Thursday, February 20, 2014

Chicago Studio

While I'm unpacking from a wonderful trip home to Kansas City and Lawrence and packing for a trip to Albuquerque, I thought you might want to see some pictures of the studio in Chicago.  It's taken me much longer than expected to get it organized and working the way I want it to.  I think a larger space is tougher to organize.  I hope the pictures give you a sense of the space.  My studio is organized for work and filled with things that are special to me or that inspire me.

The studio is the lower level of our condo and it is three spaces in one, office, studio and our family room.  

I like an organized space, but understand, I vacuumed for you so there are no scraps or thread on the floor.  I cleaned for the photo shoot and the closet doors are closed so you can't see what's shoved in there!

Enjoy!































66 comments:

Paula said...

woooooowwwwww :D

Marija said...

Jackie, I just LOVED having a glimpse into your creative space and it is just beautiful!! Inspiring in itself, really. Had to laugh about being hard to organize a bigger space - I thought it was just me being weird? I recently moved from my "closet-size" little space into a smallest of kids bedrooms (as they move out slowly...) and thought "yay, more space" and I still don't have it organized as I want to... besides inspiration, you gave me some great storage ideas - like hangers on the wall for tops to be quilted - love it! Not to mention all IKEA stuff... Thanks for the lovely post!

Marija said...

oh and forgot to say that I specially loved seeing the most important and most beautiful part of your studio - BRUNO!! What a lovely face! :)

Mary said...

What a fun blog post. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Amazing space! So inspirational!

Anonymous said...

I particularly love your yoda holding the mini quilt!

Diane Maxwell said...

I see that we share a love of lime green. And yoda. I'm moving in, be right over. :D

KellyS said...

Wow that is amazing. Just gorgeous! I pinned it. We are currently looking for a new house and I hope to have a space for my crafts. A room with a view would be amazing!

Sharon said...

Your space is awesome!
I feel inspired to go tidy mine up!

em's scrapbag said...

Such a beautiful and inspiring space.

Unknown said...

I love that your sewing is in front of the window, I love the sun coming in and shinning on me and the ability to glance outside and see what is happening in the world. I agree a larger space has more areas to organize. Thanks

Laura said...

Oh my goodness, what a gorgeous space! Inspiring. I'm turning green with envy! :)

Irelle said...

Loved seeing a glimpse into your creative space. Gotta love IKEA! I wish I had more wall space for quilts as your walls are truly an inspiration! It's fun seeing all the personal touches that make the studio truly yours. Thanks for sharing.

Anne-Marie B. said...

Wow! Very inspiring! I love the idea of the kona card display! I have just the perfect spot to do the same thing! By the way, I am your biggest fan! Just watched your craftsy class for the second time last night - one of my favorite movie to watch while quilting or doing hand embroidery!

Andrea R said...

Much sewing, you will do. ;)

Pat said...

Wow, you have some serious stash there! And you are so organized! Hugs to sweet Bruno. :)

Little Island Quilting said...

Looks like your cleaning skills are at the same high level as your quilting. Kudos!

coastal gray said...

Can you tell us why you choose the brother machines.... Unless you already have..... Thank you

Paula said...

Makes me want to pack up the featherweight and come sit on the floor and sew with you! Love the brightness and the bright colors! Miss you!

Charlotte said...

ohhhhhh! What a wonderful space!! Have you got room for a diminutive Englishwoman?

MalinisQuilts said...

WOW! Beautiful place. Love all the quilts decorating the space. You have some fun organizing going on there. Wish my studio looked like this.

Unknown said...

Amazing - I wonder if you'll get an audience at the window when you are creating someday? I know I'd be there (in the summer though)

Anonymous said...

It's so nice and light and I am seriously jealous of your fabric stash...

Sherri Lasky said...

Thank you for letting us see your studio. Please tell me it gets messy from time to time. Please.
It doesn't matter, I just love seeing ways other quilters organize their stuff. I think I do ok and then, oh, that's a good idea, why didn't I think of that. The littlest thing can make a huge difference. LOL.
Thanks for sharing.

Alejandrina said...

Well, if you ever needed to switch careers -- obvious nonsense -- you could be a sewing space designer. Thanks for the peek.

stitchinpenny said...

So glad you are in and the stresses are over. I just can't believe it is that neat.

Helby said...

Beautiful! I'm so jealous

Kristin said...

I covet that Lego VW bus.

Unknown said...

Love your sewing space.....it was fun to see you hanging fabric and WIPs via pants hangers because I do that too! Give your lab a pat from Comma (our Black Lab)! :-)

S Staum said...

It fits you perfectly!! SO bright and cheery! And of course, every sewing studio needs a Yoda!!

Live a Colorful Life said...

I love every single inch of this space. And the pops of lime and orange!

Missenota aka Kristin S. said...

I like your metal basket for starch and stuff. Mine's just a cardboard six-pack. ;)

Mego said...

If this quilting gig doesn't work out you could DEFINITELY hire yourself out as a quilt room organizer! Absolutely FABULOUS! I am jealous!!!

Rene' said...

What a lovely space!!!! Thanks for taking the time to share pictures.

MyLittleBlueDog said...

Love the dog, his face is so sad, take me for a walk! Love the Kombi and the Ric Rac dolly. So neat and orderly, I've just moved and it's a bomb site.

Marg M said...

This is just so lovely and such beautiful quilts, is it open for tours when an Australian may get over there for a visit one day (lol)

Leanne said...

Thank you for sharing, so many beautiful colours and interesting little things. And how wonderful that you are living at street level.

Leigh Ann Mahaffie said...

Love seeing your space - I thought I was weird that more space is harder to organize :) Love the way you organized the bookcases to make dividers of the space.

MariQuilts said...

So enjoyable.....thanks for sharing!!! I'm taking longer than I thought in setting up my new space as well. I find I need to actually work in a space for a while to get the work flow right. Loving those Marimekko touches I've been displaying mine as well.

Carolyn said...

Hi Jackie: I loved seeing your creative space: it's such fun to visit an artist's studio where the quilts begin their lives. And I love the 'window on the world'. I have a question about your ironing area. Is seems so small and I can't imagine having an ironing area smaller than a regular ironing board, which is what I use. Are you able to press what you need on that area? Or am I being terribly old fashioned, needing to iron on a board? I love that I can iron the length and width of my quilts on it. I'd love to hear your opinion. Regards, Carolyn

C. Jaeger said...

That was a fun tour! Thanks for sharing!

Kristin said...

Thank you for sharing!! I love seeing other people's sewing spaces.

Kay Stephenson said...

Love looking at other people's studios. I get such great ideas. May have to get some of those pants hangers. Oh, and vacuum 😃

Marjorie said...

It does make my room full of plastic totes draped in piles of random fabric look a little pitiful in comparrison

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

It looks wonderful! Thanks for the tour!

Anna said...

What a great space! I also love your Yoda and Little Red Riding Hood.

Quiltgal said...

What can I say! Wow, wow, wow inspirational fabulous space. I love that great window you have to let light into your space.

Lisa said...

It's so nice and clean!!! Love Yoda and red riding hood too!

Susan Strong (strongstitches.wordpress.com) said...

Thanks so much for inviting us into your creative space. It's lovely and inspirational!

jacquie said...

Carolyn,
The pressing station in the picture I use for piecing. When I have tops or backs or larger pieces to press I either take out my ironing board, or I move that to the cutting table and use it on there where it is easier to press larger pieces. The ironing board simply takes up too much floor space in the studio.

jacquie said...

Carolyn,
The pressing station in the picture I use for piecing. When I have tops or backs or larger pieces to press I either take out my ironing board, or I move that to the cutting table and use it on there where it is easier to press larger pieces. The ironing board simply takes up too much floor space in the studio.

jacquie said...

Carolyn,
The pressing station in the picture I use for piecing. When I have tops or backs or larger pieces to press I either take out my ironing board, or I move that to the cutting table and use it on there where it is easier to press larger pieces. The ironing board simply takes up too much floor space in the studio.

angela said...

Having lived in a small town all of my life, I am enthralled with large cities. I love the fact that your studio window is at street level and allows you to see all the people walk by.

✄ Erin @ Sew at Home Mummy ✄ said...

Wow Jacquie, what an amazing space to create - thank you so much for sharing. So inspirational!

Miriam said...

What a great room you have there!!!
Love yoda and his pin cushion!

cinzia said...

lovely space. thanks for sharing. quick question: where d those green and range task lamps come from? all i could find around here are the gray ones from Ikea.

Unknown said...

Can you tell me where I can find the pattern for the quilt on the couch? I love the color wheel on your wall.

Unknown said...

These pictures are fantastic. Great angles, very inviting. I am wishing on my own for that computer chair quilt someday! HA! And Yoda holding the pin cushion? And the great pic of your dog? Wow! Fantastic spread!

mc said...

wow a lovely space and such fantastic quilts. so inspiring! lovely to have you back blogging as your blog and work inspired me to pick up quilting again and I am loving modern quilting. Thank you.

JustGail said...

You have a beautiful room! Full of things, yet not closing in with so much. I like the yardstick framed poster, and thread holder. And such nice light from the window.

Barb and Sharon said...

Your studio is wonderful. Glad to see you figured out how to raise your table. I'm using the same thing to raise my cutting table.
Barb@Witsend

Unknown said...

What a beautiful sewing room!! Just looking at it, springs creativity to my mind. I would love to know where you get the wood hangers that you use to hang your frabic and UFOs.

OPQuilt said...

Lovely tour of your creative space. We have the same wire sculpture of the Chrysler building. I have museum entrance tags slipped onto mine. I laughed when you said you vacuumed for us--we quilters do generate a lot of threads!

Elizabeth
opquilt.com

Stina... said...

Love love your new space.... So much creativity going On...thanks for showing...and love the doggy pic...so much wisdom in those eyes!! :0)

Qltngo Deb said...

How fun to see that awesome studio space! Seriously, does the day end with it so neat? I walk into my room and it immediately disassembles!
I watched the Quilt Show video a while ago, and have decided that somehow, I need to take a class from you. You are one neat lady.
Thanks for being your creative self!

Marianne said...

A little late to the show here, but my gosh, I'm lime green with envy! I'd love a clamp-on light like your orange and green ones. Do you know where you purchased them? Thanks!