AliKat

Since my home is an open floor plan with 2 bedrooms I use the smaller bedroom as my studio. I removed the double door so I could watch TV, etc, as I sew [actually more listen than look.] Luckily I bought a beautiful Japanese folding screen I found at an estate sale to cover the door area, like only when I have non-quilting guests.

franklindixie

My first house, as tiny cottage really, had a large walk-in closet & a smaller but very tall space. The smaller space housed my sewing machine & the larger, my stash. It was perfect & always tidy behind closed doors

minibarn

We live in a single wide trailer, myself, DH and children ages 22, 18, & 17 and we all have a lot of stuff. I am like you in that I find myself being so overwhelmed w/the lack of working space that I loose the motivation to do anything. And like you all my stuff is basically boxed up. I have a shelf by my sewing machine where I can put the stuff I need for whatever current project I am working on and that has helped me out a bit.

Really enjoyed the closet tour, might need to use some of her ideas to make things more organized for myself.

Jaiade

Becky, how do you get in the recliner? Is the table your machine is on, on wheels? I have an all-in-one touch screen computer that I want to be able to use while sitting in an easy chair, but I can't find a table that is sturdy enough and movable(kind of like with a swing arm maybe) to hold the computer.

AmmaJudy

Wow! Fantastic ideas. It is also nice to know that others suffer from small space syndrome. Makes me feel like exploring more ideas to make it easier to sew. Thanks so much for all of the responses! What a great place to hear from everyone.

Austinite

I have a third of a small walk-in closet for fabric, batting, machine storage and I sew in my living room in front of a lovely large window. I love it, I have a 30x84 electric adjustable height desk and underneath it I've got my bins with my notions. Everything I need is in reach and I'm right in the middle of the action in my crazy home. I sewed for years on a wooden tv tray table with a couple of stacked boxes next to it as my sewing desk. What I have now is the nicest and largest setup I've ever had, I feel so lucky!

Kelsie

We retired about 1 1/2 years ago and decided to become snowbirds and bought a 36' motor home. My sewing machine stays up on the dinette table (27" x 40") when we are stationery. I use both the dinette benches to hold fabric or lay out newly ironed pieces, etc. My 12 by 18 cutting mat is on the end of the table behind the machine so I can stand and cut. The rest of the dinette holds a box with tools and rulers and often fabric. I work on one project at a time and have something tiny to piece for leaders and enders. I store my projects in the heavy plastic zippered bags that you used to get when you bought a set of bed linens, all the fabric for each project in it own bag. As I make a portion of a quilt I will store it in a zip lock and put it away. For example I have 200 finished "H's" but still need 88 more. I have only a few books and use the computer a lot for info and have a three ring binder that i use often for cutting instructions, patterns, notes on completed portions of a quilt, etc. I am resisting buying more fabric. I am making a pad for under the SM with an apron to hold the most often used tools. My bed or my couch back is my design wall. My ironing board is a 9" by 13" old wooden cutting board that has a small towel on it. I have three large baking trays. When making my log cabin I laid out the red strips on one and the cream on another and if need be put them together with the third on top. All tidy. When I was in Arizona I found a lovely group of ladies to quilt with. As my top got bigger I did some of my cutting (borders and binding) and ironing on their bigger tables and boards. I have one cupboard for fabric in the bedroom and two big straw baskets under the bed. I am lucky that my husband realized that it was important for me to be able to quilt and he doesn't mind eating on his lap most of the time. Sometimes I do clear the table so we can eat there. It is doable. I met another lady that has a sewing desk and a tall storage unit in the space in their MH bedroom that initially had two easy chairs. They bought that unit because of that extra 3' for her to sew in.