About time!

Due to moving house  have had a long break from blogging - but I hadn't quite realised how long. It has been almost two months and even my sister is on my case. Last night she called and told me she was fed up with looking at my last post and could I get on with something please? 

The problem is, I have been so busy with the house move that I haven't actually made anything for a long time. My fabrics and equipment were all packed up in boxes and I didn't have the time or place to create - until now!

With lots of help from my family I have finally got my new studio up and running. It has been exciting watching the shabby garage gradually being transformed into a studio and I am absolutely itching to get started on creating something new. I have a list as long as my arm of projects I need to get on with - but as yet, nothing concrete has been planned. I have lots of ideas that all need to come out of my head and onto paper and fabric.

So here is how my studio looks......................that pile of fabric on the table........... watch this space!

Most of the furniture has come from IKEA - and was reasonably priced and very practical. With a bit of lateral thinking several pieces of furniture have been combined to create a cutting and work table, a mobile ironing table, an office desk, sewing tables and storage. 
The walls have been lined with floor insulation and are in the process of being covered with felt to make large design walls and a place for my work to be photographed. 
The lighting (not quite finished, as one of my lights has been 'transferred' to another project in the house...) is also from IKEA - in the form of a dimmable LED light box. The unit I currently have over the sewing machines produces a clear bright white light with no shadows. I need to buy another to mount over the work table to complete that part of the project. 
My pride and joy is the work table with the biggest cutting mat I have ever had. It is a single piece of colourless transparent 'stuff' (not sure what it is really) that will allow me to cut large pieces of fabric in one hit, without the need to jiggle smaller cutting mats about. I have put a grid underneath it to form guidelines. It wasn't the cheapest thing on my wishlist, but it fits the table top perfectly, and I love it.
The part of the project that is the least impressive in the photos, but probably the most important of all, was the transformation of the floor. Being an old garage it was rough, pitted and very uneven. After being partially screeded and painstakingly smoothed I chose a really hard wearing lino type product to cover it and it has transformed the crummy garage into a clean and tidy studio.

I have made it feel like 'home' by hanging two very special pieces of art on the only wall that isn't being used for storage or designing. The first is a painting by Sue Van Staden, a very dear friend whom I miss greatly. I just love it and I'm so glad I can look at it as I work. The second is a fabulous piece of textile art that I received just a few weeks ago from the 'Portrait Shuffle' that took place at this year's Festival of Quilts. ( laurakemshall.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/the-portrait-shuffle.html )
Thanks to the efforts of Annabelle Rainbow and Laura Kemshall (and, I am sure, a huge team of others) I now have a new friend and a portrait of someone very special to her. Thank you Fiona Bailey for your fabulous portrait!

Original artwork by Sue Van Staden and Fiona Bailey

So, I am ready to get to work. It is pouring with rain today, so I think I will have a busy day in the studio.

​Thanks for reading.

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