I am interested in receiving photos/ideas of work spaces from those who DON'T have rooms set aside for quilting and DO have a husband, kids running in and out of the house, a son who leaves books laying all over, a dog who isn't interested in reading but does like to do other things with books, an autistic son who is interested in my sewing machine (but I don't think that is such a good thing right now) and a little girl who is as cute as a button and loves to ask questions (all of them good) but sometimes by this point I am ready to take the sewing machine into the bathroom, lock the door and make that my quilting area. Thank you!
P.S. It is not neccesary to fill all the above requirements...

I completely understand! right now my sewing area is in my living room. I also have, 2 toddlers, a 5 yr old, a husband who loves to watch tv way way to loud...Oh and a MIL who comes up as hovers over my shoulder then asks, " whatcha making".. If my bathroom was big enough i would lock my self in there also. Everything is baby locked, and it sucks that i spend almost as much time putting up everything up that i do sewing, which is probably why i don't even bother to do quilting after i get home from work.

LOL!!
Thanks for this post... now I have to excuse myself and dry off my keyboard!

Can't wait to see the responses.

OK, you asked for it. I live in a small house with my daughter, grand daughter (8 years old) and my handicapped son. The only place left for my sewing is the corner of the dining room. You can see my sewing area and my computer/ sewing area. I do have a frame and a Juki sewing machine in my bedroom. That's where my stash is stored. It's close and claustrophobic and is my favorite place in the house.

I LOVE that your computer area is also your ironing station lol...My DH would have a heart attack if i left my iron next to my laptop. =) But hey you do what you have to do to do your hobby.

When I get home tonight, I will send you a couple pics. I live in a townhouse with three teen girls... a room for quilting is impossible!! :) Sadly, my dining room table also acts as a cutting table. :)

This reminds me of what Dad did.

Mom complained that she wasn't getting any privacy at all from us 5 kids even when she went to the bathroom.

So Dad installed a dead bolt on their bathroom.....LOL


p.s

I have a room just for sewing so I can't post any pictures.

amen to both of you... when i was younger.. i did much more than i do now with my own sewing room (which is just as cluttered as either one of these spaces).... it one wants to quilt and create, it doesn't matter where or when... it happens.... it's our sanity afterall.... :)

Tee Hee. The iron is just stored there. If you turn another quarter turn you are at my dining room table where I cut my fabrics and iron. I can sit in my chair and just turn it around to press the fabrics.

I am coming to realize that a cluttered workspace is almost a requirement when one starts to quilt...I hate clutter. I really try to keep everything nice and neat. But with the kids and everything yea that doesn't happen often lol. I have slowly come to accept it. Until I get my sewing studio. That is the next big thing after my wedding in Nov. =)

I used to sew in my livingroom....I had to clear everything off the dining room table at dinner time ( I hated that). I actually have two dents in my wood floors where kids were running through the livingroom and knocked the iron off the board and dented my floors...not once but twice! LOL
Then I moved to the family room.....and all my "stuff" took over. I sold the furniture and everything to fit my long arm. Then the kids started complaining that they needed their game room back...so now my studio is in a converted garage ( which is attached to the house).


:thumbup:

No pics, but until this house (thanks be to God for the blessing of it) I had several years with small kids and only an area, not a room. I was lucky to be able to buy a nice Horn cabinet that closed up and locked completely. It was still a nuisance to have to shift things around and do the set-up and close-up rituals, but if not for the cabinet, I wouldn't have been sewing at all. Still no dining room table, we eat Moroccan style (couches and low tables). The kitchen table is rickety and small. My sewing room furniture is the nicest we have because it's not exposed to the wear and tear of kids and b/c I bought it. :) Maybe get a June Tailor large cut n press on sale and a used, locking cabinet with drawers. Or two file cabinets (the three-drawer style) and a long piece of countertop. Lock up the sharp stuff and the power cord of the machine (even take out the needle if you have to). I'm sewing more now than when the kids were younger, and it's very therapeutic and beneficial to the family. Never give up!!!

My house has been a revolving door the past ten years and so I have set up "shop" in every room except the bathroom - (which I would have retreated to had it been big enough LOL!)

Currently I am set up in a corner of the living room - nice big window so lots of natural light. Have the stash in a small bedroom along with the cutting table. This is the first time in ten years I've been able to "unpack" and half-way organize the stash - I was mildly appalled by the amount of fabric I actually have (!) :)- The picture shows the fat quarters and WIP's stacked on top.

Makes me feel very fortunate...I converted the smallest bedroom into my sewing sanctuary! It's not completed, but I'm happy about having a get-a-way space that's all mine! It's not near as big or elaborate or organized as some I've seen on here....but, I like said, It's mine and I'm not complaining. My Mom lived in a tiny apartment and had the sewing machine in a corner of her bedroom. Fabric and many other craft items were stored in ever nook and cranny she could find!

I have scorch marks on my carpet from my kids/dogs knocking the iron off the board -- more than one -- and I finally got my corner of the kids computer/play room cleared out again so I can sew in there - my dining room table is clear for the 1st time since christmas!! I just left all the extra leafs in it so I could move all my sewing stuff to one end when we sat there.

I work in the corner of my bedroom. Am considering removing the easy chair from the other side of the room so that I can shove the bed over 6-8 inches and retrieve my beside table from the closet where it is currently hiding. Not sure DH is on board with that idea...

[img]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4xG-Yd3Mwz...0/IMG_0403.JPG[/img]

More pictures of my workspace are here: http://quiltingcorgis.blogspot.com/2...my-sewing.html

I will confess that this picture was taken right after I set up the sewing desk/corner. It is now MUCH more cluttered...

Cheers, K

love seeing all the pics.I used to have to sew at kitchen table also.I feel so lucky to have rooms that are mine now.took many yrs to get there though.

I have a small corner of the basement family room for my sewing area. I'm pretty okay with the space but what i hate is the lack of windows (there are none). I have several good lights but there's nothing like being able to open the window and let in some fresh air and light.

Well, I've used several rooms of our house as sewing area, When we first moved in I had a whole room to myself, then we started having kids & I moved to the corner of the dinning/l;iving room. I didn't have the floor denteded by an iron, but my 2 yr. old daughter pulled the iron off the board & onto her head! Well she's now 17 (today as a matter of fact!) & seems no worse for wear. I now have a "corner" of the master bedroom, which my husband & I share, & it is also the computer/desk area & a pass thru to the "extra" bathroom. I store TONS of stash in the room & closet, but I have already asked my 2 girls, & as of Jan. my girls will both be at college so, I will be making a bedroom they share into a sewing/bedroom for me! (Hubby snores up a storm!!!! LOL)

A friend of mine had her sewing machine on the kitchen counter....kids couldn't reach it, and she sewed standing up, kept the notions and fabric she was using in the drawers below the counter. She made a cover for the machine just like a toaster and mixer use to be covered and just left it there. I had mine on the kitchen table for years, most of the sewing was done at night after kids were in bed, then when kids grew up and left for college, I took over one of the rooms, then kids started getting married and bring husbands and kids home for visits so had to give up the room, DH did add on a room which I took over part of for my sewing room...it is very small, I've seen lots of walk in closets that are bigger than my room, but I have windows, a great view, a place to leave my machine and my mess. I do find that having a room, I am much messier!! LOL I just want to say that the days and years will pass much too quickly and before long your problem will solve itself! Until then, sew when you can. Laugh in the face of chaos and make quilts! Oh, the dog...mine lays right behind my sewing chair and everytime I have to move she lets me know what an imposition it is for her LOL

At one time two kids came home and the only place I had was a wicker toped table with a pice of plastic over it and if you got to going it would start to bounce and had to put my bens in the bottom of our closet then would have to move shoes to get to the bens

I am raising a 6 year old grandson, and have neighbor children here a lot. My sewing area is in the laundry room.

Take a look at my quilting nook. It is 3'x9' down the side of our bedroom. The rack, surprisingly, holds 100 yards of fabric and over 200 fat quarters. the board on the bed is for cutting and ironing and stowes under the bed when not in use. It works. http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-111744-1.htm

I used to sew on the kitchen table while the kids were napping. Kept everything in bags and had to put it all away when they woke up. I had 3 daughters in 3 years, so they all took a nap at the same time. Now I have a whole bedroom to myself and bought several storage units at Lowes. They hold a lot of fabric. Can't send a picture since I don't know how. Someday one of my kids will show me how to send pictures. I keep picturing you guys sewing in the bathroom and laughing. I can see you sitting on the toilet with your stash in the tub. Too funny.
Sue

DH and I have five kids, all stair-stepped in ages. We were finally able to buy a house big enough to fit in when the oldest was 15. We put them in the two downstairs bedrooms and gave them a two-room rec room as well. I started quilting at the dining room table, with a few totes of fabrics and notions. Then, my DH talked me into taking over the spare bedroom (guest bedroom).
When the oldest turned 19 (still at home and in college), MIL hubby passed and she broke her hip the same day. So, she came to live with us and all my sewing stuff moved into a wide hallway downstairs, in totes, many totes as I had "collected" more things, including furniture.
The night that my last son moved out after graduation, I had done the touch-up painting, DH put the baseboards down, and I cleaned the carpets. I had all my sewing stuff in there by morning. It kept growing and DH talked me into moving into the two room rec room....sweet....till I outgrew it. When DD moved out and into town, I took over that room (largest bedroom in the house 11x18). Now that I have outgrown it, I also have a sewing area (room) upstairs so that I can sew there when MIL is up (I am her caregiver).
DH totally spoils me with my quilting, but I spoil him too with his hobbies.
He's a keeper!!!

My sewing nook is the very small area that is supposed to the dining area in my small one bedroom apt. But it's pretty handy and I am glad to have it.

This is all I have; but I make the most of it and enjoy my space.

I'm LOL because I did sew in my bathroom. The BR was 6 x 12 and at the far end I had a place to put the old treadle I used as a base for my portable machine! It's been so long, but suppose I stored fabric in my laundry room, which was very cold in the winter, and very hot in the summer. But know I didn't have much fabric. I would remake old clothes for my DD everyday play dresses. Later when I got a new dining room and kitchen, I moved into the old kitchen, which was a 4 x 10 pantry. Big improvement, right? I did sew tons of clothes for our 4 kids--even their blue jeans. My kids were so skinny, couldn't find anything to fit them--Kwik Sew slim jeans to the rescue. Still have those patterns. Thanks for taking me down memory lane!

Well I like the idea of the bathroom. We actually have two so maybe I could just steal one away. Lock myself in and say I don't feel well -like for a week! I have a homemade table in a spare room but normally sit at the breakfast bar so I can converse with family and watch my favorite shows.

...and then the kids grow up and your heart aches for them to be under your wing again. LoL! We are funny people! :-D

I have sewn sitting on the floor, to the kitchen table, to a space in the bed room, where I came home one day from grocery shoping to find a note from my husband that he had to take the youngest son to the hospital, then 2, because he had pulled the machine down off the desk onto his head and was pinned under it. Fortunately nothing hurt. Lessons learned: lock on door, don't leave kids with husband has no idea what it means when they are very quiet. Got a sewing cabinet that the machine folds down into so when not in use it was not available to little hands, in case the door didnt get locked. Stash can be put in the rolling containers under a beds, rolls out easy access. You could install folding screens attached at the walls that could close off the area and locked when not in use, and opened and folded back when using the machine. A wall ironing board installed, with the timer is great as it closes up, if you iron in that area also, A table that the sides fold up/down into a much smaller table are nice if you have the room. Shelves installed over your area to hold books etc. or stackin kitchen cupboards to make a tall, one with child proof locks , in a small space think vertical. Hope this helps. DEB

This is just like home - sorry no photos to send - only difference is I am alone.

put an empty bobbin on your bobbin winder and the needle will not sew tiny fingers or just unplug it.

also, i never leave an iron on the ironing board. i always iron next to a counter top or a shelf to set the iron on. a crawling baby pulled the cord of a hot iron off a ironing board when i was young. it fell on his little hand and stuck. they did skin grafts from his little legs for years. i will never forget that. i have always set the iron up and away for safe keeping.

Hmmmm - just came out of the bathroom and started measuring the tub area to see how many shelves would fit in there....

My daughter says I have sewn in every room in the house, except the bathroom. I have fabric in everyroom except son's room but have sewn in there. My daughter is away at college so I now uses her room to sew but I also like sewing in the living room because there is so much more sunlight. I have not sewn in there since Christmas. I moved my sewing machine out to make space for the Christmas tree. I hate when people come to visit and they just stare at your sewing area so I have not put sew machine back in there. After reading your stories I will be sewing in the living room again.

I have sewing set up in living room in my small apt also my computer space just bought folding card table to put my feather weight machine on but it stays out I live alone so no worries about that one side of living room as my sewing other side ny small desk and computer works for me use to sew on dinning room table was glad when i found the folding table at thrift store

This is where I did all my quilting. Small room which
is my tv room and computer room.
Now I do all my quilting in the family room in the
basement. More room for sure!!!

I just have a corner of my bedroom, but room in the closet for my boxes of fabric. We learn to make do.

There used to be 13 of us in a mobile home, mom, dad and 11 kids. I used the dining/living room room table for sewing and cutting and would just set up every time. I had a display wall in my bedroom. The bedroom was off the dinining living room. I had a an ironing board that I would set up and take down set up in the bedroom. Under the bed were those plastic bins with fabric and I had also filled the dressers in the bedroom with fabric. Rulers, cutting mat and all that stuff was in a large tote. The sewing machine when not in use was packed up and put in the closet. It forced me to be super organized but there was no way I could leave anything out because of the kids. At that time they ranged from 19 to babies.