Design Studio and Stash Notes

There's been a LOT going on in our bonus room

that involves all of the furniture being moved,

several new bookshelves being assembled,

books and other items being relocated,

and assembling a large load of items

(including an aging couch)

for the Salvation Army truck.

(Once things are settled, I'll try to remember to share photos -

but I can tell you Little Man's crib is no longer

under the light switches or next to the door

since he's old enough to fiddle with all of them)

This particular bookshelf 

used to be in the bonus room.

DH surprised me and moved it down the hall

and into my design studio when I wasn't home.

He knew I would love having more shelf space -

and he was right.

More shelves allow me to have

more and shorter stacks of fabric,

which makes it easier to access what I need

and still keep the stacks neat.

I moved these fabrics from my existing shelves . . .

. . . which meant I could rearrange the existing shelves

and make my resource boxes easier to use.

(no longer stacked two deep 

except for the red/blue purples 

and the pink and red boxes)

It also meant I could shift the crumb boxes

back to a higher shelf 

where they are easier to access.

SO much better!

The new shelf unit is not as deep as my other two units,

but that works out fine for the folded yardage.

The resource boxes fit perfectly right where they are.

And speaking of my folded yardage . . . 

It has been ages since I shared how I handle mine.

I start by squaring the ends - the one above is a one-yard cut.

I lay my 6" x 24" ruler crosswise on the WOF folded yardage.

Then I roll the yardage around the ruler,

making sure that the end falls somewhere in the middle

of the 6" width so the finished "roll" stays neat.

I slide the ruler out and gently fold the rolled yardage in half.

It doesn't take long to get a stack of yardage

prepared and ready to put on the shelves.

I've had my yardage stored this way for several years now

and it has worked beautifully for me.

It is easy to see what I have

which encourages me to shop the stash.

But the best part is walking into the room

and seeing that wall of color.

Makes me smile every time!

* * *

I've also spent the last three days

creating Shutterfly photo books

for my quilting adventure.

They had 40% off plus 

unlimited additional pages at no extra charge 

AND free shipping for orders over $39.00.

THAT combination was too good to pass up.

I put together a book for 2004-2005,

one for 2006-2007,

one for 2008-2009-2010,

one for 2011-2012,

and individual books for

2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.

I've thought about doing this for a long time,

but the price kept things only at the idea stage.

It took longer to gather the photos 

for each book

than it did to layout the images 

and add captions,

but the savings for these nine books 

was far greater than the actual cost 

which makes me pretty happy.

I'll share a photo or two

once the books arrive by month end.

And now that these books are caught up 

for the past fourteen years,

I can watch for  a special to create 

additional books one year at a time.

So happy to cross this off my someday-I'll-do-it list.

Quiltdivajulie

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"Be silly.  Be honest.  Be kind."
Ralph Waldo Emerson