I'm hosting the Thanksgiving meal this year...
Are you??
I'm really dragging my feet about putting my machine away.
It lives MOST of the time on my dining room table.
(We have a kitchen table for every day family meals)
I clean up the dining room table once in a while when we host meals..
and it's usually not much of an issue.
but....
I'm feeling some pain this time.
A Separation kind of pain.
Maybe the problem is...
I just don't like to CLEAN!????
Could be.
I'm waiting until the
VERY last minute to put my machine away
and set the table!!!
I've been cleaning up AROUND it...
and KNOW
that the hour will come soon
when it will be relegated to the closet.
:(
So...
here's what I've been wondering:
Do you sew in a communal area of your home like me?
OR
Do you have your own ROOM????
(I had a room for 9 months
and it was HEAVENLY!!!)
Leave a comment..
and check the voting box in the sidebar.
Maybe you're feeling MY kind of pain too!
;)
I'm sorry for your pain. I took over the extra bedroom. Overnight guests have to sleep on the futon in the family room.
ReplyDeleteI have no kids so I was able to take over the 2nd bedroom for my quilting and the basement for my paper creations. I am so sorry for your current dilemma. Have a great Thanksgiving. You'll be back to sewing in no time.
ReplyDeleteI sew in my home office which was once a formal living room. We're not the formal type, so I took it over. I'm dripping over into the dining area as well. The guest room holds the spillover. Somebody stop me!
ReplyDeleteYou're so funny! I think we're ALL dripping into other rooms...LOL!!!
DeleteI have carved out my own little corner in my son's huge bedroom. It's not perfect. I have to listen to music I don't care for and walk over the disaster boys seem to make of their bedrooms. But yes, I always find it slightly difficult when I can't freely disappear into the quilting zone.:)
ReplyDeleteI have my own room, but my sewing machine lives in the dining room. It has its own table in the corner and it *never* leaves. Not even if company is coming.
ReplyDeleteI also sew, knit, crochet, etc. at the dining room. Tomorrow I will have to clean off the table and get the Thanksgiving table cloth out. I never want to do it, but after I see the table all dressed up, I don't feel so bad.
ReplyDeleteI have my own room... downstairs. It is great because I can leave it a mess when pulling out fabric, cutting, and work on multiple projects at one time. But, I regularly have to clean it up, because I teach quilting at home and have to clear the table so my students can work there. I moan the day before they come, while dealing with the put-away chores. Almost as soon as they leave, I'll have my stuff out again. The sewing machine lives in that room, too. I do find myself migrating upstairs to the living room to do hand work. Right now I have baskets of hand work on a couch and footstool and there is a hoop waiting for attention, as well. (Drip... drip... drip) There is only room for a couple of people to sit down when things are like this. The dining room table remains free of sewing stuff, but certainly not free or newspapers or mail. So there is that kind of clean-up to deal with.
ReplyDeleteI'm very spoilt living in a house with lots of spare bedrooms and a lovely big studio but I still prefer to sew on the dining table.
ReplyDeleteIt's right in the action, close to everyone including the tv. I can spread out on the 10 foot long table and get some exercise walking back into the sewing room to use the iron. Why would I want to shut myself away?
I have my own room. I can just shut the door if it's too messy.
ReplyDeleteSince all my chicks have left I have my own room. My kids don't have any of their own rooms left! One became an office, one we took the wall from to add to another room and one is the sewing room. We have hideabeds. How mean is that?
ReplyDeleteOh I feel your pain! I have only had my own room for a few months, but before that, it was the dining room table only. I still feel panicky when my machine goes away for a few days to be serviced!! (that's what I need my handquilting for, too!)
ReplyDeleteI have a corner of the living room for my sewing. I used to use the kitchen table but my sewing corner is a lot nicer. Someday I hope to actually have a sewing room. A girl can dream, right?
ReplyDeleteI have my own room. In my old house I had my own room but when we had company I didn't have access to it. I always missed my machine then! I would lovingly pat it and then I'd have to leave it for a few days.
ReplyDeleteMy sewing space is also the "office" and second bedroom....plus anyone needing to go to the basement need to walk through this room. I've never had a designated room for sewing.
ReplyDeleteI used to sew in my dining room, until it became my "job" instead of a hobby - then I decided I needed my own space dedicated to my work! So I commandeered the library, moved the bookcases into a smaller room, and set up shop. But I do feel your pain - my sewing machine shared many meals with my husband and I before I moved up there!
ReplyDeleteI sew in a 10 by 12 space at the end of the master bedroom. I used to have all 200 sq. ft., with my office at one end, but we needed an extra bedroom, so now my office is in the public space, and I work from home! so not perfect, but it works for now.
ReplyDeleteWhen we moved into our new house I converted one or our bedrooms into my sewing studio. I really wanted the master bedroom (LOL) because it is much bigger but I had to settle for the one I have. It is only 11 X 13 and has a great closet for storage. I love having a "sewing" room and I feel very blessed to be able to have a room all to myself.
ReplyDeletehugs
beebee
Dining room, like you! My in-laws host Thanksgiving but I feel the same pain on Christmas and Easter. The first thing I do when the guests leave is bring her back out and put her back on the table :-)
ReplyDeleteI have my own sewing room. I got a kick out of seeing your Juki, that is what I sew with,too. Yes, dinner is at my house this year and I took the week off on vacation with the hope of sewing a bunch but so far shopping and cleaning have ate most of my time up :(
ReplyDeleteFor years as we raised our 11 kids, I had to make do with a little corner of the family room so I could sew and keep track of the kiddos at the same time. When we moved to Ohio, we bought a giant old Victorian house and as kids married and left the nest, I started first with one small room but a few years ago we knocked out the walls between two bedrooms and a hallway and now I have an honest-to-goodness sewing room!!! I feel extremely blessed!!!
ReplyDeleteI am having SO MUCH FUN reading about all of your sewing areas! I'm so glad I asked!!! ;)
ReplyDeleteThere wasn't an option for multiple spaces. I am really lucky to hace a sewing room,a dye studio and a longarm studio. The last 2 are inthe unfinished basement but are very functional and, more importangly, ALL MINE. :-) Now I am trying to figure out where I am going to put the glass kiln that someone is giving me. Yes, I am spoiled.
ReplyDeleteI have my sewing machine squeezed into the laundry room (with the washing machine running I barely even hear the kids screaming at each other!). I cut fabric on my kitchen counter after pushing assorted food projects out of the way. Oddly enough I like this better than having a sewing room at our last house. It feels good to weave bits of sewing into my day which typically involves lots of laundry, cooking, and family care.
ReplyDeleteI think you should find a little table for your machine elsewhere in your house. Just a temporary spot with hopes that you will sew just a few minutes amidst the holiday hub-bub. I wouldn't want to put her away either.
Blessings!
I have my own room. Small. Bedrooms were small when the house was built in 1927, but it is mine. Well, the dogs, four littles and one large also think it's theirs when I'm in there. When we first moved in we designated the two small bedrooms as "guest rooms". And my sewing machine shared space in one. Then my lovely husband said "who needs two guest rooms? Make one into your sewing room". Now even the remaining "guest room" has evolved into a room with sofa/hideabed and we now call it "the computer room".
ReplyDeleteI hate having to put it away, but with kids not able to home home this year, I'm leaving it out on the table and hub and I will eat at the snack bar. Sometimes I push it to one end (it is a 7' table so you would think there would be space) and shove the fabric/project/tools over and we eat there anyways. LOL. Fortunately, he doesn't care. I have unused bedrooms now, but the table seems friendlier somehow. My handwork is done at my end of the couch and I always have a pile around me of appliqué, embroidery and/or handquilting too so I'm definitely "spreading" about the house. Happy Thanksgiving. Friday will get here soon.
ReplyDeleteif i had to put it all away all the time, i'd never get any patching done. i confiscated one of the spare bedrooms; we use as such so rarely......(i earned it) so i go, sew, leave, close the door.......repeat.....
ReplyDeleteI have two rooms...one for my wool and rug hooking supplies...one for sewing machine and fabric stash...it's heavenly and usually a mess everywhere...I do my hooking in the living room...can you tell I only share my house with 2 cats?
ReplyDeleteI have my own room. It used to be my son's room. As much as I miss my son, I sure do love having my own room :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I gained an empty nest, I took a bedroom. It's wonderful to have a room for quilting. And now I took the other room, and it's turning into a knitting and basting-quilts room. Soon I'll take over the world.
ReplyDeleteI am in the same situation:for every day family meals we have a kitchen table and on the dining romm table I have my sewing machine, the cutting plane, some boxes with threads, scraps, a little ironing surface and all the fabrics for the WIP project!! We have "to live home" not only cleaning!
ReplyDeleteI took over a guest room, and now overnight guests have to stay in a hotel (sounds mean, but it's much better for everyone this way). :)
ReplyDeleteMy very first sewing area was my dining room table. Presently my sewing room is my guest bedroom. It is suited better for my quilting addiction than it is for any guests... 80% filled with a Janome sewing machine, cutting table, bins of fabric, baskets of to-do projects, more baskets filled with patterns, design wall, plus all the other tools needed to support my habit. The other 20% consists of a twin size bed. It works!
ReplyDeleteI have a dedicated sewing studio in the basement, and I love it. Permanent design wall covering one wall, I can pin and press on it, covered with medium gray felt, and three fluorescent light fixtures, with full-spectrum bulbs, easy to sew at night down there. But I bet you like sewing around your family - that's the down-side for me, I like to be with my "pack"! :) Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
ReplyDeleteOh the foot dragging! I do it when it's time to take my machine in for service. I somehow don't trust that it will be back in a timely fashion. And I even have a back up machine. But for space, I have the third bedroom for my sewing room. It's loaded with fabric and supplies, projects and gets quite out of control frequently. But I love it. And am quite content while my husband watches sports, I'll be in the sewing room.
ReplyDeleteOh, know how you feel. I sew in my dining room and entertain in my kitchen now....and it's closer to the stove and the dishwasher, so it saves steps!
ReplyDeleteI remember that pain! After many years of sharing space, I finally have my own room to mess up and NOT have to keep clean because someone is coming.
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
My days of sewing at the kitchen/dining room table are across the world, with kids of their own. Our 3 bedroom (small) house is really ONE bedroom, ONE computer/office/guest room and ONE sewing room with my machine, my HQ16, my LeClerc 36" four harness floor loom and my stash! It's the best room in the house.
ReplyDeleteI sew in my dining room too. I bought a Koala cabinet that matches the teak table and chairs, and it looked like a sideboard when all closed up. But then I moved my stash into the dining room as well. Well, you know how that goes. We used to eat supper every night in the dining room. Now we eat at the counter in the kitchen, as the dining room is always buried in projects!
ReplyDeleteThe really nice part of the setup is that the dining room is the same height as the Koala, so when I actually do some free motion quilting, I put the two together and have one huge surface to support the quilt!
I have my own room for sewing, but I don't sew in the evenings when hubby is home or when the kids are home. I have handwork to do in the "communal" area. Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteI love reading these comments. I think it is amazing that we aren't all meeting in the middle some where... where we have spilled out of our homes and into the streets... thanks for asking the question.
ReplyDeleteMy current workspace is also the dining room table, which is very large. Hubby says we need to be able to use it as a dining room sometimes, so I still feel like an interloper in the space. However, we have used the dining room for dining exactly THREE times in 20 years. I am plotting to take over the space permanently...I just need to perfect my plan...
ReplyDeleteIf i didn't have my own room, I don't think I would be able to sew. I am such a slob or maybe it is just my organization style. I have pile for each quilt I am working on and they are situated all over my sewing room. I have a another room I am going to move into but I want to paint it before I move. I feel really fortunate to have my own space.
ReplyDeleteYup, I do both- have a sewing room and clutter up the dining room table...
ReplyDeleteHappy Thanksgiving, Beth!
The lower level (basement) in our home is 95% finished. I have taken over the room that has the furnace and hot water heater in it and that is where my machine quilting frame is set up. I have lots of there vintage sewing machines displayed in there, but that is where I do the quilting. We put up a wall to make that room a 'room' where it could be closed. We have a living area down there, and then one half of the basement (the long way) is 1/2 pool table, tv, shelves, and the other half has two big banquet tables set up at all times, and I have pretty much taken over that half. There is a closet in the 'living room' area, which is overflowing with fabric stash and all things quilting. I try to clean things up after each use(I host a quilt group once a month), but like now, I am using the banquet tables for sewing, and for laying out my quilt blocks. I can see the tv on the other end of the room, and that is my 'happy place'. I hope someday you can find a room of your own.
ReplyDeleteI briefly had my own sewing room...I am now back to the dining room table. Not a biggy, as my family prefers eating in the living room ;-) My husband brought in another table for me so that the dining room table would be cleared. Didn't work, I have machines set up on BOTH tables :-)
ReplyDeleteI am so spoiled I have a huge sewing room with three machines set up and I never have to put anything away. It really is a magically space that stirs my imagination and lets me zone out into a meditative place at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYou get so much done even with having no space of your own...well done Beth!
Happy Sewing
I have been all over. The dining room for so long, I made the kids all it the sewing room. Then I took on converting space in the basement. I cleared, painted, put up ceiling tiles and had a carpet installed. It was a little lonely vs the dining room, but a sanctuary. Then Irene hit, and we ad a foot of water in the basement! Fortunately, we'd had th foresight to move everything upstairs. Now, I use what used to be the guest room. It is very small, but I love it. I am pushing to rearrange rooms and take over what is now the office. We'd get the guest room back, plus I'd be a little more in the action of the family.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain! I sew on the kitchen table where everything happens in my little house. Most of the time I keep my machine either on the table or in it's case on the floor right next to the table when I know I'm too busy to sew for a couple of days. For a Thanksgiving gathering it all gets banished to a back closet which does make me sad, although this year I brought her (yes my machine is a she) came right back out Friday morning. :) That made me happy.
ReplyDeleteI have a 10 x 10 room that was my home office for my business for many years. When I retired I got rid of all of my old office stuff and converted it into my sewing room. I have a small computer station and filing cabinets for the health related administrative paperwork I still need to track, but the rest of the room is taken over with my sewing cabinet, cutting table, rolling cart for miscellaenous sewing supplies, and four square cubbies that hold fat quarters and thread. I have the rocker my DH bought me when I was pregnant with our son situated right next to my cutting table. It is in front of a window so I get GREAT light for reading when I am not sewing. I have a good amount of storage in the closet that my husband outfitted with shelves. I would really LOVE to find room for two six-section lockers, but the room is really maxed out on space. I may at some point take over my son's bigger room (when he moves out), but I don't know if it will feel like "home". This small room has been "mine" for 22+ years and I don't know if I will be able to leave it!
ReplyDelete