The Usual Mess

D.D. #2 commented on the pictures of my sewing room (post of June 4) how it just didn't look right without all the "colorful stuff".  Well, there was some truth to that.  I had just cleaned it up all spiffy, and there was nothing hanging around at all.  So I thought today when it was all cluttered up as per usual, that I'd be honest and show you what it usually looks like.  So here goes, from right to left:
My sewing machine amid: (on the floor) a sweater of Jim's that I made in 1990, and am currently reworking the cuffs and waistband.  Just beyond it is a scarf in process.  Hidden under the scarf is a sweater for myself that I started last fall.  Only the back is finished so far.  The other two objects there are just two totes, one I made, and the other one bought.  There's a clipboard there with a newspaper article I wrote concerning "Arts Alive", an organization that I'm involved with.  Hanging up you see a pieced jacket, a Country Creations design, that I made in 2003 that needs a lining (never got around to that.)  Out of sight behind the jacket is a suit of Jim's that needs a minor repair by a pants pocket.  See the little blue sweeper?  That's so very handy for whisking across the floor to pick up scraps and threads.  The blue and white object on the edge of the table is a wool winder, very handy for knitting, especially machine knitting.  Then you can see my cute little "flower pot" mug, brown just like a clay flower pot.  Beyond my sewing machine is a fishing tackle box that I use to carry my supplies, thread, needles, scissors, etc. when I go out quilting with a group.

To the left of all that is a small desk that 

I use as a base for pressing seams when piecing.  I have a small travel iron that works just super on all those little seams.  But there's no room for pressing here, since it's covered with (right to left) a jug of paint brushes, a container of fabric for making table toppers.  Then some material that I'm currently using to make table toppers, and unseen underneath all that is a watercolor painting of Jim pondering the next move as we build a greenhouse.

Under the desk is my portable sewing machine, and in front of that another container, with the lid propped in front, that I carry other supplies when quilting elsewhere.  I can see that I should get a much bigger wastebasket than the little wicker basket which is being overwhelmed here.

To the left on the floor is another wicker basket holding bundles of material from my last "gifting".   

Here's my cutting table in its usual condition.  There's one table runner on the cutting board, and another on the design wall.  Underneath the one on the design wall is the 1930's log cabin quilt top.  That top is finished!  It just needs the borders and then the rest of the "sandwich."  Extra strips left over from the log cabin are hanging on the wall.  There's an acrylic book holder open to the Log Cabin pattern, and a calculator and "sticky paper thread roller."  On the right of the cutting table is another box of fabric bundles from the "gifting."  Under the cutting table is my wheeled tote for transporting my good Janome.  And to the left is my beloved "EuroPro" pressing system.

Even that does not end the mess.  Next to the EuroPro is an antique dresser that holds odds 'n ends.  The drawers are full of sewing things: ribbons, shoulder pads, zippers, stiffeners, etc.  There are a few finished table toppers on top, and they are topped by a few cameras etc.  To the right is a box of cut up cards.  I reuse all greeting cards by writing shopping lists on the blank sides.

But just to prove that there is a calm aspect to this whole mess, here is a photo of what I look out on when I sit at my sewing machine:

I do love my sewing room!  And that's a good thing, because I spend a lot of time there.

When I wondered whether to make the 1930's Log Cabin bigger or make table runners from the left over strips, D.D. #1 commented (June 22) that she "highly recommends table runners, as she is still using the Christmas one I made for her."  Well, I took that seriously, and that's when the current rash of table runners got started.  I made the one on the design wall for her, but then found another fabric that I thought would look better in her house, so I made a second one.  That did turn out very nicely, but now I'm concerned that perhaps the background fabric is a little too yellow for her living/dining room.  The walls there are a deep beige called "raffia", so guess what? I'm starting a third one with a different, more beige, less yellow, background fabric.  Where will it all end?