Treasures from the Coast

We traveled to the coast last week to enjoy a little getaway during Spring Break (photos at the end of the post). While we were there, we visited a really cool antique store in Arroyo Grande, CA. I spotted this cool aqua toolbox and fell in love. Unfortunately, it just wasn't in my budget. I happened to mention it to my mother-in-law's boyfriend and he happened to point it out to her when they visited the antique store later in the week. And guess what? She bought it for me as an early birthday and Easter gift. I've been so excited to set it up in my sewing room to hold some of my tools and treasures. The star quilt will need to move up a bit so it's not blocked, but I just couldn't wait to share pictures so here you go. Imagine the quilt is moved up a bit, okay?  : )

The top shelf is the perfect size for my thread stash. 

The middle shelf is now home to my rainbow of buttons and the bottom shelf is organizing my next projects. 

 I just think it's such a fun and funky way to organize some of my sewing stuff! Thank to you my mother-in-law - you made my day!

More coming soon - I've been crafting a bunch, but a lot of my projects are gifts and can't be posted for a few more weeks. 

Sewing Machine Cover

Yesterday I used my leftover pieces from this block to make myself a sewing machine cover. Slowly but surely I am adding more and more vintage sheet goodness to my 

beloved sewing room.

This star is made with half-square triangles and stipple quilted with white thread. The entire cover measures about 26.5" long and about 18" wide. 

The back is plain white cotton, but with the stipple quilting, it looks pretty fantastic on it's own. There's something so lovely about plain cotton that has been quilted, isn't there? 

I made simple ties on each side to keep the cover in place. (And I think I need to work on my "pretty bow tying" skills!).  : ) 

I think it's a nice addition to my favorite room of the house!  

This Weekend's Crafts

Hi y'all! Hope you are having a lovely weekend! I've worked on a few little projects this weekend that I thought I'd share. First, more string blocks... I've received 6 blocks from my friends in the Bee Vintage group and I've made 6 blocks. Half-way there!

I also made this little pennant banner with some of my favorite prints. I wanted something to dress up my plain white window valance in my sewing room. This was a fast little project and I am happy with how it turned out. (The Inspire word art was a gift from my husband a few years ago - purchased from Pier 1). 

I also started a project for Christmas. Christmas? Yes, Christmas. I saw an idea on Pinterest that used a house key as an ornament. I found our first key to the forever house we finished this Summer. This was the first key we were given by the builder. I painted it gold and then covered it in gold glitter nail polish. I have more plans for it, I'll share once it's complete. The lightbulb may or may not actually end up on our tree. It's just a burnt out nightlight bulb that happened to be on the kitchen counter when I started painting the key. 

Can you believe it? 99 days until the end of the year!

A Tour of My Sewing Room & Office

I am so grateful that the house we built has a designated space, just for me. I've spent the last six years sewing at our dining room table. It's so nice to have my own room and be able to close the door to keep my children out of my projects and sharp sewing tools. 

I've been promising pictures for a while, so here we go... welcome to my sewing room & office!

To the right of the door is my computer and desk. This is where I run my portrait photography business and where I am blogging from right now! The top shelf holds supplies for packaging my photo DVDs and some antique cameras I've collected. The bottom shelf has some decorative items and more office supplies. 

On the wall next to the computer desk is my large hutch. This baby holds a lot! I have photo boxes with current sewing projects, rulers, supplies, and lots of goodies in this cabinet. Hanging above it is my Vintage Neighborhood quilt. 

On top of the hutch is my favorite red "rotary" phone and lots of little jars with misc. sewing supplies - safety pins, binding clips, ric-rac, lace, and embroidery thread. I got the aqua doilies on clearance at Michael's for 25¢!

This vintage-looking trio of baskets is actually from Hobby Lobby. It's currently holding new fabric that I haven't put away, and current projects - Farmer's Wife blocks and the quilt my daughter is making.

The view from my sewing machine...... 

This is to the left of the window - it's my original Singer sewing machine that I made my first many quilts on. On top is my rainbow button collection. 

... and the button collection that started it all. 

This little cabinet holds odds and ends - more office supplies and a lot of my camera equipment. On the wall above it is a collage of about 30 of the quilts I've made. Since I give most of them away, it's nice to have something I can look at and remember some of my favorites and who they've gone to. In the small frames next to it are some of my favorite vintage sheet prints. 

And on top of that cabinet are a couple of antique jars - one holding fabric selvedges and one holding clothes pins (which I use for everything under the sun!). The little frame says "A day comes when you say 'love' and you mean 'for life.' May 24, 2003." This was the favor from our wedding. 

And perhaps the best part of my sewing room & office? My giant walk-in closet. It's 7.5 x 6.5 feet and it's quickly becoming my happy place. We bought two Expedit shelves from Ikea to organize all of my treasures. 

This little red cart is one of my favorite things. I'm currently using it as a library cart for some of my favorite craft books. I love it. 

On the large shelf is all kinds of stuff - photo equipment, office supplies, books, computer equipment, cards, yarn, old magazines, binders with patterns in them, current misc. projects, and lots and lots and lots of old photos. The top shelf are more boxes that need to be unpacked - more old photos, yearbooks, and some holiday decor. One of the best things about this giant closet is it means very few of my things remain in the garage. I always hated seeing my yearbooks or other sentimental items out there in the heat and cold and moisture. 

I have a lot of knitting to do!

These boxes are all empty - waiting to hold some of those old photos. I want to go through and sort them by year so they won't be so haphazard. I, of course, have our family photos in albums out in the living room. These boxes are either old photos or duplicate copies of what are in the albums. Even so, it annoys me that they are so out of order.

The other side of the closet has a smaller Expedit shelf. This is my "fabric vault." The green bins on the top shelf hold quilt batting and pillow forms and gift wrap. The plastic drawer on the left side hold scrap fabrics, sorted by color. The backet on the right holds vintage linen scraps. 

Next to the green bins is my childhood baby - William. I adore this cabbage patch kid and keep him up high and out of reach of the kids. Some things mommy just isn't ready to share!

The fabric shelves are sorted by age - vintage linens and newer fabrics. Then sorted by color. Fat quarters are folded in front and larger pieces are stacked behind them. When I am pulling for a project, I sit on the floor in there and count my blessings - I am so lucky to have my own space!