Renodecorating the Quilt Studio - Organization Tips Part 2

Hi everyone:

In a previous blogpost I told you about the new fabric and die storage areas in the newly renodecorated studio. I promised I'd tell you what I was doing with the Alex drawer unit that I purchased from Ikea. 

Alex drawer unit
Photo courtesy of ikea.com

I added wheels to the Alex drawer storage unit so I can move it around if I want. It has several drawers and holds more than I would've thought possible, probably due to the length of the drawers - an awesome 21 inches! As you can see, the top two drawers are narrower than the bottom three, but that's okay, because I keep my cutting tools in the top drawer and smaller thread cones in the second drawer. 

Cutting tools and tape measures in the top drawer

Small thread spools in drawer #2

Can you guess what I store in the remaining three drawers? No, it's not chocolate, although that would be the perfect place for it as the Alex is next to my computer area, but they actually hold more thread. 

Thread in another drawer in Alex

I put rubber drawer liner in each drawer to keep things from sliding around. I find it helps to keep the spools standing upright.

My thread organization tip: organize your thread by type, rather than by colour so you can find the particular type of thread and then see what colours you have in it - and which ones you'll need to buy the next time you're at the quilt shop.

As I added more furniture pieces to the studio, I found that the cutting station was becoming a bit of a problem. It was too big! I really liked the size, but it was really bigger than I needed, so I decided to cut it back by a third. It's still big enough for a large cutting mat and that's really all I need. There are still cup hooks on either end of the cutting station to hang rulers and adequate storage on both sides. 

Smaller cutting station, but still large enough for me

I now have two sewing areas set up:  - one for piecing and one for free-motion quilting. Now when I want to piece for awhile and then do some quilting, I don't have to spend time setting up the machine for another technique. I like that!

Large Sylvia quilting table set up for free-motion quilting

To save time and keep me better organized, I keep duplicate items at each station: snips, used needle holder (pill bottle), garbage pails. This saves me from rummaging around for notions when I want to get to work. The appropriate bobbins and attachments are stored with that machine. 

My Bernina (hiding behind the cover) is
ready for piecing whenever I am

Another tip for smaller studios is to have large furniture on wheels. This makes it easy to rearrange these pieces and even move them right out of the studio area if I need the floor space to pin a quilt. I can set up folding tables for quilting buddies or even use the space for other projects or teen sleepovers.

That's the new studio space. How do you organize your space? Email me your best organization tips for quilting and sewing.

Renodecorating the Quilt Studio: Organizational Tips Part 1

Hi everyone:

Here's your chance to get a peek into my updated studio. Still in the basement, but it's feeling much cozier now and not so much like being in a dungeon. I'm pleased at how much warmer the basement is with the the cork floor and of course it's easier to clean than the old carpet. The downside is that now I can see the cat fur on the floor :).

Before the renodecorating (noun: a technical term for a redecoration where the amount of work expended feels like it was a renovation), I purchased a few items from Ikea. Of course it would've made sense to wait until after the renodecoration was done to construct the bookcases, but excitement trumps common sense every time in my experience, so... at least I didn't actually put fabric in the new Billy bookcases before they were moved to the garage (amazing self restraint on my part). An Expedit unit and a small Alex drawer unit completed the Ikea purchases. 

Alex drawer unit
Photo courtesy of Ikea.com

Billy bookcase with doors
Photo courtesy of ikea.com

These are all white as Expedit wasn't avaiable in high gloss turquoise when we made these purchases or it would definitely be in my studio now. 

Expedit in yummy high gloss turquoise - mine is white :(
Photo courtesy or ikea.com

Now I know you're wondering how I'm using all this furniture. The Billy bookcases, unlike the ones that you usually see in Ikea are 15" deep with the doors on, making them perfect for fabric storage.

View into the studio - the Expedit and
Billy bookcases are along the left wall

New Expedit and Billy bookcases

The bookcases hold a surprising amount of fabric and, once properly folded, the fabric actually all fit in without even squishing it - much. I organized my fabrics a few different ways: first, by colour like the colour walls in the quilt shops and then I arranged my batiks, seasonal fabrics and collections, such as florals, black and whites, novelties, etc. 

Fabrics sorted by colour, then batiks
and finally collections near the bottom

The second bookcase holds more fabric and my patterns in progress in pizza-like boxes (they are actually clock boxes from school). A pleasant surprise to find that they did fit into the bookcases as well.

More fabric collections and flannels in the top of the second bookcase

My best storage tip for fabric is to fold it so it is all a uniform size and will then fit neatly into your chosen storage unit.

The Expedit cubby storage unit is next to one of my sewing stations and holds my dies in the bottom part behind doors. The top cubbies are open to hold sewing machine related items and business information (if it's behind doors I forget where it is!). I was going to put glass doors on the upper area, but I'm finding that I like it better open as it's quicker to grab items when I need them.

Expedit cubbies hold AccuQuilt GO! dies perfectly
(The vitamin bottle actually holds my used needles and pins)

The reduced cutting station in the centre of the studio has rulers hanging on both ends and is on wheels so it can be moved around easily. The large Ikea table at the back holds my pressing board and has room at the end for laying out projects. The cork board and design wall still need to be hung up - always a few odds and ends to finish!

The hanging folders on the door are perfect for pattern ideas and business information. The second sewing station has the machine set up for piecing. Yes, I do use the exercise ball and it actually stays put under the sewing area when I'm not using it :)

This is my computer area. The desk is actually an old Singer sewing table, with the drop down area in the centre for the machine. When I'm new using it for sewing, it works perfectly for my laptop. The Antonius cart (one of two in the studio) holds projects with fabric and my Sizzix Big Shot pro is on top - covered to keep the cat fur out.

That's the quick studio tour. Next time I'll show you how I'm using the Alex drawer unit and my updated pressing board (here's a hint: it's from Ikea again). I'll also talk more about organization and storage in a small studio space.

You've seen how I organize and store my fabric. Let me know how you store your fabric? Do you organize it by colour or by collection? Open shelving, bookcases or baskets? I'd love to hear about your studio space and organization.

Hi everyone:

I promised that I'd tell you more about our basement renovation and my new studio area. Okay, it was more of a redecoration, but with the amount of work involved, I feel justified in calling it a renovation. 

Pre-renovation. We're in the process
of moving the books and bookcases

Since we purchased our house in 2001 we have redone just about every room, except for the basement. We've replaced windows, repainted, refloored, rebaseboarded (yes, this is a technical term!), everything except touch the basement. Why? Well, if you'd seen all the stuff items in our basement, you would already know the answer! In addition to my studio, the basement contains my husband's office as well as the tv area. This translates into lots of furniture and several bookcases full of many, many, heavy books (ask me how I know this). I own over 300 quilting books myself and then you have to add in my husband's business books to realize that we could be operating our own library! Any changes to the basement would mean lots of heavy lifting and moving everything out - which we did.

Where did everything go?

Books were taken out of bookcases and put into boxes. Boxes and bookcases were carried up to the garage where they were again set up. Furniture was also stored in the garage. Over a day to carry everything up and out. Walls were washed and rinsed. A day and a half to accomplish this. Floors, baseboards and door casings were painted. Baseboards and door casings were pre-cut. 

Bookcases set up in the garage

Then we waited 2 weeks for the floor to be levelled and new flooring installed (don't ask me why there was a delay, I really don't want to be that upset again). Cork plank flooring was installed and then, five days before we left on vacation, we carried everything back down again and attempted to put it all to rights before we left - and we were mostly successful. A few items had to wait until we returned, but isn't there always a few extra things that need to be done at the end of every project?

Studio almost empty

Now my fabric is neatly folded and stored in two new Billy bookcases* (did you know that folded fabric fits perfectly into the deeper Billy bookcase?) and I have an 8 cubby Expedit that holds my dies and business information. All well organized and easy to access. My thread has been organized and arranged in my Alex and I added wheels to the bottom so I can pull it out if necessary. 
*The Billy bookcases that I have aren't shown on their website and are 15" deep.

Cutting table now 2/3 its original size
Top needs to be re-cut and glued back down

My cutting table has been cut down so it is smaller, but still holds a large cutting mat and it is on wheels as well. I've repurposed a long Ikea table for my ironing station and there is extra room to hold WIP's at the end. 

I'm tired just thinking about all the work we did, but it was so worth it! The basement is warmer with the cork floor and easy to keep clean. I love the new wall colour, Litchfield Gray by Benjamin Moore (anything would've been better than the previous stark white) and I am thrilled with my new, better organized space. 

Litchfield Gray by Benjamin Moore

The last decision I have to make is where to hang various pictures and wall art to completely finish off the studio area. I only refer to my area, because... we're still awaiting the installation of two Murphy beds in the tv area, but that's another story :)

Coming up next time: showing off my new studio with organizational tips!

Studio Set-up - Part 3

Hi everyone:


Another Monday, another video premiere! This is the third episode in the Studio Set-up series. In this video I'll be discussing the tools that you need in your studio: not all the fancy bells and whistles that you can buy, but the essential tools that you'll need. 

Studio Set-up - Episode 3 - Tools for your Studio

I hope you'll let me know if you have other tools that you consider essential to your quilting - and that you can't live work without.

Do You Have These in Your Studio?

Hi everyone:

It's Monday already and time for the premiere of another video episode from the Studio Set-up series. 


This video delves into the fascinating subjects of lighting, design walls and fabric and notion storage. If you've ever wondered what works for me in my studio, you'll have to watch this episode. 

Studio Set-up - Episode 2 - Studio Additions

As always, I'd love to hear your comments about the type of lighting and design wall that you have, as well as your storage ideas. I'm always interested to hear about all the different set-ups that quilters have in their studios.

Studio Set-up - new video series

Hi everyone:


I've finally gotten all the bugs and glitches out of the videos in my latest series. It's taken a little longer than I would've expected, but now Studio Set-up is ready for release. 


Whether you're quilting on your dining room table or have an entire room devoted to your hobby obsession, you'll find lots of helpful ideas in this series for setting up an efficient and organized quilt studio. 

If you have any specific questions about how to set up or improve your quilt studio, I hope you'll leave a comment for me. I do try to respond to everyone. If you're brave enough to send me a photo of your quilt studio, I'd love to see it. 


I'm also looking for comments on the ideal quilt studio. Please leave a comment letting me know what your perfect quilt studio would contain.


Happy quilting!