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Scraps of Wisdom

MY NEW SEWING ROOM

by Eleanor Burns, Quilt in a Day

I have lived in my home in Carlsbad, CA, for over 30 years. It is very convenient, only about five miles from Quilt in a Day. Over the years I have made very few remodels, I was never home long enough!

The house is a tract home, with two small bedrooms, an office, and master bedroom. My oldest son Grant moved out on his own in 1995 so it was just my youngest son, Orion and me. For years Orion urged me to knock down the wall between the two small bedrooms and make one big room for him. Orion moved out in 1999, nine years ago and I never did let him knock down that wall.

My mother came to live with me in 2001 and was in poor health. Due to my extensive travel schedule, I had round the clock care givers for her. Mother was in one bedroom and we converted my sewing room back to a bedroom for the caregiver. I still needed my office at home so the only place left for me to sew was at my Quilt in a Day sewing studio. Mother passed away in 2007 and suddenly, I had an empty nest.

Orion wasted no time in getting a crew over to my house and by the end of the day, my sewing room doubled in size. My contractor installed wood flooring, oak double entry doors from the hall, and oak curtain rods and a window shelf. The 8’ sliding closet doors had been removed from both closets by the boys years ago, so I had wide shelves installed to hold my collection of quilts. Orion framed and painted pegboard and hung it up so I could hang up all of my rulers for easy use. My small flat screen television and computer were moved into the room so I could work on techniques, write and edit as I sew.

Like all quilters, lighting is very important to me. I had track lighting installed in a U-shape around the room with a dimmer switch, to flood the room with light. I bought a new cutting table at just the right height to minimize back pain when I am cutting my strips. It is wonderful!

On the cover of my book Christmas At Bear’s Paw Ranch you will see a fold out sewing cabinet that I purchased several years ago and have never been able to use. It is now the main feature in the room along with an antique library cabinet. The crowning glory to the room is the design wall. It is simply automobile headliner fabric glued to sound board (similar to cork board).

A sewing table that Grant made for me years ago is also in the room for my daughter-in-law to sew. And, of course, I left plenty of floor space for my granddaughter Ellie to play while we are sewing.

I want to encourage you to not give up hope of having a quilting or sewing room. It took me nearly 30 years, but my dream finally came true.

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Eleanor Burns has written and published over 70 books on quilting. She has been teaching and entertaining a national audience with her Quilt in a Day series on public television. In addition, she has a retail quilt shop, wholesale and retail mail order business, and a retail Web site. For details, call 1-800-777-4852 or visit www.quiltinaday.com.

Reprinted from Quilting Now, May 2008