You don't need everything to quilt. Most of us have way more than we need, me included. Buy extras on sale and as needed or wanted.

I know the instructions for cutting mats say to store them flat but, interestingly, in shops they are stored upright in racks. I keep mine in between two filings cabinets with just enough room left to slip them and two extra-large June Tailor rulers in.

You could get a couple of the under bed bins from a discount store & put things in them & just slide them under your bed. Out of the way, yet you can get quite a lot in them. Books & magazines can be put in the flat boxes that bottled water comes in, then slide it under a chair or couch. Where there is a passion for quilting, you will find a place to put your necessities. Good luck & have fun.

You can get a very flat plastic tub at Wal-mart for your little stuff to go under bed. Go to a thrift store and find a piece of furniture to repaint or varnish to match your dining room furniture for your machine and fabric.

thanks so much for all your suggestions! keep them coming!

i've asked my sweet, generous, understanding husband if he'd be willing to 'part' with the dining room so i can just make it my 'sewing room'...we don't even eat at the table, anyway! :) he said he'd think about it, so i'm hopeful since he didn't discount the idea completely. :)

it may take a few (or many) months, but i'll try to post pics once we have some progress made!

i don't remember who it was that posted the link to the blog of the lady in NYC and her sewing area, but that was a great link! got my inner cogs clicking, so thanks!

is there any who would be willing to post pics of your own space? even if it's big and you have a whole room, i find pics most inspiring...just curious... :)

We have always lived in a small space. I have become very good at getting lots of things in here without looking junky. We also raised three kids here. Our oldest Granddaughter lived with us after all the kids left and years later. She moved out last March and I turned her room into my sewing room.
I don't have a design wall. I do like someone else posted, lay it out on my bed and number the rows and blocks and sew them together.
I used a 6" x 24" ruler to fold my fabrics on and stack on shelves. Under the bed boxes are great. You could buy bed risers at Walmart to raise your bed, makes it easier to get in and out of bed too. You could maybe stack two boxes high, you would then be able to store fabrics and all other quilting items. My sewing room is the largest room we have with two large closets.
As you gather ideas and use your imagination you will be able to come up with a workable set up. Years ago I stored extra blankets and quilts between the mattress and box springs. I donate anything I no longer want or use. I can't stand a messy home.

Don't forget that you can use hanging shoe holders that hang from the back of doors for tools, scraps, materials, etc.

There are a lot of ladies on here who have posted their sewing spaces. Even some of the guys have posted theirs. I also look and save to my pictures and then when my room goes up next spring I am going to use a lot of those ideas for my area. I plan on getting some of the top cabinets and using them on the floor with a counter on top. I have several large cutting mats that I can lay out and have with works in progress on them and cut as needed without moving and putting stuff away. I also plan on having bookshelves with my fabric on boards in the back end of my room which I would like to have built as 14 or 16 by 25. My house is 25 ft wide. I figure I could just as well go out an extra 4 ft and make sure I have enough room for all my machines and tables.

Wow! Thanks for posting this site. There are some really great ideas here. She makes me feel a lot better about the downsizing in my future. She still has plenty of supplies in a smaller space.

Got a sewing table-yay! It folds up if I want to put it away. Dining room is getting reorganized, but it's working out. I'm excited! We're working on the "design/basting wall" plan still, but I'm confident it'll be great. And I'm SUPER excited to be able to have my machine set up all the time (that I'm working on projects) and still be able to use the dining table for cutting. :-D I'll post pics when I get it rearranged...probably this weekend... :-)