Organizing my quilt studio - Part 2

Hi everyone:

In Part 1 I showed you my quilting studio and explained how it has evolved. In this post I'd like to examine the various areas to show you how I've organized them. I hope that you'll pick up a few ideas for your own studio!

Any good quilter has to have a few machines in her studio. I have two sewing machines, a Bernina Virtuosa 153 and a Juki TL-98Q (a straight stitch machine). The Juki used to be on my quilting frame until I purchased the B-Line 18 machine. Now I use the Juki for most of my piecing since it is so fast and accurate. I use the Bernina for any satin stitching or other-than-a-straight-stitch sewing. I have an original sewing cabinet, which I inherited from my grandmother, for my Bernina and was fortunate to find a table at Ikea that matches the finish perfectly. I guess the colours in laminate haven't changed that much over the years :) I find the L-shaped configuration of the machines works very well and allows me to spread my work out a bit more.

If you haven't noticed, I like to shop at Ikea. The price is right and I often find exactly what I need there - even if I don't use it for its original purpose!

I'm not always quilting on my frame, so I find the table useful for holding project pieces that I'm currently working on. It's also handy to drape fabric and quilt tops over after they've been pressed. Although you can only see a little sliver of it, I have several large rolling bins under my table which hold my magazine collection. It's just empty space under there, so I had to fill it with something. 
Note: I no longer have my mid-arm frame. I sold it and have upgraded to a Handi Quilter Infinity as of December 2015.

As I mentioned before, some of my fabric is stored in my cutting table - on one side. The other side has a shelf and I use it to hold books, bulky items and my trims and buttons (also in storage containers). I have cup holders on the side of my cutting table to hold my rulers. The cutting table is on castors to allow me to roll it out of the way when I'm working on the frame and to allow easier access to the back storage room. I also have metal measuring tape (Lee Valley) on both long edges of my cutting table. I find it helpful when I'm determining if I have enough fabric for a particular project as I can just measure it quickly along the edge of the table. I use the pink foam core board stored along the wall when I'm photographing large quilts. I cover it with flannel and I'm good to go.

I also use flannel covered foam core board for my design wall. It's 8' x 4' and I use it as a display wall as well. In this photo you can see one of the large wheeled carts at the right underneath the frame (blue lid), as well as the carts with drawers where I keep my thread and other supplies. The curtain rod on the wall at the end of the frame serves as a display for some of my finished projects. Again, it's from Ikea.

I have an AccuQuilt GO! cutter and several dies which I had been storing in a Rubbermaid contained (I know, bad me!). The GO! cutter is usually tucked under my quilting frame, close to the cutting table, but the dies really needed better storage. So... I cleaned out a small bookcase and moved it into the quilting area. The dies fit in it very well and it's easily accessible. Currently I have some projects in boxes on top of the bookcase where they're out of my sewing space, yet easy to retrieve when needed.

I have the labels facing out so I can easily retrieve the one I need. I know that the dies lean a bit, but I've ordered a few more of them, so I expect that the bookcase will soon be full and that should keep them all standing upright. I may put some cardboard in between each die to protect them - I have all the original die packaging still, so I'll just use the cardboard from that. 

So, that's my quilting studio. I'd show you my office where I do the computer work, but it still needs some tidying up. I'm hoping I can talk hubby into helping me with that project in the next few weeks!

I'd love to hear your organization tips, especially if you have an AccuQuilt GO! or Studio cutter.