Here is my happy place! It’s my temporary happy place. Many of you know that we are building…and living in a lovely 5th wheel on the property. It’s a long process and one that I cannot survive without my happy place. I have 16’x20′ of creative space, and I use every inch I can find to hold as much as it can to feed my creative juices.
Come inside! And enjoy the tour.
Every time I enter, my design wall greets me with the current project. At the moment, I’ve got a pieced batting hiding what’s beneath it…something to be revealed at a later date.
Looking to the left after coming through the door is my cutting table and sewing area. The desk has a terrific keyboard area that slides out, which allows me to have my machine at the perfect level and great space behind it for all that passes under the needle.
While standing in front of the third most important work area, I turn around and can reach the cutting table and the tools stored away inside that dark brown box. Thread and patterns and books and bolts. All within reach.
She covers a lot of floor space, but oh my do I ever use up every bit of storage I can beneath her. Yes, I name my machines. Pfelicity Pfaff has big shoes to pfill, and she hums away quite nicely.
These pictures were taken several days ago, and my cute happy place looks much different as I work. I am in truth what is know as a “messy”, not a “tidy”. I believe creative people truly are “messies”. It’s what allows our brains to search outside the box, so to speak. I need that freedom to make a mess in order to find the groove, to reach beyond what might be hidden away and discover or uncover the next thing that will inspire me. It’s like opening a present or reaching to the bottom of a drawer or box to find the perfect “next” facet of my idea. Sometimes I feel quite like Mary Poppins and her carpet bag…reaching all the way in with my fanny up in the air grabbing for the potted plant in order to see that perfect shade of green and the perfect curve of the leaf in order to bring that into the top I am creating or the quilt I am long arming. (Isn’t the minds eye a marvelous thing to explore!) And then…before I know it…the project is finished and it’s time for the next one.
Every time I start a project, regardless of whom it is for, I clean up and put things away from the previous project. I have to. I don’t currently have the space to simply let things lay and work around them. I wouldn’t be able to find anything! When everything is back in it’s place, the trash emptied and the floor swept, I can begin again. It’s what makes my brain happy. I know where everything is, and have just enough room to work. I need to begin with a peaceful and organized space. Then, as the whirling dervish that I am, my creative self takes over and my carpet bag moments begin again. A clean and tidy work area is like a new canvas to me. A place to bring out the fabrics and threads and patterns, put them up on my design wall and audition things, and a way to imagine how to bring things into being from an idea.
What is your happy place? What is important to you to have at your fingertips? Do you like certain sounds, or smells or colors to inspire you? Do you listen to music, or audio books, or television to keep you company or to have something in the background as your creative self plays in the foreground? Are you a tidy or a messy? What brings you joy??
For me—I use my laptop to connect me to Amazon Prime, or Netflix, or Britbox or Acorn TV. I use it to play DVD’s or audio books or music. And I use a wireless headset so I can hear both what is playing as well as my machines. Each machine has a specific sound that I’m in tune with, because when they aint happy, they let you know toot sweet! Right now, I’m working through all the seasons of JAG. But NCIS and Stargate and Downton Abbey and Poldark and all of the Star Trek TV spinoffs have been recently viewed. It’s an eclectic mix to be sure, but that’s me to a tee.
It’s important to know these things. I believe that once you find your happy place, regardless of its size, dimension or place, you find an inner peace that will radiate to others. Your happiness spills over to others, and they become inspired. It’s a gift we all can share. It makes me continually happy, and I find great satisfaction in living my life this way.
Thanks for stopping by and taking the tour! What is your happy place? I’d love to hear about it!
And as always…may your bobbins never be empty!