Monday, April 13, 2015

Chotskies


I consider myself to be a pretty tidy person, unless you're including the pile of clothes on the floor in front of my closet. Which doesn't really count, because I don't want to talk about that, much less blog about it. So, back to me being tidy, I realized it had probably been over ten years since I "really"cleaned out my studio.
 CHOTSKI? 
What is a Chotski and why on earth do I have SO MANY of said items??
Defined in the Urban Dictionary as:
Generally useless crap of little or no value. UH OH.
So it began, a good two weeks of literally taking down everything off of my walls, out of my drawers, shelves and under surfaces. I have a full garage full of bags of priced garage sale Chotski and a bag full of E-bay Chotskies. 


Bag of Ebay Chotskies
I have a great studio space, it is 300 square feet and I have no reason to complain....BUT with a 
12' long-arm table I have to admit the space is tight and the way it was previously set up was very dysfunctional. The first thing I did once I got all of the useless crap off the walls was add two new design walls. There are many great design wall tutorials on the web, I used Katies tutorial found here.

Insulation board


Below you'll see the two spots ready for design walls


I also moved the collapsible cutting table from its previous location and replaced it with my sewing table seen below in its new location. The sewing table has a removeable back piece that I hope to be able to add if and when I am able to move my Gammill back a few feet and/or get a 
10' instead of 12' table.


Clean!

This area still needs some work, that tiered shelf was a very stupid purchase on my part and a terrible waste of space. Shelves to match my thread storage are on someones honey do list. That will open up a lot more storage for....fabric, of which I obviously need more of.
The cutting table opens quite easily and I can store the cutting mats on the back of my long-arm when I need to close the table.



OK so there's still Chotskie sitting around but a lot less.


Still some creepy dolls. 



And as always, I am beach rich.


I love my new design walls the most, and this is a great cutting station, I had previously been using this table as an ironing table in the corner where my new cutting table has a gone.



From the view below you can see my thread wall and the top shelves where I store extra batting and rolled quilts. My WIP's are in the white cardboard Ikea storage bins and below is a hanging rod where I previously stored customer quilts. I hope to push the Gammill back into that space and open up the area for my domestic sewing machine a bit, we'll see. The fabric you see in this picture is my entire stash, for me less is more, I get overwhelmed by too much. Weird I know.



On my design wall is the Bride of Frankenquilt, meet Frank here and here. He needs a bride and I hope that what you see here will become just that.



Here are my thread shelves with a bit of room for more fabric.



Not bad for two weeks worth? I still haven't had the garage sale but everything is priced and I still haven't listed everything on Ebay, but soon. If you are interested in checking out my studio before the changes you can look at my Studio Spotlight post here. Honestly, it's not a whole lot different just a LOT LESS CHOTSKIE and new design walls.

Happy week everyone!!

14 comments:

  1. Your studio looks amazing! I would love to get the over head lighting for my Gammill. Thanks for sharing your space.

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  2. I'm going to come buy all of your stuff.

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  3. So nice to see your studio :) I'd like to move my frame too but I'm not up to squaring/levelling it all perfectly for the computer... I have a space behind the machine so I can walk around the back easily but realistically it could be against the wall and id have more studio space. I also set up my DSMs in a side room so I can shut the door when clients visit. I'd love to buy swanky new furniture and paint but I'll be patient for now :) I also can't bear to part with anything...

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  4. I, too, am cleaning up a super messy quilt studio. I have a smaller room, daughter's old room, but my long arm lives in the dining room! I have set a goal to have it all done and cleared and beautiful by the summer!

    Love FrankenQuilt! I have a few of those!

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  5. It's spelled "tchotchke", FYI.

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  6. Now you're just showing off with the consistent blogging thing ;)
    Your studio looks amazing!! Well done, you. xoxo

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  7. Wow! I loved all your stuff, and your space before, but this looks great. I'm just learning how to rid myself of stuff too. Great job. I bet you feel more 'free'.

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  8. IT Looks fantastic - I want a room like this too ;-). I sew in my living room, always a mess though ....

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  9. It's looking good. I have my long arm pushed against one wall and that works fine for me. I love your new design walls, I bet you are feeling more productive already.

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  10. Awesome clean out!!! SO great to have all of that design wall space, too.

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  11. Love your studio! I'm pondering a new design wall now, thanks for the link. I have just under 270 feet; the room formerly known as the dining room. LOL, no dinner guest for the last 12 years here. Thanks for the pics and all the great ideas. LOVE your quilting.

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  12. Love your sewing table! Could you please tell me who it's made by? Thanks.
    valekort at yahoo dot com

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