Thursday, November 07, 2013

Cake and Sewing



It's definitely November out there. Rainy. Windy. Foggy. Makes me glad for a cup of tea and a little bit of comfort food. Like the Pumpkin Cranberry Cake above. I make it at least a couple of times a year and it never disappoints. The link will take you to the recipe. 


Just keeping it real, here. I have a lovely sewing room upstairs. My fabric is stored in the closet, a dresser is full of supplies, there's a wonderful large desk and a bright window. But you know where I like to sew? In the dining room. Yep. When I have a major project or want to do a lot of sewing, I haul my machine and supplies downstairs. Then I clean it all up on the weekend and haul it all down again on Monday morning. Or Sunday afternoon. 

I find myself running upstairs from time to time for a bit of interfacing or a special tool. But I don't mind. As far as efficiency goes, my back thanks me for being highly inefficient. More movement = less back pain and that's a good thing. (as a side note, my back issues are not serious, but chronic and a result of a bit of scoliosis) 

So today, there are stacks of fabric on the dining room chairs, a wastebasket beside my sewing chair and threads all over the carpet. But I'm having fun and I feel like I'm in the middle of things where I can see out the front window and out the back through the corner windows in the dining room. And I'm closer to tea and cake.

Where do you like to craft/sew/putter? In a dedicated studio or in the middle of the house? 

24 comments:

  1. I'm a bit like you, Lorrie. I have a sewing place....but so often I bring everything into my kitchen!

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  2. I too am lucky enough to have a small room of my own for my crafty bits and pieces and I do sometimes work there but I often do as you do and take whatever I am working on somewhere else depending on whether it is portable or not. I like to do hand stitching in the conservatory where it is light and I feel as if I am outside in the garden, sometimes I sew or knit in the garden but this time of year I often work in the kitchen. Anywhere that takes my fancy really. Your cake looks delicious.

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  3. As I'm not a seamstress, I can't comment on that. I do men on occasion and it is usually in the chair in my bedroom. :)
    I can comment on back issues, unfortunately, and know that too much sitting is not good for that issue.
    Your cake looks yummy! I just bought a bag of cranberries and 3 cans of pumpkin. Since I need something to do with them, I'm off to check out your recipe.

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  4. Yikes, should have proofread!! Should have said I do menD. Oh my goodness what a huge difference one letter can make!! Blushing profusely here.

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  5. I am in the crafting mode today too,,,and just posted my before n after of my scrapbook room. I have to admit, if I didn't mind cleaning up the mess, I would probably spread myself out all over the dining room table as well! Although, I have spilled out of the scrapbook room onto the old pool table that is downstairs!! I am off to a card making class this afternoon and then hope to finish up a few more pages on Ben's hockey book before my week of holidays is over. Have a wonderful day and the tea an cake looks delicious!!

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  6. Oh dear!! Just read Happy@Home's first comment and her correct!! Too funny!! I had to laugh out loud on that one!! :)

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  7. Ha, timely post for me because I actually sewed for a few hours yesterday. I don't have a craft room so it's out in the middle of the living room. Your table top looks a lot like mine did! Everything is put away now and all the bits of thread and fabric are vacuumed up! That cake looks real good!
    How about that wind today? It's really whipping around today and the last of the leaves are sure to fall.

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  8. I just finished up a couple of projects and I prefer the sewing room. It's fun being up there where everything is and where the radio is, too. I'm going back for the afternoon to clean up my mess. You have me wondering what you're making. The cake looks yummy...

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  9. Oh boy! That cake sounds delicious! I have a craft room on the main floor so I usually make messes there...and then close the door. ;))

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  10. Anonymous10:43 AM

    I have one area in the guest bedroom that is my sewing area and I usually sew there. But when I'm knitting or doing crochet I get what I need from the craft closet and take it to where I like to work ... either the living room watching tv in the evenings or outside on the deck in the summer.
    Wondering what projects you are working on?

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  11. Given I live in a small bungalow, the tea kettle is never far away, Lorrie. I knit in the living room or in a bedroom that I`ve set up as a TV room. My new-ish desk is in the spare bedroom and that's where I envision sitting and doing other little projects. I just have to decide which ones!

    I'll look forward to you showing your new creation(s).

    -Karen

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  12. Well closer to tea and cake... that's the place to be!
    I have an extra room turned studio. Worked for months getting it just so... almost just so. Still a little more to hang on the walls, but all of my "stuff" has a place now and best of all, I can find it! HA!

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  13. I feel as though I got a little visit at your place, a peek into the sewing room along with cake and a chat. Thank you!

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  14. haha, je vois que le mauvais temps dehors est favorable aux activités d'intérieur, dont la couture ! C'est aussi mon cas ici, cet après-midi au lieu de travailler je me suis dit "juste quelques carrés à assembler" et finalement j'y ai passé quelques heures, parce que j'ai aussi rangé mon coin couture. J'ai fini par abandonner l'endroit que je m'étais réservé parce qu'avec le temps, je n'ai plus eu envie d'accumuler le tissu, les projets inachevés... donc j'ai fait un grand tri et là j'utilise tout ce que j'ai accumulé au fil des années. Le bureau où je travaille n'est pas confortable donc le mal de dos, je connais, mais bientôt je ferai l'acquisition d'une table spacieuse et confortable.
    Ton gâteau a vraiment l'air délicieux, et c'est vrai que par le temps qu'il fait il paraît tout à fait approprié. Je te souhaite un bon vendredi et un bon week-end.

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  15. I have this gorgeous studio upstairs, but you know where I work...on the kitchen table. Well in it's defense the light is better downstairs. And I am so used to working on the kitchen table, that I guess it's old habits dying hard.

    Jen

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  16. Great looking cake!

    I don't have a dedicated crafting/sewing room, so I do sew at the table in the kitchen. It can get annoying but it is good for me to right in the middle of things here at home! When I am an empty nester, I plan to have one of the rooms as a sewing room. I like the idea of having a place to contain my mess, listen to music or a speaker…the kind of thing that's harder to do in the middle of the house!

    Deanna

    Deanna

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  17. I don't craft or sew but I do blog and putter in our living/dining rooms. They have the biggest windows and most light and I can enjoy the sunshine (when it's out) and see what the weather is doing, watch the birds and be handy the tea and cookies. The latter is very important. :) Your cake looks so good!
    Hugs,
    Pam

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  18. Cake and a cup of tea go hand in hand whenever I'm crafting. These days is mostly making cards in my basement area that hubby has helped me create. It's an unfinished section but with lots of shelves and lighting I'm comfortable working there.
    I enjoyed looking over your sewing tools & supplies.

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  19. This post made me chuckle. I can understand the pull, back and forth. I have a very large studio room on the second floor, and it is nicely equipped with everything I could possibly need. But my computer/office are on the first floor. So if I spend time in one space, it is at the expense of the other space. And no, I don't want to put the computer/office in my studio because then I would be faced with going up and down the dreaded stairway multiple times a day.

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  20. Funny -- I have my own office at home, a good-sized desk with my computer, lots of bookshelves full of books, a comfortable armchair. . . But when I have a stack of marking to get through, I most often end up at the kitchen table. . . .I'm not sure why that is, but I just gravitate to that space, although I then have to be careful that I don't complain about noise from the other inhabitant of the house. . . ;-)

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  21. Ahhh... I enjoyed this very much. And I'm like you, I'm oft schlepping my stuff into the larger, sunnier spaces in my house. Which is the living/dining room. I love writing out my Christmas cards with piles of cards all around me on the dining table. (If you recall a past post of mine, my dream study has a huge table or desk and the room is full of light from all the windows... so that's where I head to in my house. My study is only full of light during late summer afternoons.)

    Have fun..... hopefully we'll get to see some of the projects in works?

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  22. Too funny! I have a bedroom in our house that we call my office. I am trying so hard to keep the mess in there, but really I love working in the dining room too. Before you know it my mess is sprawled all over the dining room table. I am smiling! The cranberry cake looks delicious and I just bought fresh cranberries.

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  23. I have a studio just right for crafting - and yet sometimes I like to work in the dining room or living room. Especially the living room if I am doing handwork - I can see out the two big front windows - though I do have a lovely, large window in the studio too. That cake looks delicious - I must try it.

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  24. I have an extra room upstairs, but have opted to set up my sewing space in the room just off the kitchen. It's crowded in there -- I share space with a large lego collection and Miss S's toys -- but, like you, I prefer working in the heart of the house, not up in the hinterland.

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