Back in March of 2020, I expanded my studio and moved all of my fabrics onto open shelves and LOVED being able to see everything at one time….

I was concerned about the damage that light would do so added curtain rods and sheer curtains over the front….

I liked that I could still see the fabrics thru the curtains but, as time went on, I started to worry about whether the thin fabric was providing any protection to the fabric.

Last week I decided that it was time to correct this problem……but HOW!!

I thought about adding heavier curtains but they would be hard to move out of the way when I wanted to get to the fabric.

I looked at “room-darkening” fabric that I could use to make the curtains, but again, it was stiff and pretty ugly.

Then, I was doing my weekly grocery shop at Walmart and happened to walk down the bathroom aisle. I was super excited to find this…..

….a lightweight, PRETTY shower curtain that would protect the fabric and look nice doing it!!

I also purchased shower curtain hooks and tried them out…..

….but they left too large of a gap at the top.

I solved this in two ways….firstly I moved the curtain rod up about 1.5 inches and secondly, I used 1-inch book-rings (sold in office supplies) to hang the curtains.

I made a few alterations to the curtains to make them the proper width and height, and then stepped back and enjoyed the view…..

Not a bit of that sun is reaching the fabric!!

AND…..they are light enough to hook over the rod ends when I want to see what is on the shelves….

I am superbly happy with this solution!!

I wonder if my studio is “finished” now??

A little over 11 weeks after moving everything out of my studio, I can say that EVERYTHING is finished and back in order and that creating can begin again!!!!

And that deserves a HALLELUJAH!!!!

The actual construction took a bit over 3 weeks and I have spent the last 7-1/2 weeks putting everything back into place, with most time being spent at the ironing board, working thru all of the fabrics.

The cleaning and organizing process might have been faster if I had kept this advice…..

But today, I put the last piece onto the shelves and did the final re-organization. This is the rainbow result….

In the end, I moved the fabric stacks around some to get the colors that I use more often in the easiest spots. I also found that some of the earlier colors were stacked too high, meaning that it was really hard to get things in and out of the cubbies. So, as I moved things around I also split some into shorter stacks.

The shelves on the far right contain boxes of unfinished projects. I am hoping that, if they are out in the open, I might actually get them finished……time will tell!!!

My room is now divided into two areas…. cutting and sewing……

• 

• 

Here is a wide view of the entire room. Enjoy it now because it will NEVER be this clean again…..

My first project is a Quilt-of-Valor using one of the patterns that I showed last week…..

It was so much fun to finally start using the room in the manner in which it was intended…..

• 

• 

….although I was a bit nervous and wondered if I really remembered how to cut and piece!!!

It was a relief to find out that I did remember the basics!!!

While happily ironing and folding the last of the green fabrics, I came across a Corona Virus fabric…….

I wonder….should I socially distance it from the others. I mean, it COULD go on a shelf by itself!!!

I have now finished the greens……

…..and am about 3/4 of the way finished with the browns!!!

My friend, Sue, reminded me that I didn’t HAVE to finish folding before I could start on a project. But I honestly think that something this mindless is the perfect thing to do to relax from a day in my office!!!!

I am really happy with how the first set of shelves looks……

When it is all finished I plan to do some rearranging so that the colors that I use most are the easiest to get to!!!

Hope you are finding enjoyable things to do while you are sheltering in place!!!