My daughter moved out and I took over her room. Well in January, she needed to move back in with my beautiful granddaughter. It was extremely worth it to give up my "studio". I am now in the kitchen/dining room and I like it alot more than being in my own room.

When our kids were little, I sewed at the kitchen table. Then bought a sewing cabinet from a neighbor and fixed up a small corner in the basement with a play area for the kids. When we moved to our current house, I sewed in the basement laundry room. Sometimes the pipes dripped and the kids would throw stuff on top of my machine, but it was ok. When my daughter moved out, I took over the room that we made for her, but my DH had to walk through it to get to the room where his computer was. He'd complain about stuff lying around that he'd have to step over. Then 2 months after I moved in there, my son moved out and I took over his upstairs bedroom. It has more space, but man does it get hot in the summertime! If I had known that he was moving out, I would've just waited and moved my stuff once! But I love having my own space. You ladies are very creative in finding ways to quilt w/ o separate sewing rooms.

The first quilt I made (queen) was in a 587 sf apt (1 BR, 1 LR, galley kitchen, 1 BA) that I shared with my DH, a dog, and a cat. Every square inch of wall space was taken. I did my cutting on a top to an night stand that I laid on the floor. The only place large enough to spread out the quilt was on my bed. My sewing machine was sitting on a singer sewing table I had, also in the bedroom. All of my sewing stuff was stored on top of the dog's crate, also in the bedroom. Now, a widow, I am living with my 85 yo DM, have a large BR 11 x 21, which houses my new king Gracie Pro and Juki, all my stash, a 3'x7' cutting/sewing table, two sewing machines. It's always a mess, but it is MY mess

I have a small house and a large family, however I do live alone. I care for a 2 1/2 yr old great grandson 2 days a week and once or twice a month we have birthday/holiday parties here. There are usually 19 to 23 of us.

My machines are set up in the west end of my family room. The folding table in front of the Juke does double duty when we are all together. The double doors lead to the utility room where I store my stash and the ironing board when not in use. The yellow armoire has all kinds of stuff for quilting, pens, pencils, fusible, anything. The other picture is of a floor to ceiling cabinet my SIL built for me. This was was not use for anything because of where it was located and this cabinet only takes 1 foot out of the room. It holds a TON of stuff. Has 9 shelves. The design board is a piece of rigid insulation from Home Depot and I move it is free standing so I can move it where ever I want it. Everything can be quickly put away and brought out again.

I have converted an extra bedroom into a sewing room so I'm not sewing in the dining room anymore. Everyone enjoy the space they have for quilting and enjoy the experience and the pleasure of making quilts, table runners, purses, etc. Enjoy!!

I never had a place to call my own untilly recently. We have a room that is 14 by 20 and that is where I go. the only problem is that we also have to use it for a guest room and that ogten means putting everything away. Of course it is worth it to see my kids. We raised our family of 8 in a 4 bedroom 2 bath home and I ran a daycare from my closed in garage so I was either scrunched in my bedroom or a corner of the LR when I wanted to sew.

I tell people that if they come to see me come anytime but, if they come to see the house make an appt. I live here and I am not going to keep my home as neat as a pin just in case someone drops in.

All you women are amazing! What I got from this whole thing about sewing spaces is that you have rich, wonderfully busy lives. Lives that are as colorful and full of love as your quilts.

Diane

My Mom raised 7 kids plus in a 3 bedroom house, about 1200 square feet. Her sewing machine was in a closet that was just a bit wider than the open cabinet. Dad built little narrow shelves with bars across to hold patterns, etc. Mom didn't have much of a stash because fabric was only bought to make clothes, including jeans, for all of us, including the foster kids. But there was always a box full of scraps that we could pull from for doll clothes, and that she could pull from to make scrappy quilts. We cut on the dining room table (is was the only one big enough), we set up the ironing board in the kitchen, and we did our fittings in the hallway which is where the sewing machine closet was.

Where there is a will there is a way. Mom always said you just have to keep a small space tidy so you have room to turn around.

I'm with you, GagaSmith. I, too, have my studio in the basement. There is a tiny, tiny window over my cutting board, but because I'm so short, I cannot really see anything out of it. I envy those with big wiindows, but am very appreciative to have a dedicated space. That portion of the basement is unfinished, except that my dear DH did put in a ceiling with great lighting and some beautiful built-in cabinets.

I live in a double wide mobil home, I did have two room for my sewing storage, but I have my son his GF and my 9 Year old GD living with us, so I'm cromped into one small room. My son just came up with this ideal and made me a shelf, more storage, yea!!!!

Here is my area: http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-115294-1.htm, very small but fairly functional.

How do you clean your iron with salt?
Also I like your space, you could put another shelf above the one already there. The only space you have left if vertical.LOL

To clean an iron that is just metal (not teflon), I have a brown paper bag, dump in a handful of table salt. Then, run a hot iron around in the salt until the metal is clean. The salt can be kept and reused.

I am still searching for a quick, easy way to clean a teflon iron. I have an iron that got some fusible on it. Yuck!


My hubby plans to build a shelf for the corner, so I have a place to put the boxes of projects for easy access.

Above the wall shelf is SUPPOSED to be pics of my grandkids, but that project somehow isn't getting done1 You can see my kids in my avitar.

I use a product called IRON CLEAN the brand is Bo-Nash.
I think I got it from Clotilde sewing . Try www.boash.com or E-mail: [email protected].
This reasonably priced and you don't need to use a whole sheet

I use a product called IRON CLEAN the brand is Bo-Nash.
I think I got it from Clotilde sewing . Try www.boash.com or E-mail: [email protected].
This reasonably priced and you don't need to use a whole sheet[/quote]

Great thanks for the info - I will look it up!

I now have a sewing room I used to only dream about 40 years ago. I had heard of someone sewing in the bathroom because it was the biggest space available. Someone made a table that was lowered on pulleys over the bathtub and extended far enough to pull a chair up. I was floored by this description. I don't know where she put her fabric but her sewing machine was kept in its case on the bathroom closet floor. The door did have a lock on it. Since we ironed in the bathroom of a house we once lived in, it wasn't a stretch to imagine a retractable sewing table.

Check this blog for an idea .. maybe this could work for you ~

http://lindycottagehill.blogspot.com

click on the pic on the right side 'DIY Sewing Armoire'.

HTH ~ :D

I have a sewing room, the smallest bedroom. It's about 9X12 so it's pretty small. BUT, I have so much stuff and it's such a mess that I drag the sewing machine and cut on the kitchen table.

My sewing room is a portion of my bedroom. My long cardboard table with my sewing machine and notions sits in front of my dresser (can't get any clothes now) and my ironing board is set next to my bed. However I do have a house in Arizona with a room for quilting, but I only get there 3-4 times a year. I look forward to retirement so I can use my quilting room!

My basement is going to be my sewing haven REAL soon...we moved here about 5 years ago and now I am clearing out the basement and the 2 unfinished rooms are going to be mine....
and like told my daughter the other day I may just spread my sewing room all over the basement....I can always close the door and leave it no one else goes down there but grand daughters and I done gave then aroom of their own down there.But my other house sewing room was where I sat my sewing machine and iron.......lol

I would, but since I got my long arm, I am in two rooms now. LOL

I have s sewing room (aka storage room per my kids) with all I need in there. It could be more organized but I can live with it. However, I don't sew in there because I can't hear my husband when he needs me. (He is blind and has dementia.)So, I do my actual sewing at the dining room table where I can see him and hear him call from the family room. The kids cleaned up the dining room for my surprise birthday party and I thought I would never find everythihg because they just dumped it all in the sewing room.

I am so fortunate to not have children at home anymore (all married)so I took the 3rd bedroom upstairs and made it into a sewing room. I had it in the kitchen for many years.

I now have a "studio" which is the master bedroom of my townhome. I feel blessed. It helps that I am single, too, as it does spill out into my living room.

I took classes with Harriet Hargrave and she told us when she started quilting her area was in a little closet on top of her washing machine ... that is if I remember it correctly. Believe me not one of us complained about our own small sewing/quilting areas in those classes!

If there is a will ... there is a way. For some it may be hand piecing and quilting. Whatever works.

ali

I used to sew in the corner of the dining room and leave my mess there. I told my husband I only cleaned up for special company. (not very often). I had to clean up every year for a Christmas party. Now I have a bedroom all to myself, upstairs I can go up there alone most times. I feel very fortunate to have a room totally to myself for sewing. It is very therapeutic to go up there and sew to my hearts content. If we have company I just close and sometimes lock the door.

Okay! I'm one of the lucky ones to have a "room of my own", but I didn't start there and it causes me to appreciate even more, the the great creativity that happens at kitchen tables and the places usualy reserved for dust bunnies. You wonderful people who find a small spot for creating deserve kudos! Some people who have everything, create nothing and those with little create much!! Peace and Love to all!

I have a table set up in our bonus room. It is on the far wall behind the sofa - kind of hiding. I love that the sofa covers up the bottom part of the table so I can store stuff under the table and not worry about how it looks! I have another table on the other wall that is my ironing and cutting space. I've just started sewing so I don't have alot of fabric yet. We are lucky that in this house we have lots of closet space and there are 2 in the bonus room. One has my scrapbooking supplies (I used to be a consultant for CM) but as I clear that out, it will become my sewing closet. My youngest is 4 and he pretty much stays out of my stuff, but I remember when the kids were in my stuff all the time. I had a kid gate up to keep them out of my space.

I like that I don't have a room too myself. I like that I can sew while my kids are watching TV or playing on the Wii. I don't feel like I'm being anti-social. And during the day I have a big TV that is right in front of me :) i'll try to post pictures but my space is really nothing to write home about... just a table in the bonus room!

Oh I remember those days well. When my 2 were little we lived in a 12 x 60 2 bedroom trailer. My sewing maching was in the kitchen/dining area and I did my cutting on the kitchen table. When the kids were 4 & 5 we moved to the UP in the mddle of a national forest. We built a 16 x 20 cabin without electricty so my treadle was at the foot of the bed. Now I have my own sewing room. It is small, but it's all mine! lol

I sew at my dining room table. I started doing that because I liked to watch TV while sewing. I'm alone most of the time because DH works over 4 hours from home and only comes home on weekends and sometimes not even then as his dad is very ill. So it became a habit that is hard to break. My kids are grown and on their own and I have two spare bedrooms and a HUGE 2,200 sq ft basement of which half is finished and half is unfinished. I would love to get my DH to build out 1/2 of the unfinished section into a studio for me but I might as well be talking to a wall. So, I just stick to the dining room table and my fabric is stored in dresser drawers in the spare bedroom. My work space is constantly messy as when I am cutting up fabric for a quilt, I often don't put away leftover fabric pieces until the folded up piles topple off the table. My house is neat and tidy in every way. But my sewing space is a nightmare. How can I be so organized in every other aspect of my life, yet my sewing space is so disorganized? I really only clean it up if we are having a formal dinner party as all my friends know how much I quilt and they are used to all my quilting mess and the ironing board set up in the living room. But I have to say, I've seen the small spaces some of you have to work with and I'll just shut up and consider myself lucky. I'd post pictures but my DH has my camera.

Okay, for those of you that want to use your bathroom....saw this and thought of you all..it's an embroidery design from BFC-Creations.com

I would but My apartment would put hurricane katrina to shame, and I too have a rambunctious toddler who is busy busy busy, you have to watch her like a hawk. i don't want to lock myself in the bathroom, but sometimes i just wish for the little one to take a nap, never happens its like wishing to win the lottery, in fact i'd have a better chance at the lottery

My sewing space is part of our bedroom. We only have one extra room and it's my husband's office.

I don't feel so bad now. If I can find the camera I'll post some pictures. I live in a smallish house with my dtr and grandson. My sewing corner is in my bedroom. I'm single so that's not problem for me. I'd like to be able to stretch out a bit and be able to leave stuff "as is" instead of putting things up and moving my sewing table every night to be able to get into my bed. When I cut out big stuff, I pull out 2 card tables, set them up in the living room and then wiggle around them to do the cutting. When I cut out small stuff, I move my machine to one side and cut on the sewing table. Some of my fabric is in clear plastic boxes stacked on top of each other on my dresser; some fabric is stacked on top of the plastic boxes. Some fabric is out in the storage shed...I have to go on safari for what I want somedays...I probably have way too much fabric...

I live in a two bedroom home with my husband. I have all of my stash in my bedroom and I cut and stitch in the kitchen on a 6' table. I also have part of my quilting frame set up in my living room with my old singer sewing machine which is in a table but it is small. I don't have pictures to send.

what's an MIL ?

Laura

mother in law,usually

Oh. OK. TY. I am single, so I do not have to deal with one of those.
Laura

I have a room for sewing, so no pics from me
BUT
I'm 52 and I only got it last year. For years I used the hallway, and then I used the master bedroom.

Oh, I do understand. I sewed for years on one end of our dining room table with a two-drawer metal file cabinet I bought at a thrift store to stores my things in. The top drawer was for notions and tools, the bottom one for fabric and work in progress. It locked with the push of a button which kept my toddler's inquisitive fingers out of the pins and needles. I would just disconnect my footfeed and power cord, throw them in the drawer as well and lock the whole thing up. Things will get better in time. :)