Keeping it Real

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

**WARNING: Be prepared to be appalled.**

I'm embarrassed, but welcome to my sewing room...


It's in need of a major makeover, as you can see.  It's a disaster and it's not working for me.  Notice: pig butt on the cutting table with a halo around it's neck.  I think that became a fixture in the room when my daughter decided to set up shop behind my design wall a month or so ago.  I remember her saying something about "needing decorations".  Enter pig.


Things are strewn all about; only making room for any immediate cutting or designing that needs to be done.  Things aren't getting put back in there homes.  Apparently my life is a whirlwind.


I'd like to introduce my "Mary Poppins" bag that I take to work with me.  There's probably 5 "in-the-works" projects in there.  Just keep digging and digging.  You'll find all sorts of stuff in there. 


One little thing that brightened my day today ~ I sat down to sew for a few minutes this morning and found this little surprise waiting for me.  Oh, Little Missy is such a sweetie...She melts my heart.


Right next to the sweet note is this mess.  Can you believe I've been working in this kind of environment?   Agh!!!


On the design wall?  A little Halloween something that I've been working on.  Just a sneak peak for now.  I'll show you more soon...


Gotta piece the back and then off to the quilter she goes!


You'll have to excuse all of the ugly pictures, but that's what's going on here today.  You might be able to relate all of this freaking out and procrastination to the fact that I have to teach a class tonight on "How to make Cake Pops and decorate cupcakes".  Do you think I have made cake pops before?  No.  Do you think I am a professional baker?  No.  Wish me luck...   

Any tips for keeping your sewing room in tip top shape?  Seriously.  I need help.  Anyone want to come over and give me a free makeover?  I guess I just need to set aside some time to clean.  But for now, I am off to decorate cupcakes for the afternoon.

Hope you have a wonderful day.
(And I promise, next time, I will be a much happier girl :)

~ Amber

25 comments:

  1. Make a new day.. Monday Makeover day, or Saturday Straighten day.. and the first thing you are allowed to do when you enter the room on Tuesday Tidy day is Tidy up the room.. no sewing until you do that chore on that day.. and once a week doing that before the fun should have your room whipped back into shape.

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  2. looks familiar! :)
    Creativity is a messy process I say...

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  3. Don't be embarrassed. Creative people are messy. At least that is what I tell myself. That's just the way we are!

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  4. Mine just goes wild all of a sudden & turns messy...it happens to us all! I love to tidy it up (this weekends job) but then I can'find anything!

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  5. No tips on the clean sewing space..at least you have one. Did I ever tell you that Kurt wanted to buy me a sewing machine for my birthday? my biggest problem was thinking I could never leave a project out. The only counter space any where is the kitchen table and counters....used daily actually pretty much hourly around here :)

    And BTW I LOVE the story about Blake and his super underwear powers!

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  6. That's nothing to be embarrassed about. I have a game room and a spare bedroom for my sewing, and I can wreck both rooms in just a day once I start pulling fabrics and whatnot. I try to focus on one project at a time (mostly), and about once every week or two, I do a massive overhaul/cleaning session. The more projects I work on, the messier I get and the harder it is for me to focus. Good luck with it. If you find the answer, send it my way.

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  7. Hey this looks just like my sewing/crafting room!

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  8. Your sewing room looks fine to me... not pristine... but pristine is a sign that someone has nothing better to do than clean house. Creativity can't happen in pristine...

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  9. My favorite quote that came from my BFF's grandmother was," If you are not making a mess, you are not being creative." :-) Show off your creative mess with pride!

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  10. Your room comforts me just a little. I have a 2 year old that loves to spend time in there with me, and then my nine year old decides its time to create a card and before you know it the whole process has snowballed on itself. I'm always amazed at how quick it cleans up and then I'm saying to myself "why did I put this off for so long?"

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  11. This just made me feel SO much better about the state of my own sewing room. I need to set aside some time to get it into shape this week!

    Also, Robert Kaufman has a sweet quilting App where you can enter the size of your finished block and it will tell you what size to cut your side setting triangles and your corner setting triangles. Plus lots of other great quilting math short cuts. I LOVE it. And it's FREE.

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  12. My sewing room isn't so bad right now, but it has been much worse than yours. Funny thing is, no matter how deep the mess is, I always know where things are. If I organize, I can't find a thing. Hey, I want to take your class. I've been dying to make cake pops.

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  13. I think the state of your sewing room is more normal than you think it is. ;D

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  14. Honestly, I cannot see the problem. Obviously, the room is being used for its intended purpose, and the piecing process gets interrupted periodically by things like the need to fix dinner. Big deal. My sewing room looks like this or worse most of the time. Usually I do the clean-up in between projects. When a project is in process, the space will be strewn with fabrics being auditioned, instruction sheets, empty spools of thread, scissors, ideas for the next project, fabrics to be pressed, etc. etc.
    I live here. I work here. I do quilts and quilting. I eat cupcakes. The front room of the house is tidy, but the rest is my workspace! Life is good.

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  15. My advice would be to edit! and organize that right away! this is your mother speaking here! lol

    just kidding....I love a room that is being used...and you look like you're pumping out the creativity from that room at a factory's pace!

    just start sorting...but never stop creating!

    ciao bella

    creative carmelina

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  16. "Before" is not as bad as you made it out to be. My theory is that organizing is a left brained activity and creating is a right brained activity. If I organize before I get into the creating it helps but don't ask me to keep it all tidy while I'm really creating.
    Can't wait to see the after.

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  17. I think my sewing/craft/office looks worst than yours. Of course right now it's filled with boxes and I have path in and I back out. I hope to finish unpacking this month. the saying that comes to mind is "You want me to be creative and neat" Not gonna happen. LOL Thanks for sharing

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  18. Ahhhh, but isn't that why they ask you to teach those classes? That way you'll learn LOL! Thanks for sharing your sewing room -- it's nice to know I'm not alone. Although, I don't have a pig butt!

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  19. Great post...my sewing room looks so similar...actually worse...so it's good to know I'm not alone, either!

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  20. Yes, I agree with the above comment, "creative is a messy process."

    I commented to Nate yesterday while he was perusing my studio, that it was extremely messy. Shocking, he said, "it looks organized to me." Weird. But that's coming from a guy who doesn't clean.

    Love creative messes!

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  21. Whoa - I thought that was tidy! How can you possibly work in such a tidy room????

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  22. This kind of messy is FUN! I'm glad to see someone else beside's me has a studio/sewing room that compares to mine, LOL!!! I think my mess means I'm that much closer to a finish :)

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  23. Oh my goodness that room is looking good...if thats as messes as it gets don't fret about it. That's when you can do your best work.

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  24. Ha ha! I can totally relate! I made a rule for myself after I gave my studio a little makeover...every time I finish a quilt I have to clean the whole room and put stuff away. It works like a charm when I actually follow the rule...it seems like I often find an excuse (like, oh that was just a mini quilt, it doesn't count) why I can just wait and clean it after the next one!

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  25. Just catching up on my blogs...I can't TELL you how much I love seeing a post like this! Thanks for being gutsy and letting us know that we who would rather sew than organize are not alone. Doesn't look bad to me, especially since you are a busy mama, etc. How did the cake pop demo go??? That's something on my bucket list, too. BTW I sew in my dining room, which is the only reason I clean it all up every so often.

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I ♥ to hear from you so please feel free to leave a comment. I read each one and try to respond as often as I can. Thanks so much for stopping by! ~Amber