Studio Dreaming

We’re making progress on the new home and just a few days ago I woke up and thought “I’m not in someone else’s house wondering when I’ll get to go home… but this is home now”. It only took a month!

There’s still so much to do, but God is providing in wonderful ways. The man from church, who is a finish carpenter in the off hours from his full time job, is such a blessing. Every door in our home needs some sort of repair and he is very skilled at this type of work. Once the doors are done he’ll start on my studio. I’ve been dreaming about it and this past week I began arranging and rearranging all the boxes there in preparation for the closets and shelves. I drafted it all out with graph paper first, then I used tape to mark where I want what on the floor and walls. The closet wall will have a tall area (on the right) for hanging items and my box of long stuff. The rest will be shelves for my bins.

The adjacent wall will be my “corrals”. When I had the studio built on Ceasar Road I originally planned to have an area next to the counter for my movable cutting table. Before the counter went in I realized that the table would inevitably get piled with stuff ~ as all flat surfaces do ~ so I decided to have the counter raised and make a corral to cover the table (far left in this “old studio” photo).

It worked great, and I was very good about folding the table up and putting it away after each use so it never got buried under stuff. The doors to the right of the table in the photo above were another “corral” for my rolling carts of fabric ~ and I will need that space again, so here’s the taped off area in studio #2:

My magic box will be at the end of the closet wall (it’s leaning up behind the design walls on the left).

And I actually can sew now, because I moved many boxes into another room so I have room for me … and John to work!

It’s not pretty, but it is functional. I’m so very blessed.

The first thing I made in my new sewing area was a pillowcase for my new friend, Elliahna. Elliahna is a young woman who attends the teen ministry at my church, and she is a huge blessing to us! Here’s the story:

A few weeks ago I asked her what she was doing this summer. She said she had been working 3 jobs, but she was recently let go from one because she couldn’t give them full time hours. The job was for a painter and she was sad because she loved doing the cutting in portion of painting (something I dread). She said she enjoyed the challenge of painting straight lines, and along edges, without tape. Can you guess where this is leading? I told her we had a house full of rooms that needed painting and asked her if she would be interested in working for us. She was thrilled. Mike was a little concerned about her abilities, but we decided “it’s just paint” and asked Elli to show us what she could do in the powder room. The first day she painted 2 coats ~ in 2 bathrooms ~ and she did an amazing job! She has a wonderful work ethic, and a steady hand.

The next time she came back she painted the master bedroom.

At this point I showed her my studio full of boxes. She was immediately drawn to my fabric carts and asked if I could make her a pillowcase. She said she loved earthtones and chose an ombré fabric for the body of the case.

I can’t wait to give it to her when she comes on Tuesday to paint the den. Please stay tuned for more studio and painting updates.