My Studio

Another pink post

January 28, 2010 By Anne 47 Comments

I am the queen of shopping, just ask my husband. He’s given me the title, but he’s a bit biased. I should hesitate to accept, but I can’t help it. I love the title! It should come with a tiara that I can wear when I greet the UPS man.

So there I was last weekend, the “Queen of Shopping” cleaning out the garage. Now that we’ve cancelled the studio addition I’m left with a few things I’ve purchased with the addition in mind. Most of my purchases are really smart buys. Things on sale with a price so low I just couldn’t pass them up. It’s great fun to open up the boxes!

I asked my husband for some help. I innocently said, “Can you help me with that heavy box over in the corner”? Stupid move on my part. I forgot the number one rule; never let your husband open a purchase. Never. Open it in private, no matter how heavy, then hand him the empty box. Truth be told I couldn’t remember what was in the box.

So now the “queen of shopping” is left with the “purchase of the year”. The one thing I’ll never live down. The one thing I have no room for, a bright pink refrigerator. Not the “perfect’ Bunny Hill pink, but bright pink. Up to the studio my husband carried it, with me acting like it was the smartest thing I ever bought. “Put it right over there by my sewing machine” I said.

Hummm, so now what? It’s here, in the studio, until I can sneak it out when the Goodwill truck drives by. I’m almost tripping over it! At least I can use the top for storage, but what do you keep on the top of a pink refrigerator?

Wait! I think I may have found the perfect thing!

Chelsea likes it, and she likes her treats chilled! “It’s a good thing” as Martha would say. Bitsy isn’t impressed. She thinks the pink is too bright.

During the next week you’ll be seeing things change on my blog so please be patient with me. We’re still working on it, moving things around, trying to find a good fit. My blog isn’t moving again, just changing a bit more. We’ll be done soon, I promise.

Back soon,

Hugs,

Anne

Filed Under: Collections, Decorating, My Studio

Studio Stage One

October 27, 2009 By Anne 30 Comments

Often when you change one thing it has a tornado effect.

While I was at quilt market my husband, Ross, built IKEA cubby shelves in the studio closet. Building shelves in a closet = chaos. Everything has to come out. Everything!

Remember that built in ironing board I had in the closet? It’s now sitting in the center of the studio. Hard to iron when it folds down to the floor.

And the cabinets that were calling the closet home? They made their grand entrance into the studio and are now sitting in front of the bookshelves. No reading for us!

At first I was going to give these cabinets away, and then I thought, if I can only make them look a bit more shabby chic, I can use them in the addition.

Having an obsession with knobs, I ordered these from Anthropology…

And settled on this one…

Soon it will be replacing these wood knobs for a bit of shabbiness…

Do NOT call or email my husband to tell him what these knobs cost. He would NEVER understand about pink knobs, and chances are he won’t even notice when the wood knobs are gone.

And the new Ikea shelves? I love them! They let us SEE what we have. A novel concept to see what you have in a closet, don’t you think?

And when we don’t want to see, we can close the closet door and it’s bye bye cubbies!

Yes, Ross painted the panels on the doors to match the room. His special touch!

Brigette and I are having a great time working around the extra cabinets in the room. We’ll have to live with them in front of the closet until the addition is built. Something tells me this is the easy part.

If you have an Ikea near you, the shelves with the cubbies are wonderful. You can store a LOT of fabric in them and see it all! I think they cost less than the knobs. Slight exaggeration! Maybe.

Back soon,

Anne

Filed Under: My Studio

I must be nuts!

October 25, 2009 By Anne 32 Comments

I swear I must be nuts. I hate change, I need quiet in order to work, and I hate clutter around me.

I’m guaranteed to have complete chaos in my life for the next several months. I’m walking into the lion’s den and I’m doing it willingly! We’ve decided to enlarge the studio!

We’re going right through my design wall and into the attic space! At the top of the stairs, where you see the “Arnie” quilt, will be the future French doors leading into the new addition.

The trouble with additions is everything; from the architect, structural engineer, permits, construction and the noise. Oh no not noise!

I’m taking it one day at a time. I’ll be showing you progress along the way. The actually “destruction” should start in about five weeks. In the meantime Brigette and I are working in chaos already. She calls it the transition stage. I don’t have words for it yet, and I haven’t told Bitsy and Chelsea although I think they suspect something is up.

Anne

Filed Under: My Studio

Clean the windows and bathe the cats!

August 21, 2008 By Anne 36 Comments

Hurry clean the windows and bathe the cats. It’s not everyday that American Patchwork and Quilting comes to call! I love, love, love that magazine and guess what? The American Patchwork and Quilting team was just here at my house! (I’m dancing around right now as I try and sing that last line). Yep, right here in my house.

They took photos of so many things! It’s been a lot of fun! It’s for the June issue of 2009 and yes, I’ll remind you when it’s coming out, but it would be a lot easier if you’d all subscribe. This is one magazine that I’ll always renew my subscription to. It’s a quality publication and after watching them work I know why. They are so dedicated to their readers! A lot of thought and time goes into their magazines. Just wait until you see the other designers they’ve been to visit. It’s going to be so much fun! http://www.bhg.com/bhg/store/product.jsp?catid=cat120004&prodid=prod80002

Here’s a shot of my studio that you don’t normally get to see. I took it myself and it’s taken from the closet looking toward the front. You won’t see this in the magazine, it’s a bit too cluttery. Cluttery is my word for “in the process of cluttering” because that’s what I’m doing right now. See those fat packs on the shelves? Well, they are coming out this week and I’m about to rip them apart. The counter tops are about to become a mess and I’m getting down to work. I’ll be working into the night and chances are Law and Order will be on in the background LOL! I’ve seen all the episodes so if I miss something it doesn’t matter.

This morning this is what I did! Fabric along with rulers, scissors and marking pens all on the cutting mat. I’m back to normal and I feel like a quilter again!

Next up is my giveaway. Just give me a few days to get myself organized, or should I say unorganzied?

Thank you American Patchwork from the bottom of my heart!