Thread Shed Tour
2009
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It has been a few years since I have photographed my Thread Shed. It was a beautiful day today and I had time on my hands......between many loads of laundry.My favorite guy built this for me in 2000. This is the front entrance. The building is 20 x 16 feet. It is located in our yard just a few feet away from the house. My husband named the building, Thread Shed, while he was building it.
There are 3 different kinds of ivy growing up the front of the building. I also have a vine planted on the archway in front of the door. Over the years we have landscaped the building on all 4 sides.
My aunt surprised me with a chicken bell.......visitors enjoy ringing the bell before they enter.
My brother-in-law, who is a sign maker, surprised me with a vinyl sign for the front door window..... Annylu's Thread Shed. My nieces and nephews shortened Auntie Lu Lu to......Annylu years ago.......and it stuck. I am known to many friends and family members as.....Annylu.
Last summer we built a new design wall. I originally used flannel backed tablecloths thumb tacked to the wall. This works well, and I could layer the tablecloths 6 deep and stack up many works-in-progress. Now I have the best design wall ever. We used sheets of insulation, they are very lightweight like Styrofoam, 4 x 8 foot sheets. We covered 2 sheets with Warm 'N Natural batting and put them on the wall together, creating an 8 x8 foot design wall. I Love it. It is thick and I can stick pins into it. Most projects stick to the batting really well, but once in awhile I get a heavier piece, and it needs to be pinned. I work on a lot of quilts at the same time, so I can still stack them 6 deep if need be. Right now there is Moose Lodge on top, under that is a baby quilt, a landscape quilt, and pieces for my sunflower quilt in progress. Having a vertical design wall is one of the very best improvements to my quilting since I began in 1987.
I enjoyed furnishing the Thread Shed with used furniture that was sentimental to me. This green bookshelf was purchased from an estate sale at a nearby neighbor's house. I Love the old chipped paint and I think of her each time I reach for one of my reference books.
This is a very old spool cupboard I found at the thrift store. It is homemade, with nails hammered in very neatly to support the spools of thread. It was a whopping $2 dollars and worth every penny. I keep my everyday threads in here that I use for general sewing.
This is a vintage kitchen cupboard that was mounted on a wall at one time. I have it standing on an old piano bench to raise it up off the floor. It holds all my notions. Again, everything is kept stored behind the doors and keeps down the clutter.
This cupboard was my son's baby dresser. I found it at a thrift store and refinished it when he was an infant. When he was ready to part with it, I was more than happy to use it for storage. It holds all my mixed media supplies.
I do the majority of pressing on this vintage, wooden ironing board. It is small and doesn't take up a lot of floor space. I have a large ironing board with a BIG BOARD that fits on top, but only use it when pressing large quilt backings.
This is one of two tall vintage cupboards that holds my fabric stash.......NO.......I won't open the doors! I have always felt like showing off your stash is like allowing someone to watch you go to the bathroom..........a lady just doesn't do that!
There are 3 different kinds of ivy growing up the front of the building. I also have a vine planted on the archway in front of the door. Over the years we have landscaped the building on all 4 sides.
My aunt surprised me with a chicken bell.......visitors enjoy ringing the bell before they enter.
My brother-in-law, who is a sign maker, surprised me with a vinyl sign for the front door window..... Annylu's Thread Shed. My nieces and nephews shortened Auntie Lu Lu to......Annylu years ago.......and it stuck. I am known to many friends and family members as.....Annylu.
Last summer we built a new design wall. I originally used flannel backed tablecloths thumb tacked to the wall. This works well, and I could layer the tablecloths 6 deep and stack up many works-in-progress. Now I have the best design wall ever. We used sheets of insulation, they are very lightweight like Styrofoam, 4 x 8 foot sheets. We covered 2 sheets with Warm 'N Natural batting and put them on the wall together, creating an 8 x8 foot design wall. I Love it. It is thick and I can stick pins into it. Most projects stick to the batting really well, but once in awhile I get a heavier piece, and it needs to be pinned. I work on a lot of quilts at the same time, so I can still stack them 6 deep if need be. Right now there is Moose Lodge on top, under that is a baby quilt, a landscape quilt, and pieces for my sunflower quilt in progress. Having a vertical design wall is one of the very best improvements to my quilting since I began in 1987.
I enjoyed furnishing the Thread Shed with used furniture that was sentimental to me. This green bookshelf was purchased from an estate sale at a nearby neighbor's house. I Love the old chipped paint and I think of her each time I reach for one of my reference books.The top of the bookshelf is like a shrine. Look around your sewing room, I bet you have created a shrine without even realizing it. My quilters journal, family photos, gifts from close friends are all located on on the top of this bookshelf. It is very old, but very sturdy and holds most of my reference books and binders.
This is the media center. The corner cupboard on the left belonged to my husband's grandmother. It was her sewing cupboard. I found old patterns and notions still inside when I inherited it. I keep a small TV on it. Inside the door is a DVD & VCR player. On the right is a lime green cupboard found at a thrift store. It has a stereo on top, and inside the double doors it holds DVD's and VHS tapes. I like that I can store everything away inside these cupboards and keep the clutter to a minimum.
All of the wall outlets are 3 feet up on the wall....no more bending over to the floor to plug something in. There are 24 outlets around the room, each wall is on its own circuit so I never blow a fuse. My husband installed a switch that turns the electricity off to the entire room at once.
This cupboard is the island out of our kitchen. We remodeled years ago, and I salvaged the tall island cupboard for storage. It is tall, so is a perfect height for rotary cutting.......easy on my back when I am cutting for several hours. Behind the 3 doors is my collection of landscape fabrics.
This is a very old spool cupboard I found at the thrift store. It is homemade, with nails hammered in very neatly to support the spools of thread. It was a whopping $2 dollars and worth every penny. I keep my everyday threads in here that I use for general sewing.
This is a vintage kitchen cupboard that was mounted on a wall at one time. I have it standing on an old piano bench to raise it up off the floor. It holds all my notions. Again, everything is kept stored behind the doors and keeps down the clutter.
This cupboard was my son's baby dresser. I found it at a thrift store and refinished it when he was an infant. When he was ready to part with it, I was more than happy to use it for storage. It holds all my mixed media supplies.
I do the majority of pressing on this vintage, wooden ironing board. It is small and doesn't take up a lot of floor space. I have a large ironing board with a BIG BOARD that fits on top, but only use it when pressing large quilt backings.
This is one of two tall vintage cupboards that holds my fabric stash.......NO.......I won't open the doors! I have always felt like showing off your stash is like allowing someone to watch you go to the bathroom..........a lady just doesn't do that!If you are here from the sewing studio tour here are my answers to the 5 Questions:
a. What do you use your space for?
Textile arts: from traditional to contemporary
b. What is your favorite thing about your space?
I can leave things in progress, shut the door, then come back and jump right back into the
project. No take down and set back up time.
c. What struggles do you have with your space?
I outgrew it 1 year after I moved in. I could use a second level for storage space.
d. When do you use your space?
Every chance I get. I am happier when I am creating.
e. Share an organizational technique that works for you.
* Protect your fabrics and threads from light and dust. Keep them in a cupboard with doors that close to keep out the elements.
* Organize your fabrics by color, theme, etc. It is NO FUN to spend hours looking for a fabric you know is in there....somewhere.
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May Your Bobbin Always Be Full,
LuAnn