I wish I had taken pictures of my first official "studio". I think it was about 6X8. I took over a storage closet in Military housing. It was perfect, and I hadn't been spoiled with a large room. Now I don't know how I would manage with such a small place. But at the time I loved it.

I love hearing about everyone's studios. Right now I am blessed to have a large space in our daylight basement. Someday, when we downsize, my dream is to have my space next to the kitchen so I can run over and start dinner and keep sewing, stopping occasionally to stir the pot (because honestly, I would much rather be sewing than cooking) I too use and love One Note.

Oh I love that... Don't have room for that, my design panels are mounted in front of my fabric stash to keep it safe and shielded from the light, and between that and my sewing table there's just enough space for me to sit at my machine and move about a little...

lotti wrote: Lotti, I already have one of the concrete walls covered with 2 of the insulating panels with batting over them. That is an 8' by 8' design wall. In front of it I have my exercise stepper. That is how I get my exercise, stepping up and down off it to arrange things on the wall.

leafy wrote:
Jan, thanks for the idea of attaching the design wall to the wall with velcro--that is a great way to go. I don't know where my design wall is going to end up so in the meantime your concept appears to be a good idea.

Nancy, I had a bookcase cut down to fit under the sloped ceiling, and store fabric on its shelves in plastic boxes. If I had room (which I don't!), it would have been nice to put some drawer units there. Maybe you could build something in. I have my ironing board along the rest of the sloped wall, which works if your walls are high enough. My only large full wall has a design wall and a bigger bookcase, so I don't really have any more wall space...other walls are taken up with windows, beams, door, and a small closet.

My design wall sounds like yours, Lotti, foam insulation boards covered with flannel. I covered each board individually, taping/stapling the flannel around the back, then attached them to the wall with velcro.

Let us know what storage and other studio solutions you come up with!

Cathy, before finishing those walls... Think hard about their futurebuse... This is your chance to turn one of them into a fabulous - full-sized design wall... Get some insulation panels l, cover with flannel or your 'grab- fabric of choice and tack those onto the wall. The rest of the walls, I would do my darnedest to turn into shelving/cupboards ... Of course you're probably already working on that.

This topic is timely for me too. My sewing room is in my loft, which has a sloped ceiling. So, I would love to see ideas for fabric storage under the eaves. I found a few under eave storage solutions, when searching the web, but found nothing specific for fabric storage.

Oh my Cathy, 50 is a lot of people! Maybe you need to do a little quilting before they get there... that's what I would do, and then be in a panic for the rest of the weekend. Anyway, have a great one.

I agree, it would be nice to see some small sewing spaces. For years I sewed in the kitchen or living room. As the kids left home I moved into one of the bedrooms, sharing the room when the kids visited. When I got my longarm, I moved to the basement. Now when the kids come and bring the grandkids, I still have to share. Eventually, I want my area partitioned off with a door that locks. I have space now, but it is not fancy! 2 of the walls are painted concrete. The other 2 are drywall, but it has not been taped or painted yet. I am waiting for the partition wall and door, so it can all be done at one time. Maybe the next time my son comes home. Hopefully, by then I will have things moved around to the best place for me.
I am stalling. I have at least 50 coming for DGD's first B-day on Saturday, and the house is a mess. I must get busy!!!

Thanks Renata and Zarah. I have heard of Evernote so now I know that One Note is something similar. Evernote is on my list of downloads that I'd like to learn and use... along with Dropbox and Adobe Ideas App for my Ipad. I am very slow to grab onto new technology! I haven't even used Pinterest yet! LOL

Michelle, my OneNote came with my Office 2007, so I have paid for it also. I know a lot of people use EverNote which is free. I have not tried it myself, but my brother uses it, so it can't be very bad . You can see more here http://www.evernote.com

Sorry, Michelle, it's not free. It's a Microsoft product that you normally purchase either as part of a package or singly. I have never seen it here in the States come as part of the laptop. Someone from Growlybird created a free app for MAC users based on Microsoft's OneNote that approximates OneNote but does not have all the capabilities of OneNote. Can't remember how much I paid for mine because it was years ago. You can google it for prices, if interested, I think I purchased mine through Amazon...? Too long ago...

Rita, I had the opportunity to move my sewing room to the basement (large space, no windows, next to my husband's well-insulated for noise and dust-free--because I insisted on very efficient air cleaners and dust collector systems-- wood shop). I tend to get messy too when preparing a quilt and I would have had to share this open space in the basement with a wonderful set of huge Klipsch speakers (the cannons in the 1812 Overture sound like cannons and Pink Flloyd's Money sounds like coins dropped in a slot machine), TV, video, music, my DH's office and other paraphanalia so there would not be as much sewing space as I would like in the end but more than I have. I opted for the teeny space upstairs because I can close the door when I want to, I have plenty of sunlight during the day, I don't have to clean up in the middle of a project just because guests are coming and I love it! Of course, if you can have your sewing room open onto the kitchen with a pretty set of French doors that you can close when you want to, being next to the kitchen would not be such a bad idea... hard choices... Let me know how GrowlyBird Notes works for you.

I hate to sound ignorant, and don't want to hijack this posting, but I don't know what One Note is. I use a PC laptop running XP but couldn't find it listed in my programs. Our desktop is Windows 7 and brand new - not sure if it's on that one. Or is it something included in Office or something like that (I don't have that on my laptop, and the W7 is running an old version of Office).

Is this something that is free to get?