QUILTsocial Spring 2015 Issue | Page 58

! Waiter, there’s a quilt pin in my soup So, a diner calls over the server and says: “Waiter, there’s a quilt pin in my soup.” No, it’s not a joke; there’s no punchline. It’s the reality of anyone who uses a table where family and friends gather to indulge in the passion for quilting. From now on, guess what’s not coming to dinner? Pins. I’m no longer using the dining room as a cutting and design surface. Dinner guests are, in a word, relieved. A bit of history here: I’m a life-long maker of stuff. I have made room for making for as long as I can remember. By the time I was 16, I had a machine that did zigzag stitches and a sewing area in the family’s recreation room. When I moved out on my own, I had turned my machine into a portable dynamo that could create anything, anywhere, at anytime. Back then, I was sewing clothes, making curtains or cushions to disguise the ever deteriorating condition of my sofa bed. Most of my sewing stuff had to fit into a corner of a closet, in a plastic storage tote. Then, I discovered quilting and other creative sewing. My collection of stash fabric and notions exploded. I know, I don’t have to explain. By then, we had our first house. It was small and had few multipurpose areas. The kitchen also became my sewing room, and the kitchen table often played host to my creative pursuits. That’s when I discovered the necessity of a magnetic pin wand. I needed to pick up errant pins before the sock clad feet of guests and family members found them. There was mention made of giving up creative pursuits for lack of space. I would have none of it, and did my best to avoid the unwelcome dinner pins. Fast forward to now. Finally, I’ve a sewing space that’s almost all my own. Technically it’s a den, but really, it’s a poorly insulated, over-the-garage bedroom. But, it also has almost floor-toceiling windows. My sewing studio is sort of cold in the winter, and way too hot in the summer, but it’s all mine. If it has any real flaws at all, it’s that there’s no room for a cutting table — or so I thought. Enter the Studio Collection Home Hobby and Design Table g&