Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The Newest Give Away – Quilt and Craft Room Inspiration!

In the QOB Yahoo group, we’ve been having a “Messiest Quilt Room” contest. I haven’t posted MY photos yet, but I’m sure they will contend with the “best of the mess” when I do! I know there are other messy quilt room/sewing areas out there! If yours is one of them, you need to enter our newest giveaway and get inspired!

From The InterWeave Store comes a magazine that will not only inspire you, but give you a peek into the studios of some very fine quilters and fabric artists.

studios Studios: Spring/Summer 2009

This is a 98 page magazine from InterWeave Press (publishers of the great Cloth Paper Scissors magazine) that is packed with ideas. It includes articles titled “Our Best 15 Spring Cleaning Tips”, “25 Inspiring Studios” and “Clutter Out – Creativity In”. There are also several do-able projects, such as making a memo holder out of an old metal dustpan or how to use a clothesline to hang your favorite creative inspiration pieces.

What I’ve enjoyed most in this magazine is looking at the many photos of studios of creative artists. Whether the studio is a separate wing to a house or a tiny cubby in the corner of the dining room, they will give you many storage and organizational ideas. Not every “big name” crafter and quilter has custom made cabinets! See for yourself! They store their pencils in coffee cans just like you do!

HOW TO ENTER

1. Leave a comment to this post and describe biggest hurdle in keeping your quilt room/sewing area organized – OR – what storage solution do you need to come up with? Be sure your email address is available in your comment! You must complete this requirement to enter the GiveAway.

2. For a second entry in this contest, post about this giveaway on your blog with a link to this post. Leave a separate comment with your blog address.

3. For a third entry into this giveaway, go to the InterWeave Store web site and view the Quilting books. Which book(s) would you most like to own?

THE RULES

  1. All entries must be submitted by midnight, April 24, 2009.
  2. All Entries must include a way to contact you via email.
  3. The winner will be selected by random on April 25, 2009, and notified by email. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email with their mailing address.
  4. This GiveAway is for U.S. residents only. (I’m SO sorry – but shipping internationally is just too expensive!)

WHEN IS THE NEXT GIVE AWAY?

That’s right – I said it. There’s another give away in the works. And you are going to want to come back often and check for this one. It will be announced sometime in the last week of April. The best way to remember this is join our Subscriber Club – errrr, I mean Subscriber List or become a follower. What? Did I just give away a clue??

41 comments:

Harley Dee said...

I seem to have such a problem with putting things away when I come home with new stuff. I tend to leave the bags lying around.. bad habit! :)

free indeed said...

My biggest hurdle is too much stuff in too little a space. I need more shelving to get things up off the floor and a place to 'hide' the clutter behind doors. My daughter thinks my sewing sanctuary is a catch all place, so she keeps dumping stuff that she no longer wants but thinks I might use. Arg. I just bought a new cutting table to begin a major cleanup. It has storage underneath (it's actually a media storage unit and the perfect height.) I am going to nab my daughter during spring break next week to help me paint. I want to go with a beachy color scheme...blue/white/green. So calming and serene...I'm going to love my sewing room if I get all this done! I'm hoping that magazine will give me added ideas for storing/decorating.

free indeed said...

Well, many of those books are still beyond me, although I would like to be able to do an art quilt someday. I liked the books: Fabric Leftovers and Kaleidoscope: Ideas and Projects. I'm a scrap lover and keep everything! (hence the messy sewing room). THat scrap book would have oodles of ideas for me!
freeindeed at myfairpoint dot net

Anya said...

My problem is keeping my scraps (and selvages) from overwhelming my sewing studio. Thanks for the chance.

Bebesboutique said...

Oh no I just cleaned my sewing Cave during spring break. I will have to dig through my pictures and see if I have one of before. I bought three of the see through three drawr plastic dressers on wheels from Wallmart to take care of most of my stash. I love it. I can see everything folded. I still need to find away to organize the scraps.

grendelskin said...

My sewing cave is my kitchen table! I do have a wannabe craft space, but it is also my office (I work from home) and my home library so I need to work around a large desk and loads of bookshelves. No room for a table, the ironing board creates a (thankfully moveable) obstacle all by itself. Like others, physical space is a big challenge for me.

Beth said...

My sewing space is getting a reno this summer, and I definitely need a better organization system for my fabric!

Beth said...

I would love any of the InterWeave Wool Felting books. I see such cute things made by felting but just haven't had the courage to jump in!

Kaye said...

Hopefully that book will give me some ideas. I have a section of our Family room. For my sewing I have a section of it, then patio doors and on opposite wall is my computer. If I could move the computer I could reorganize but have no where for it. My dtr & her 2 children live with us so space is at a premium. My e mail is kbartolotti @ yahoo.com

Tina said...

My biggest hurdle - is me! Meaning I need to be proactive and keep things organized. I have lots of options in my new room, but need to utilize and actually perform the clutter clean up!

tlbtap @ juno . com

Deb said...

I think I linked to my new blog.I' ll get this yet!
Deb

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

Please enter me in the drawing. The book I would like to own is Creative Quilting: The Journal Quilt Project. My biggest hurdle is the lack of space - I use the living room for quilting, and use my bedroom for storage, so I have to climb up and down the stairs, and tend to not put things away as quickly as I should. I could use a bedroom as a studio, but I would much rather work downstairs where the action is.

Michele T said...

My biggest problem is not having the space to set up a studio room with all my fabric, books, tools in one area. I am spread all over the house, upstairs, downstairs, and trying to keep things organized can be a bit of a nightmare... where did I put that.... oh well, as long as I can quilt, it doesn't bother me too much. It would be interesting to see how the pros are set up, maybe I would get some ideas.

Marilyn said...

I have to sew in my bedroom and I have fabric, under the bed, in the closet and in a stack of plastic drawers. I live in a apartment so I can't put up things on the walls and the floor space is pretty much full. I would love to see some ideas that I might use to get things more organized. I'm pastrymama1@yahoo.com

Marilyn said...

I would love to have the book Free Expression, it looks like it has so much interesting ideas in it. Thanks for the chance. pastrymama1@yahoo.com

Kathleen said...

I buy only small pieces of fabric, usually 1/4 yard, so that I have a larger "inventory" for applique and small quilts. Really,I do this for my *Budget*!--so I guess that's my big hurdle. But it's also a good way to become creative in quiltmaking. Another hurdle: Organizing those 1/4 yd. cuts which become smaller and smaller as I use them-I keep even the tiniest bits of scraps. Thanks so much. Kathleen/villagequilter@gmail.com

Kathleen said...

InterWeave Store is such an interesting site. I'd love to own: Accidental Landscapes. I've heard it's a great book (along with Art Quilt Workbook).
Thank you for this fun opportunity. Kathleen

Amy Sp said...

Amy Sparrow: I have such a hard time keeping my sewing area organized because it is my dining room table. So my kids have access to the area, which means I have to put everything up when I'm done, and get everything out before I begin, which uses up precious sewing time!
Thanks for the giveaway :)

Mott said...

My sewing room is now a detached garage my husband was generous enough to let me have. The only problem is: "it houses 3 Miniature Pinschers", all my gardening tools, some Christmas decorations (including one 12' tall Christmas tree in 3 separate canvas bags), a 13" TV, a laptop computer, and way too many other hobbies that I have all crammed in to a 20'x25' garage. Mix all that with someone who is not really organized and you have me! I would love to win! I can use all the help I can get! :)

Ginger said...

My biggest hurdle is me! :-) I am just not a very organized person. I have too much stuff that I hate to get rid of "just in case", but my quilting style has changed since I started quilting, so I have lots of fabrics in my stash that may never get used. I'm trying to be better about not buying fabric.

anetemso {at} gmail {dot} com

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

I need a better way to keep fabric close at hand, but organized. I have very little storage space.

Anonymous said...

I need to come up with a way to store all the supplies for ALL my "hobbies" -- quilting, embroidery, knitting, beading -- and still be able to find what I need. It can't be an impossibility, can it??
mapapolen at gmail dot com

Calamity Jane's Cottage, Bonnie said...

I start and stop so many projects, my sewing room is always full of projects waiting to be finished. Keeping everything together on that one project is my biggest hurdle and to be orgainized.
I'll post about you giveaway on my blog, thank you for having this.
Keep Stitchen'
Bonnie

Laura (rebusrebus@verizon.net) said...

Like many others, my hurdle is myself. I'm lucky enough have a room devoted only to my sewing, which would lead one to think that I'd keep it picked up and tidy...HA! Along with quilting I sew clothing for granddaugthers, and do machine embroidery; fabrics/notions/patterns for everything are jumbled together... Since the room isn't used for any other purpose I am able to simply walk out and close the door without having to pick it up or put things away neatly. Sigh... Once disorder starts it doesn't stop on its own.

Unknown said...

hola joan,
well, of course i NEED this magazine, i have THE messiest room ever because i am a slob. i really am. i just seem to hate to put things away behind something closed because out of sight is truly out of mind in my case. just this morning while cleaning off a surface, i found alot of my knitting needles hiding in that CUTE little un-see-through wooden wine box. i have been SEARCHING for those forever it seems. i need to learn how to store out in the open.

Anonymous said...

as for the books, i think i would like the felting one or the journaling one, but most of them are just a bit too artsy for my taste. i tend to be rather traditional in my quilting tastes.
i have to be anonymous because for some reason it will not let me change google accounts today, instead it is posting as my husband--and he has NO interest in quilting at all :o)

Betty J in OKC said...

My biggest problem is that my quilting fabric/UFOs are at the end of my livingroom, in an area the diningroom's SUPPOSED to be in. You can see my piles and stacks from the front door!!! (gasp) I also struggle with organization and energy issues.

sushi_noem said...

My biggest problem is that I've started to sew a lot more, but haven't committed a space for it. So when I come home with fabric, it just gets stuffed in one of many stashes.

Lindsay V said...

I have to keep it clean and put away which makes it hard to pick up where I left off. I'm hoping to get a room in my new house that is not as visible!

lindsmoore55 at yahoo dot com

Becky said...

My biggest challenge is working on more than one project at a time. I need to have a sytem where I put my project away when I stop working for the day. I also need an additional shelving system for my fabric.

The book from Interweave Press that caught my eye is Free Expression by Robbie Joy Ecklow. I also like the Beginning Art Quilts book by Jane Davila and Elin Wa.

I've read about this magazine/journal on other blogs. I even looked for it in a store. Would love to win a copy.

Many thanks!

nancy huggins said...

I am constantly organizing my sewing room only to find out that now I can't find stuff..I need a better way to sort all the tiny stuff and be able to find it. ANY help would be appreciated :)
You can contac me in my blog if I win the prize and just leave a comment in there. Thanks ...and I will be watching for a post from you (big smile)
Nancy Huggins

Anonymous said...

I just plain have too many supplies spread out and unorganized in my entire craft room. I never seem to be able to find anything, even though I know I have it. So I end up going out to buy more to replace what I can't find.

Thistle Cove Farm said...

A small, 3-tiered table is needed to organize my fabric. I have a small stash, very small compared to some, but it still threatens to get out of hand. Today, I'm moving my "new" 1971 Singer sewing machine to the house and my "old" 1956 green Featherweight to the studio. The Featherweight sewing table will take up more room but give me more room to sew.

mtsuz said...

My biggest storage solution is having everything accessible, visible and enclosed to keep out dust and dirt. Some sort of shelving that is tall would be the ticket with a lot of shelves to hold clear containers.

Great Giveaway!
mtsuz@yahoo.com

Joanne Lendaro said...

Storage of those beautiful cuts of fabric. I'm fairly new to quilting and don't have much of a stash, but what I do have is stored in tubs!! UGH!!! Seems like a crime to put all of that bautiful, colorful, soft fabric in tubs!! I can't see it, feel it or enjoy it!! That is a CRIME!!

Enjoy your blog, btw!! thanks!!
joanne

Joanne Lendaro said...

Posted on my blog....

http://splittingstitches.blogspot.com/

joanne

sharon said...

I just don't know where to start so I doon't get anything done. I can't find anything and I get so depress about it. My quilt material is just in piles . I need help!!
Sharon
sharonkearns@ymail.com

Joanne Lendaro said...

Wayt to suck me in!! Now that I've spent an hour and half surfing! lol!!

Fabric Leftovers: Simple Adaptable Ways to use Scraps
Or....
Creative Quilting: The Journal Project
Or....
Quilting ARts Gifts 2008 (2007 Would be good too!)

I have just created a new wish list!! haha!!

Thanks!!
joanne

Sara said...

Good question: What is my biggest problem? I thinkit is NOT putting things away when I have chosen something else. Or not putting fabrics away that I decided were NOT going to be the border. Or not putting things away when I come back from a workshop or retreat. Or not putting things away when I get back from the fabric store. Getting pretty clear on this? NOT PUTTING THINGs AWAY.
And then I have to clear off the counter in the kitchen and pile all those papers on top of my fabric in the sewing room.

Anonymous said...

My biggest challenge is to dig out of my stash what might work in a project then get it back to the container and back in the closet before I start working on the project. My sewing room always seems to have stacks of fabric ready to be put away ! Mike
russandmike@ori.net

Gari in AL said...

This is easy. My biggest hurdle to studio cleanliness is that I start a new project before I finish let alone clean up from the "old" one. gariquilts@aol.com