my special room

Some people call their special room a "sewing" room, some call it a "work" room, but I like to call it my "play/work/sewing" room because that's what I do there. On my table I can "play" with my fabrics until I get the combination I like. Then, the "work" begins as I decide how to use my choices; the planning, cutting, and finally - the "sewing" kicks in.


My play/work table is in the center of the room which makes it easy for me to lay out the all the quilt parts as I prepare to baste the finished top. At the time this photo was taken I obviously had a lot of "stuff" on the table including a small wall hanging ready to be delivered. The table is also handy to use as under the counter storage. The hand-crafted quilt frame under the windows always has a quilt in it and is at the only wall long enough to accomodate the queen-sized frame.
There is an interesting story about that quilt frame. In September 1980 we were still grieving over the sudden tragic death of our 16 year old son, David, and his two cousins early in June. My DH saw a notice in the paper about a Mennonite Quilt Relief Auction to be held the last Saturday in September and knowing my love of quilting he made plans for us to attend. The auction is held each year with all proceeds going to aid third world countries. Walking through the aisles of quilts was awesome and I made notes in the booklet provided for bidders. Naturally, I saw several I would like to bring home and finally decided on one in particular. In the meantime, before the auction began, we looked over other items up for bid and that is when we spotted this beautiful hand-crafted cherry quilting frame. DH looked at me and asked "Do you want the quilt or the frame to make your own quilts?" Well, naturally, I wanted the frame and soon I was the proud owner of this frame. We later found the maker and took his picture. He told us that he only made two. One for the auction and one for his mother-in-law, as one day his wife would inherit that one so he didn't need to make one for her. Each major piece is numbered for easy assembly and one of the crossbars also has the date it was made. The first quilt I made on it is the one I use to curl up with on the sofa in the winter time as I watch TV. It is a simple pin-wheel but one I treasure for the memories it brings me.


As you look at this corner of my room you can see strips of fabric hanging on the back of the closet door as well as some of my thread storage. Next to the corner wall you will see some of the 'old' DMC thread boxes that were given to me when a shop owner chose a newer way to display her threads. My tatting threads and perle cottons are located here. My floss is in the 60 drawer metal box I purchased in the hardware department at Wal-Mart. Believe it or not the telephone for this room is the old rotary style; and, one day when one of my GDs was visiting, she wanted to call her mother to ask a question and I told her she could use that phone and we wouldn't have to go downstairs. She looked at the phone with a very puzzled look on her face and asked "Grandma, how do you use this phone?" Well, I had to laugh and then showed her how to dial. She just shook her head but made her call.


On top of my bookcase (the top two shelves hold quilting books, the third is for knitting and the fourth holds my Hardanger books in binders) you will see three Barbie dolls........ I need to get two more as I have five granddaughters. The doll on the left is wearing a tatted bridesmaids dress and hat and is for my oldest GD. The doll in the center is wearing a crocheted cowgirl outfit with thread fringe on the bottom of the skirt. She is for the GD (#3) who didn't know how to use the rotary dial telephone. The doll on the right is wearing a knitted metallic thread evening gown with a mohair 'fur' stole (also knitted) and is for my second GD. The framed picture on the left is needlepoint and I don't have a close-up of it at this time. Also, my first beading is done on this piece. The piece on the right is not a needlework piece but a gift from a very special niece who has just been diagnosed with cancer.


As my machine is always open and ready for a good sewing session I decided to make use of the open space for fabric storage there as well. You can't see it in this photo but sitting on my original Singer sewing machine is my serger. There is also an Ott light, which was a freebie at the time of the serger purchase and serves both machines quite nicely. I do hope one day to own a floor model Ott light. The 'odd' looking object in the photo on the right is the stool cover that I did in needlepoint. The cover for the stool of my originial machine was plastic and with constant use finally cracked, so I had to replace it. I wanted something bright, cheerful and very different from anything I had previously done, and the abstract sunflowers seemed to fit the bill. Thus ends the tour of "my special room".