My sewing corner and stash

I want to share my sewing 'handicap', LOL. It's where I sew. I actually feel blessed because just this past year, my husband encouraged me to buy a sewing cabinet. And it has been a HUGE blessing. I finally have a semi permanent place for my machines and to sew. The downside - it's in a small corner of my bedroom. 

I do not have big tables around me to hold a big quilt. I don't have a design wall. But I do have a little space just for my sewing. It's an incredible improvement over hauling my machine out of the closet to sew on our dining room table. Then having to haul it back before we could set the table and eat. 

The picture above is right before I closed shop for the day. I keep it semi closed when not sewing, so I can walk around our bed, LOL. I did say it was a small corner. While sewing, I move the serger to the left and put my sewing machine front and center. It does not fit down in the cut out area. I found my cabinet on Craigslist, used, for a great price. Hubby has said he will cut the hole bigger but hasn't had time yet. 

This is my main machine. I bought it used from a sewing shop in Oklahoma City. It is a Babylock Ellure. It does embroider, which I thought was amazing at the time but now I am less excited. It costs money to buy new designs. And all the different thread colors. Plus since my kids are growing up, embroidered clothes are not as cool. It still sews great, so I am a happy girl. 

This is my super handy dandy Brother Lock Serger 1034D. I bought it for about $200 on Amazon and I love the thing! All I do is serge seams with it so far but it has revolutionized my life. I have made purses and rice bags in addition to serging every clothing seam I can get my hands on. It took me a while to learn to thread it but it was worth the frustration. 

I did have an old Singer in a wood cabinet handed down to me from my grandmother in law but we lost it and my first Singer machine in a house fire. You don't realize how much you cherish simple tools until you are without them. My Babylock was not in my house at the time, thank goodness. I bought the Brother serger to take some of the load off of the Babylock.  

I also lost my fabric stash! I mourn it endlessly. I really got bit by the desire to quilt this past fall 2012. Money was earmarked for Christmas and other projects, so I have been patiently waiting to get past the holidays and start building a new stash. I have a small shoebox, half full of scraps from some garments I have made since the fire. But not enough! Can you tell I'm a little overly dramatic when it comes to fabric? 

  

This is my growing stash. I am planning in participating in a few quilt alongs this year, so I am rushing to find enough inexpensive fabric to create a quilt that is somewhat cohesive and pleasantly colored. I say inexpensive because the rising price of fabric over the past few years has really upset me. I miss fabric for $1 a yard. When I find sales, I stock up. In the meantime, I am still raising kids which is way more expensive than any other hobby. 

I wanted to get organized, so I stacked and listed what I have in my stash. Next will be sorting, matching and deciding which fabrics to use in which quilt along. So far, I have ...
27 yards of patterned cotton (1 yard pieces)
14 yards of solid color cotton (2 yard pieces)
1 yard of a unicorn fabric that I bought to fussy cut into charms maybe?
6 yards of horse patterned fabric (3 pieces - 1 yard and 2 of a yard and a half)
5 yard sized horse patterned panels to make wallhangings or add blocks to make a bigger quilt

Have you noticed my love of horses yet? I ran a horse rescue for several years, placing over 500 horses. I still have 7 rescue horses and 1 rescue donkey here on our almost-ranch. 

I have a great start on my fabric stash, though I noticed I need to add colors that are NOT blue toned. Another favorite of mine. They will all get used as I dive into the quilt alongs. I also have a new formal to sew for my youngest daughter. I'm sure we all juggle sewing projects. I'm delighted that she still wants me to make her a formal. Let's get sewing!