Studio

New Studio up and running

| JP Dawes Artist

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I love it. Everything is within easy reach, the fur kids can come in without getting lost in the clutter.

The new to me Singer 431G is at counter height so I can sit on the stool or stand up to stitch. It may be easier on my arthritic hips and knees.

The Sunshine 16 mid-arm has a new adjustable stool seat with back support. The mid-century modern table was purchased at a thrift sale and is also adjustable height. The new goose neck lamps on either side of the machine are wonderful mid-century pieces I found at the Salvation Army. Ron mounted them on the back so I have perfect lighting.

My Koala cutting table and design walls are across from the mid-arm. I am using my portable design wall I made out of a projection screen for now. We are planning on using ceiling tiles covered with flannel, mounted to the bi-fold closet doors as the permanent wall.

Let me know how you like it!

Studio Redo Progress

| JP Dawes Artist

All packed up and waiting. Holes patched and painted.

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The cabinets came today and I love them!  Now we wait for our handyman Andy, to come next Saturday to install them. Yep, you really did read that right. Our handyman is really named Handy Andy!  The art quilts on the wall are waiting for backings. I stuck them up to get them out of harms way.

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Related articles

Surgery of Art Quilting

| JP Dawes Artist
Does it look like I shopped at the local doctor’s office? Yep, that is exactly what I did. One of our country doctors passed away suddenly a couple of months ago at a young age. Her daughter is here and having an estate sale. The fabrics I bought will be over on my other blog Quilting On The Cheap.  I almost didn’t go to the sale, I had no idea that she was a quilter!   I purchased these 3 rolling pieces for a grand total of $14 for all three! My favorite pieces are the tall table with a removable tray that has adjustable height. The cart in the back holds trays in the top rack.  I plan on using the tall piece next to my cutting table so I can roll it either to the machine or design wall with all the little quilt parts on it. The rolling one with the trays I will  put embellishments and beads on so I can roll the project to the machine or to my chair to watch TV at night. The cart in the foreground just fits under my sewing station to hold my thread organizers…simply roll it in view when I need different thread.  I love finding things like this that look smart and make my life easier.

Texas Studio progress or Tropical 50’s Funk

| JP Dawes Artist
I wanted to share a few pictures of some of my finds for my Texas workspace, aka studio. On a thrift shop run I found these wonderful bright and cheerful vintage barkcloth curtains for a whopping $1.98 for the pair. Besides my signature cerulean blue, yellow is my next favorite color. I love to use it in a room because it makes even the darkest and dullest day seem as if a ray or two of sunshine has come my way. The color is a brighter yellow than the photo here suggests. They were horribly filthy so their first stop when I got home was the tub filled with cold water and oxyclean. YIKES! The water looked like Lake Okeechobee with all the tannin in it. The second wash made them nice and bright, a steaming press when they were dry and here they are.

The next picture is another find for my space. Because this is a park model mobile home, which means it is a large camping trailer that is meant to be parked long term rather than pulled from RV resort or state park to the next, everything in it is panelled. This room is what used to be the bedroom [before a room was built on] and it has one wall of built in drawers and 2 small cabinet closets. These will be painted sage green with tropical vines hand painted on them.

I was thrilled to find these wonderful frog pulls at the Habitat for Humanity thrift shop. The pulls for the drawers are tree frogs on branches. I think they are going to be just the right touch for my little tropical 50’s funky hideaway.

Clean work space!

| JP Dawes Artist


Here is a pix of my little work space, aka, studio . It’s all cleaned up and ready to sleep for the winter. I won’t even show you the boxes and boxes that are going to my little work room in Texas. I think I nearly divided it in half including taking more than one machine. A girls gotta be prepared you know.

My fabrics are behind the curtains to keep them from light fading. I have north light in this 14 ft. wall of windows which is really nice when working on the design wall on the opposite side of the room. The cabinet has all my ‘wet’ supplies such as dyes, paints, brushes, tubs, etc. There really doesn’t seem to be enough space….ever….but then I force myself to edit and purge. I keep two different kinds of fabrics here: art quilt supplies and traditional supplies. I try to do one charity quilt each month for my guild. I’m behind right now but have those packed to finish in Texas.

This is my trusty Singer 401 all put to bed. I love this machine. It will do almost everything a computerized machine can do without ever worrying about the mother board blowing up. [Yes, I had that happen last year while in Texas.] This year I am taking an extra vintage Singer with me to live in Texas. I packed up my 99K and all the attachments. This is a 3/4 size shiny black gorgeous little machine that truly purrs.

I started using vintage machines many years ago out of economic necessity. They are fun to collect but one of the best things is that I can repair them myself. I can adjust them, tear them apart and put them back together. They are sort of like vintage cars that people like to tinker with. Sometimes I have to call Ron to put a screw in or take one out if my arthritic hands aren’t cooperating that day. He’s a jewel for that. I think he’s happy that I don’t ask him to learn all about them. The most he got involved with restoring my treadle was carrying the irons in the house for me.

So here I sit, with no projects on the design wall, nothing sitting next to the machine to stitch, no piles of fabrics being auditioned for something new and let me tell you it is STRRRESSSSSSSFUUULLLLLL. I will just have to focus my mind on virtual art, ponder pieces that are WIP and let my hands rest and recuperate. Moving house every 6 months gives me time to do a lot of soul searching about what is important to me; to be thankful that I have wonderful friends, family , a roof over my head, plenty to eat and my health allows me to continue with art even if it is on a limited basis.