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Sunday, January 27, 2013

Ironing Station

DH has been very busy working on my sewing room set up. He made this ironing station for me. I have been wanting a large, rectangular ironing space to replace my ironing board. Traditional ironing boards are shaped to iron shirts and blouses, not quilts or yardage of fabric. I think my new ironing station is perfect.
The shelf unit was under $16 at Target. We bought one sheet of 3/4" plywood for around $18 at Lowe's. They cut it for us. I decided to have it 30" deep by 72" wide. I can reach all the way to the back and it should be wide enough to hold any quilt top or yardage I need to iron. I bought the cover fabric a couple years ago when it was on sale with this project in mind. I don't remember how much I spent on the fabric. I put four layers of cotton batting on the board. The bottom-most layer was pieced from scraps, not sewn together, just laying side by side without overlapping. I bought a king size batting from Joann's for the other three layers.  We pulled the fabric and batting to the back, I trimmed the batting a bit and we stapled it to the plywood. The top is not attached to the shelves. It stays because of its weight. It is very sturdy. I have already put my containers of charm packs on the shelf. I am also going to be resorting my fabric and pulling my backing fabric yardage out of my color sorted containers. I think it will be more useful for me to see what backing pieces I have instead of having to sort through every container by color when I am looking for larger pieces.  All in all, this was a relatively inexpensive solution to replace the ironing board in my sewing room. The ironing board is now where it belongs. It is in the linen closet waiting until the next time I iron a shirt. Don't hold your breath.

He also came up with a nice set up for machine side pressing. I have seen many ideas online to make a TV tray into an ironing surface. I find that a bit small. When the iron sits on that surface, there isn't much pressing area. He came up with this solution:
He attached one of those small ironing boards to the TV tray. This gives me a bit more space so I can have room for my iron and a pressing space. He is very clever. I haven't shared with you yet about my favorite iron.

Here it is. It is a Continental brand and I bought it from Amazon for $15. I love it. Why do I love this iron so much? Look at this:
No holes on the sole plate. I know that quilters fall into two camps: steamers and non-steamers. I am a confirmed non-steamer. I never use steam when I am piecing. I always found the steam holes on the sole plate of my other iron (which is now retired to the linen closet with the ironing board) to be a nuisance. When pressing seams, corners of pieces often got pulled by one of those holes and I would have to repress. I am easily annoyed. The last straw was when I was trying to press the back of my 365 scrap houses quilt. I would straighten out one place, only to have another pulled in a way I didn't intend. That problem is now solved.

My sewing room now has a couple new smells that I hope will disappear soon. I got a new cutting mat for Christmas. It has that new plastic smell...dare I say it is a bit skunky smelling? OK, I said it. It smells skunky. Now I have added to that the smell of fresh wood. A lot of people might actually like that smell, but I don't. I never seem to run out of things to complain about. Sorry.

The smells haven't kept me away from my machine, though. I gave a peek at a couple of the first blocks in my last post. I have completed the blocks for the Twelve Trees wallhanging using Oakshott cottons. I got the fabric and instructions here. Here is the arrangement I have come up with.
Today I will be getting the rows put together. I keep thinking about how I will quilt this. I think the fabric is definitely the star here, so I want to be subtle with the quilting. I could just do stitch in the ditch, but for some reason, that doesn't seem to be settling the question for me. More thinking to do. Any suggestions?

I will be linking up with Let's Get Acquainted Blog here. Hope you join us.

Thanks for stopping by.


25 comments:

TBL said...

"... waiting until the next time I iron a shirt. Don't hold your breath."
Haha! This is totally me: I have never in my life ironed as much as I have since I started quilting. And I have only ironed one shirt since November. ;)

That table is wonderful. I like the fact that you can take the top off when not in use -- makes for more space in the room.

Foster said...

What a wonderful ironing station! Your husband is super nice to help you set it all up. I love the quilt you are working on. Is that your own pattern or did you find it somewhere. If so, where? Stopping by from Plum and June.

Anonymous said...

Hehe the only reason I have an iron is because I couldn't finger press all those seams.
That's a great big ironing board.

Shan said...

Love the ironing station. We will be looking for a house of our own at the end of the year. Can't wait to have a sewing room that I can fix up. I have very little room now.

The domestic Groove said...

I love the ironing station and love, love, love the tree quilt!
http://thedomesticgroove.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

I am so pinning this!

heart of charnwood said...

That looks like a fabulous new set-up, I'm v. jealous, I can't wait until we move and I can have a proper grown up space of my own like this! Good work and enjoy it. Visiting from Plum and Junes Link Up. Ange : )

Marelize Ries said...

I really like the board, that is the one thing I still need for my sewing room, except for loads and loads of fabric, he he....

Marelize Ries said...

Me again.. I was looking for an email address to contact you, plz remember to add either the blog button to your sidebar, or text link inside your post... thanks again ♥

Kelly Vetch said...

Hey! I love that ironing station and the iron. I am a non-steamer as well and see the benefits of a solid bottom. Hope the stink leaves your room soon :p

ChristaQuilts said...

Wow - what a great setup!

Stella Nemeth said...

I love your large pressing surface. What a creative way to get the large, home made, rectangular top up to the height you need it to be, without paying $200 to do it.

Aoife said...

Your 12 trees wallhanging is fabulous! I have no advice on quilting, though something wavy and organic (nothing sharp or angular) might work well for the natural subject matter?? Found you through Stitch by Stitch's Anything Goes linky :)

joe tulips said...

That ironing station is sweet! I am a steamer. I know what you mean about seams moving though. I love the trees!

Karin said...

Love the trees...that is just gorgeous. In terms of quilting...maybe some unobtrusive swirls in the background in a colour that blends in. For the sashing you could then just sew 1/4" lines on either side of the sashing ...that would then act as a frame for each tree. Whatever you do, this will look fantastic.

Jessica said...

Great idea! Love that! We got a huge ironing board as a wedding gift, and it helps a little, but I would love what you have! Your trees are amazing!

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

Love your trees! If it were me - I might try to quilt in some "leaves" - very subtle - something to see when you look at it up close - ;))

Cynthia@wabisabiquilts said...

Your ironing station is fabulous - thanks for giving so much detail about how you accomplished it - I want to keep this in mind for when I have a sewing room again.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful idea! I have the frame from an old barbecue that has two shelves under neath it and I think this would be perfect. I also have a smaller ironing board and was getting ready to donate it but now I think I can keep it and use it. Thanks for the fantastic tips.

tealeafquilts said...

SUPER! I have that same iron and love it! I bought a wide body ironing board from Walmart for about $45. It has a rest on the side for the iron. Since I don't have a lot of space, it works fine for me. Not ironing big quilts though. Yours is special!

Lesley said...

Love this post...Out of curiosity, how did he attach the small ironing board to the TV tray?
Thanks for sharing!

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

Thank you so much for your detailed instructions. My hubby has finally agreed to make me one with an old cabinet as the base. I will be taking care of making the iron board top. Did you use regular cotton or a thicker material?

Unknown said...

I saw where you used a TV tray/table to place a smaller ironing board onto of, I used my TV table, put a few layers of batting and covered with fabric. I can fold it up when not in use and store it away...

Linda Mason said...

Thank you so much for sharing this great blog.Very inspiring and helpful too.Hope you continue to share more of your ideas.I will definitely love to read. best-ironing-boards

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Very Informative, thanks for shearing it. small sewing machine