Studio Refresh II

In the couple weeks since my first studio refresh post, I'm still working away at small projects. It's an eclectic collection but all these things have definitely contributed to improving my sewing space.

 >> Organize wool yarns. I don't have many, but they needed a place to be together. I use them occasionally with my embroidery. A Vinyl Zipper Pouch, a pattern by @sotakhandmade, seemed a good solution. This is the large version (13" x 9") and I paired clear vinyl with one of my favorite Melody Miller fabrics ever to feature on the quilted back panel.

Svetlana's recent patterns have featured zippers by the yard, and I am loving the product from @sullivanstrim. Sorry for the glare on the photo below, but you get an idea how well this pouch worked for my need. And the zipper isn't really warped! Not quite sure what's happening in this photo.

>> Organize bag-making hardware. Similarly to how I organized my quilt labels in my previous studio refresh post, I did the same with the assortment of hardware. This helped so much! I had everything in little [cute] jars before, but this does work better, as I can see everything at a glance.

>> Sharps. You probably all already do this, but I had never been that good about disposing of used needles and bent pins. Having a small lidded container feels so much better, and I've been faithfully using it ever since I put it on the cart by my machine.

>> Restock batting. The truth was, my latest roll of Warm & White had run out a month or two ago. I'd tried a couple of other batts, but in truth, I like Warm & White as my default batting. So I waited until I saw the '50% off + free shipping' deal at Joann and stocked up. Hubby had the clever idea of setting a lazy susan under the roll so I could pull batting off the roll without laying it on the floor. (That's getting more difficult than it used to be.) He ordered a 10" Bamboo Lazy Susan, and honestly, it could have been a little bigger, but it works, and once I make a couple more quilts, it'll be quite perfect.

I also ordered a couple of packages of Quilter's Dream Select, because I've been enjoying using that too. So I should be good for ages now, and that feels good.

>> Irons. THIS is embarrassing. Over the years, when I've been unhappy with an iron for one reason or another, I set it aside as a backup (right? Do you have a backup iron??) and tried something new. Honestly, I've gone from paying good money for an iron to asking for one for Christmas to receiving them for free (the Olisos, thank you very much). And honestly, it is what it is. Some of them spit (I've since sworn off putting water in my iron), or the coating on the soleplate begins to wear off (on two versions of the same iron) leaving black specks in their wake. The latest has a feature that in essence is admirable, but sometimes it crinkles the seams when I'm pressing them. It was when I decided recently that I might pull out my backup iron that I realized the truth. I haven't thrown an iron away for years, letting the backups pile up! IE. I had FIVE irons in the house.

Make that six.

The small irons don't really count. One (a Rowenta) gets super hot and is actually a travel iron, which I've taken with me at various times over the years. The second was a gift from Oliso, works great, and is what I take to workshops. Those two are staying. But three of the large irons have been disposed of. One for spitting, one for peeling soleplate, and the last one to be found was discovered to actually be broken, so bye bye. The large Oliso remains because it does work well despite the crinkling issue which isn't 100% of the time. But that said, I ordered a new iron that I happily found on sale, and had been recommended by a workshop teacher. It's 1800 watts, hotter than any of the others, and it sounds like tolerates water well if I decide I need steam. I don't have it yet, so we'll see. But it feels good to have the truly EXTRA stock of irons out of my space.

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