done in the sewing room this week has been for Christmas presents, so no posts about those yet. But I DID decide I was bored with the red/green/white Christmas ornaments, so I re-decorated my tree. Now it's purple. I luuuuurve it!

It has a purple-pottamus. hehehe!

Getting in the spirit

I spent some of last night putting up my Christmas decorations. I moved into this house right before Christmas last year, so I'm still putting together my collection of pretties. I did the tree in red, green, and silver. I didn't do much to the mantle, I just filled an apothecary jar with ornaments and replaced my white ceramic fox with a white reindeer. Little changes make a big difference, and are easy to put away at the end of the season!

Dining room table centerpiece.

Bedroom is done!

Obvs, my bedroom is done. I'm particularly proud of this project, because not only have I never painted before, I did this all by myself! It was a little intimidating, and there were moments where I wanted to shoot myself in the head, but once it was done, the sense of accomplishment made it worth it. Kind of like going to the gym, you don't really want to, and you're hating life while you're there, but once you're done it feels really good.

Anyway, it took me a couple days, and a claw for a hand by the end, but it's done! With only one little blip... At one point, when I was painting the side of the door molding, I was trying to get up in a little crevice, and ended up unknowingly leaning up against the other molding that I had just painted. I had a stripe of white paint from my shoulder allllllll the way down to my hip. I wish I had taken a picture! Oh well.

All of my furniture and stuff was stashed in the guest room while I was painting, and it was a mess. I don't like messes...

The wall color I used was Behr Silver Screen. It has a little bit of blue undertones, which I love. The trim was just some off the shelf white semi-gloss. One day I'll even hang stuff on the walls. Maybe.

Charlotte digs it :-)

Bedroom Progress

So I've been working on painting the bedroom all weekend, minus yesterday afternoon when I went to a machine quilting class. I did two coats on the walls (to cover the pink!) and today I did the trim.

Here is a picture I took Saturday evening after the first coat.

Finally Feeling at Home

I've lived in my house for almost 11 months. It's taken a long time for me to feel like it's really mine, to feel comfortable here. That is because my mom was diagnosed 4 days after I closed, so I never got that "honeymoon" period with the house. In fact, I was pretty resentful for a long time that I was "stuck" here, and  didn't have the freedom to leave Richmond.

This house reminds me of Mom being sick, of our last family Christmas party where she had started to lose her hair and her voice.

It reminds me of coming back after she had died, to get clothes for the funeral, and sitting on the couch with the lights off, feeling desperately alone.

It reminds me of everything I won't have a chance to tell her, or ask her, or share with her.

While she was sick, and for a long time after she died, I went home (to my family's house) every chance I could, every day off from work. The last couple months I've actually started really spending time here. About a week ago, for the first time in forever it seems, it hit me that this is MY house, and it's a great house, and I was excited about it being my place.

I'm taking some vacation from work this week, and I decided that instead of going to the beach or whatever, I was going to stay HOME. In Richmond. And feel at home here. I'm actually in the process of painting my bedroom, which was supposed to happen within the first week I lived here. I'm taking ownership of my home, and making it mine.

So anyway, here are the before pictures!

As you can see, the color is awful. I'm surprised it hasn't driven me crazy yet, but I guess I've been distracted by bigger issues. Also, one day I will have real furniture. The bedside tables are the only furniture in the room that weren't free! Also, the curtains don't match and desperately need to be hemmed. At least I hung them in the first place! Those and the blinds are really all I've done to this room since I've moved in.

"Studio" Take Two

So I actually put forth the effort of taking pictures of the sewing room with a real camera, and here are the results -

Here is the sewing table - the cabinet on the left holds fabric, patterns, etc.

I made the design wall with some batting, binder clips, and command strips! And I was too excited to hang it to take the time to press it...

The cutting table and some of the stash. Please ignore the junk under the table. One day I will go through that...

The pegboard!! My fave! :-)

Gratuitous stash shot :-)