Saturday, August 18, 2007

Fabric, fabrics


On Thursday evening I showed my DH Patti's photos from her new sewing room. He really liked the look and asked if I would like such cupboards in our master bedroom, where I store my fabrics and books.
We live near Ikea, so after work yesterday we went and bought the cupboards and DH put them up in the evening.

Here is how it looked before - last summer.

Since then I have also been gifted with fabrics for charity quilts, so I have had some fabrics in a box in the cloth closet and the shelves has been a little more filled.
Wanting to be able to reach fabrics without completely re-arrange everything, I will not fill the shelves to full, so all in all about 2/3 of my fabrics is now on the new shelves, with all my books and magazines, about half and half.
It would have been nice with one cupboard of each, but I am to short to use the higher shelves for fabrics comfortably.
I am only 5'3" and am often using a small ladder, but carrying it from the kitchen to the bedroom every so often is not tempting.


These boxes are full of scraps to small to be on shelves. The answer must be string quilts and scrap quilts galore the rest of the year ;-)

The bed roller is under the bed with a couple of the other boxes and the rest in on the cloth closet floor, so the appearance of the bedroom is light and tidy. The new cupboards gives 4" more floor space. It does make a great difference in a small room.
DH is smiling ear to ear!

A lot of the scraps are 10 years and older - time to use them and get them out of here.

I have been fairly good with the fabric diet so far this year, and I have used far more than I have bought, but I still need to be dieting for a long time.
A little snack here and there will be nice, with emphasise on little :-)

Come the new year I will take another photo to see my own progress. It is nice to be accountable. I have made a note in my calendar for 2008, February 18.
I recognize that I have fabric shopped a lot over the years and I know I have the backbone to cut back too :-)
I know that compared to some my fabric collection is not very big and compare to others it is. However, it is over my comfort level since I do not have my own sewing room, and I also know the best way to organize a fabric collection is to use from it.

I intend to have fun using from these fabric and scraps. You know me - I am in this for the fun. The minute it is a heavy duty I will take a break, promise!

I will start a double 4-patch quilt in brown and cream - coffee and cream - this weekend. We have been invited to a friend's 40th birthday in 2 weeks. A lap quilt will be a nice present and a bite of the fabric collection elephant.
You know how to eat an elephant, right ? One serving at a time :-)

24 comments:

  1. Looks great Hanne. Love the new Billy shelves.

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  2. Oh Hanne, they look absolutely marvelous! I can't believe how quickly you got them together and filled. I see you got yours with the extended height also. I didn't even know that was available until our IKEA catalog came a couple days ago and I saw pictures of it in the Billy section. I'm not sure my ceiling would have been tall enough for that - I like having the space on the top for display anyway. I know you'll absolutely love having these. I wonder who else in blogland will succumb to the temptation of new shelves?

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  3. Looking great Hanne. I wish I could rearrange my sewingroom. Have to think about that. Perhaps shelfs like this would be perfect.

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  4. Anonymous7:52 pm

    WOW, Hanne, this is GREAT ! (Will have to show these to DH as well !). This certainly helps to feel better (did you get rid of that bad flu ?) and to start stash busting again !
    Patti wonders who will resist to these handy IKEA shelves ? Well, to me the problem is certainly not - resistance - rather ROOM !
    Aaaah, a sewing room ! Who wouldn't dream of it ? I know I'll probably have one in the coming 2 or 3 years (when my youngest finishes at the university, and starts "the real life!" LOL) but I don't tell her, I don't want her to feel "pushed away"...
    In the meantime, I'm still trying to cope with my 5 shelves small library (in my bedroom) + 3 big plastic boxes... This sometimes leads me to buy 2 x the same fabric! LOL LOL. Well, at least, I don't buy too much... for the moment !
    ENJOY, dear !

    ((HUGS)) & smiles,
    NADINE

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  5. This really looks great, Hanne! Wow, you've got the cupboard I looked at the other day after the new catalog dumped into my mailbox!
    I wished it was my fabrics that were so organized! You're good!
    And good luck with your stashreducing projects!

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  6. Very nice and tidy!
    What kind of cupboards did you buy from IKEA?I am in the prosess of buying some myself....

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  7. Hei igjen! Ville bare si at jeg har lagt deg til på siden min! Håper det er greit!

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  8. what a wonderful DH! The new cabinets look great.

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  9. Hi Hanne.
    Fun to see that I'm not the only one reorganising my sewing space.... Doesn't it feel wonderful?? Really like your shelves with doors!!!

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  10. Patti sure started something with her remodeling and the IKEA shelves, didn't she? Yours are great. I wish I could talk DH into getting some for me. Maybe when we buy a new house I'll be able to get some.

    I agree with you - the minute quilting becomes heavy work, it's time to stop.

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  11. It's just wonderful Hanne, I love how it looks. It must be the week for organising sewing rooms, I've been working at mine too.
    *hugs*
    Tazzie
    :-)

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  12. your turn to have all past posts read and now I am caught up with all the lovely vacation and shopping and quilting/stitcheries you have been so busy with! Hanne, well done to inspire your dh to put up those shelves so quickly...and you did a wonderful job re-organizing. I look forward to seeing all the scrappy things you will be busy making as you use up those boxes of scraps!

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  13. The shelves look great! Everything is so organized!

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  14. The shelves are great and so neat too. I love my Ikea shelves but they are very messy right now because I've been pulling out fabric and stuffing it back without taking time to refold it.

    It was very scary to me when I realized how big my stash had gotten. I can't even use up the scraps and strings much less the larger pieces on the shelves!

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  15. Congratulations for yor new shelves. "Hanne's quilt corner" is looking better and better. By the way, I am a coffee woman so I'm curious to see your new four patch quilt.

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  16. Hanne, the shelves look fabulous! What a great idea! Everything is so neat and organized! You'll surely use your stash with everything so handy!

    Hope you're feeling better! (Hugs) for you!

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  17. Your fabric looks lovely in its new cabinet. WOW - you have a lot of scraps! Looks like you could be quilting a whole year with what is in the boxes ... have fun :)

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  18. The shelves look great! What a great husband you have, to suggest the project for you! My DH made a little step for me to reach the top of things. I'm the same height as you, and now it's no problem in our 5th wheel, but I couldn't reach any of the top shelves in the kitchen, the closet, anywhere, so having a little step stool in a couple of rooms was a real help.

    Your fabric looks great in the cabinets!

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  19. Gratulerer med flott sy-skap Hanne. Det ble lekkert. Organisert rot ser i grunnen mye flottere ut en saker gjemt i plastkasser

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  20. Hanne, Your new Billy shelves look fabulous. Bet your love being even more organized.

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  21. Love your new shelves, Hanne! A place for everything and everything in its place. VBG Good luck with the 40th birthday quilt.

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  22. I'm impressed. It looks very tidy. I will be buying some of those boxes to clear some of the fabrics I've safed. The are laying on a pile on the table now. Not a pretty sight. I can't fit anymore billy's into my study. I have Billy wallpaper :)

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  23. What nice new cabinets!

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  24. What a lovely job you've done organising your new cupboards. I hope you have happy times getting all your scraps under control.

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