The Brooke Nook

I've been waiting to reveal the special little space I have been working on in my house. The truth is that the space isn't finished yet, and I didn't want to show it off until it was looking all cute and fully spiffy. The rest of the truth is that I've been too busy enjoying the space to take the time to finish decorating it. I know myself well enough to know that it probably won't be spit shined any time soon, so I'm letting you peek into my unfinished, unpainted corner. :-)

a.k.a. "The Brooke Nook".

I revamped a corner of our master bedroom and created a quilting studio. (Buzzard is a saint.) I like to call it a "studio" because it sounds so official and legit. Like my mad sewing skills somehow qualify me as someone worthy of a dedicated space to chop up fabric scraps. But hey, ever since we moved the baby out of our room and into her own, this space has gone largely unused. (Unless you count the cute chairs that used to be there to hold all the laundry that was waiting to be put away.)

My favorite thing about this new space is that I can leave my projects set up all the time, so when I have a spare moment or two I can sit down and work. I didn't have that luxury when I was sewing at the kitchen table, because my mojo got disrupted every time someone wanted to do something crazy like eat dinner.

Now that I have a STUDIO, I can go about my business of preparing both Kraft mac and cheese and half square triangles, simultaneously and completely unhindered. :-)

The desks, shelves, and drawers came from Ikea. (You can read about it here.) I found that fabulous chair at an office supply store. Dang if it isn't uncomfortable, heavy to move, and the absolute wrong height. Of course, I didn't know any of those things when I bought it, but I'm so dearly in love with it's astounding cuteness that it is staying. Forever. Form before function. :-)

I have lots of storage for my PhD's. (Projects half done.) I can now hide them away in style. The grand plan is to make a black and white skirt to go around the outside of the table, to cover up those ugly plastic drawers and all the dangling cords that make me crazy. I also have some black picture frames to hang on the wall with black and white family photos. That will get done as soon as the room gets painted, which, in my defense, has been understandably delayed since Sherwin Williams decided to offer me 914 shades of green. And brown. (Or do I like that lone blue one???)

My shelf holds my design books and folders, and the corner holds my netbook for pulling up quilt blogs! Henrietta is posted in the other corner, guarding the snacks.

This is the star of the show. Her name is Big Ethel, and she came to town on Santa's sleigh. (The trunk of my mother's Toyota!) She is a dream machine, on all accounts, and she was the most wonderful surprise ever!!!!!!!

My favorite feature is the automatic thread cutter. It's one of those luxuries you wonder how you ever lived without. She's fast and accurate and smooth, and she cuts thread. She's a total package. :-)

I'm learning how to punch all her buttons, and in the process, she's punching a few of mine! It's a learning curve, but she can do all sorts of wonderful things that will give me yearssssss of creative license. In my studio. :-)

Just this morning I had an urgent request to perform emergency surgery. I had help.

Thankfully, our patient pulled through just fine, and now one of our very favorite friends is as good as new. Except with a pierced ear.

So, if I'm not schooling, or cooking, or driving to various activities, or searching for missing basketball uniform components, or wandering around with my camera, this is where you'll find me. In my very own little nook. Snipping...

...sorting...

...and stacking!...

I'm one lucky girl. :-)