The Whimsical Workshop, LLC is a full-service design studio and retailer. We specialize in designing a large range of quilting patterns and fabrics. We also offer lectures and workshops about quilting and design internationally. The Whimsical Workshop products are available worldwide through their website:
www.thewhimiscalworkshop.com.
Make sure to check them out on YouTube, Instagram and Facebook through the links on their website.
Wow, I can't believe it's almost the end of 2020! And what a year it's been. For many of us who have spent so many months inside, our New Years Resolutions are probably an interesting mix of wanting to get out and socialize more, but also find new ways to keep our homes and studio spaces clean, organized and easily accessible.
I'm a big believer in the power of an organized space to make hobbies more fun. If you know where everything is, can reach all of the tools you might need, and your main crafting space is clean when you walk in, it's that much easier to enjoy what you're working on.
To that end, I've curated a playlist of videos that are all about organizing your quilting/sewing craft space. Together we'll walk through how to store your fabric stash and your rulers, tips for getting organized before starting a new project, how to keep things together when you're in the middle of a project, and ways to sort and store small notions. I'll take you through a tour of how I've personally set up my studio so that the space works best for me, and I'll share lots of secret tips I've learned throughout my many years of working in the fabric and quilting world.
Hopefully these tips and tricks are helpful if you're looking to re-organize your space for the coming New Year!
To start off, let's take a 360 degree look at my own personal studio space!
A really important step in keeping your sewing and quilting space clean and enjoyable to work in, is to find a way of organizing all of your tools and supplies that really works for you. Everyone's space is unique and might have different storage or space limitations. Take a moment to really think about your space - the kinds of projects you like to work on, the tools you reach for the most, how much room there is for storage, etc. Your space doesn't have to look like anyone else's, as long as it serves you and your needs!
Ah yes, the famous fabric stash... I absolutely love collecting new fabrics, and personally don't see a problem since they're all different patterns and colors, from different designers, and clearly I need them all! However finding a place to put all of it away in my studio space has been an ongoing adventure. I like being able to see what I have already so that it can inspire me to work on new projects, but I also don't want big piles of fabric laying around and taking up space. If you also have a fabric stash, here are the ways I've chosen to organize mine!
My other big collection is of rulers. There are so many different rulers for creating all kinds of unique block shapes, angles, and designs. I really enjoy working with rulers and having them right at my fingertips so that I can reach for the right one quickly and easily. While most may not have quite as many rulers as I do, you probably have more than you realize! They're easy to collect as you work your way through different patterns and blocks, and pretty soon you've got quite the collection. So how do I keep my rulers organized? Let's take a look!
And what about all of those smaller notions that we need for our projects? Sometimes finding ways to sort and store smaller things can be even trickier because there are so many options. Do you keep your binding clips in a little box on their own, or in a drawer with pins and bobbins? One of my favorite tips for sewing machine feet, Cricut wheels and even bobbins, is to use a bait box. I get mine from Amazon and I love how they're stackable and have little compartments that keep all of the different pieces from getting tangled/damaged.
Now that we've found the right home for all of our fabric and tools, how do we organize ourselves for a new quilt project before we even begin? I think this is the most important step in any project. While it takes a bit of time upfront, it can save you so much time later on down the road. It's almost impossible to get all the way through a quilt top pattern in one sitting, and it can be so easy to forget which step you're on or which piece of fabric you're working with next. Take the time now to pre-cut and label your fabric, make sure you have a box big enough to store all of your larger pieces and pattern.
If you have unfinished projects sitting around in your space that you've been meaning to get to, or feel overwhelmed by, you're in good company! It happens to all of us. On average in my studio, I'm working on anywhere from 20-30 different projects at a time so I have to keep track of a lot of moving parts and pieces. I'm excited to share with you the methods that I've developed over the years because I think they're helpful whether you're working on one project, or ten at a time.
Thank you so much for sticking around and I hope I've been able to share some useful tips and tricks with you. If there's an aspect of your space that you're working on organizing that we didn't cover in this series, please email me at heidi@thewhimsicalworkshop.com or leave a comment down below! I'd love to come up with more ways to help you keep your space clean, productive and enjoyable!
Hi everyone! My name is Sarah, and I work at The Whimsical Workshop behind the scenes doing social media writing, scheduling and posting, etc. While I've been working with Heidi a lot since March when I lost my full time position in Marketing, the truth is that I've been circling around the studio for most of my life. Heidi's husband and my father are cousins, but Heidi has always been much more of an older cousin, best friend and mentor to me. When I was 7 or so, she took me for a ride in her bright red convertible and no one has ever been as cool in my eyes since that day!
While I'm not very talented behind a sewing machine, I did work for a major fabric company for three years and learned a lot about this whole wonderful world from a unique perspective. I feel it prepared me really well for the work I now get to do for the studio, and I'm so grateful to have had that opportunity.
When Heidi asked me to pull together a list of some of my favorite quilts, I was honored and overwhelmed. They're all my favorites in some way because they were designed by one of my favorite people; so how could I choose?! I quickly got to work narrowing it down to a small set of 30. I'm still working on narrowing it down even more... But I'm so excited to share some of these with you and why I like them so much.
One of the perks of being related to a talented designer and studio owner like Heidi, is that I'm pretty high up in line to claim quilts that need a new home. My husband has also been enjoying that benefit, and has inherited an absolutely stunning quilt that tops my favorite list; Pencil Box. He's a middle school teacher and has this huge, kind of cold, classroom. Bringing in such a bright, fun quilt instantly lifted the room and made it a much more welcoming space. While his students are still learning remotely, I can't wait to hear about their reaction when they get to see it for themselves! All classrooms should have a quilt like this in my opinion.
And finally, the last quilt I'll share with you as one of my favorites, is this jaw-dropping stunner, Rising From the Ashes. This project will always have the most special of places in my heart because it was one of the first times Heidi and I got to collaborate as co-workers in a sense. I was working in the marketing department of the previously mentioned fabric company, and part of my job was to solicit pattern ideas from quilt designers and studios to showcase new fabric collections. We had this overwhelmingly large collection of Batik solids that were being re-branded and introduced back into the market and our initial idea was to ask Heidi to produce a quilt depicting a volcano erupting in color. Heidi came back and said that design wasn't really coming together and how would we feel about a rising phoenix instead? Of course we gave her the green light, but we had no idea just how amazing the finished product would turn out. The sample she made included a delicately placed crystal in the phoenix's eye and caught everyones attention immediately. It hung on the main entrance wall for months! I've tried to lay claim to Heidi's version whenever she's done with it, but I have a feeling I'll be fighting off everyone else in our family for it...
I've had so much fun sharing these quilts with you and talking a little bit about my life and experience working with Heidi. But I'd really love to hear about you and what are some of your favorite patterns from The Whimsical Workshop? Ones that you've already made or ones that you want to make? Tell me all about it in the comments!
Can you believe we’re on Month Six of the Blog Hop already? Time really flies when you’re having fun in the studio. Here’s a quick a look back at the blocks we designed for past months. Remember that the patterns and the SVG files are all available on our website, www.TheWhimsicalWorkshop.com!
This month’s block for the blog hop may be my favorite, but ssh don’t tell the others! I’m thrilled to introduce Puppy Love - this sweet guy is modeled after Macaroni Ahern (he even has his own Instagram page @Macaroni_Ahern). You may not know this about me, but I’m a huge dog lover. Currently I’m puppy-free, but this sweet guy belongs to Sarah, our Social Media Guru, so I borrowed him as inspiration for this design!
In this month’s video we walk through the process of uploading an SVG file, like the one used in Puppy Love,to the Cricut Design Space for quick and easy cutting. If you’ve never seen one of these machines in action, this a great sneak peek at how they operate. And if you’re a happy Cricut owner who has yet to try it out for quilting projects, let me show you the ropes! I also cover making the Puppy Love block and how to select the perfect threads.
Once everything’s been imported, it’s time to start cutting. If you do not have a Cricut maker, don’t worry, I have written the pattern for the traditional method as well, complete with templates.
Once all of our pieces are cut, it’s time to start assembly! For this block, we’re using an Appli-Fuse sheet, as well as the included placement drawings, to make up the treats bag and Puppy.
Once we have these two built, let’s add the finishing touches. First draw on the details using an iron out pen; then embroider along the drawn lines to add the toe lines and garland.
Once the lines are drawn, carefully add the hearts to the garland. I pressed up to the drawn line, but not over it since it is an iron-out pen. No worries if you “erase” part of the line, you can always re-draw it after pressing the little hearts down in place.
Now that we have our block assembled, it’s time to pick our favorite Aurifil threads for the finishing stitch and move to the sewing machine.
I selected hot pink to go around the hearts to really make them pop. Since the dog fills most of the image, I wanted give the hearts some more pizzazz so they aren’t overwhelmed. I also went with a more dull, dark brown to help outline the dog. As always, I am using Aurifil Cotton threads.
Now time for my favorite part – adding the edge stitching. If you don’t do this much, I recommend drawing a heart or star shape and fusing it to scrap fabric. Practice on this piece before jumping into the main piece. Edge stitching is just like quilting;you have to warm up before really starting on the piece.
For the final touch, add the embroidery details. I use my machine and a Triple Stitch setting to sew along the garland and toe details. You can hand embroider these as well. If you’re just starting out or don’t feel like doing embroidery, another option is to use a permanent marker like a Micron Pigma Pen and just go over the lines. Once you have drawn the lines in place, iron the drawn lines to set the ink. NOTE: Test the pen on a scrap piece of fabric first to make sure it will not bleed.
And just like that, you’re all finished!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s free block. Make sure to visit all the other designers on the Blog hop to collect your free Romance blocks!
Each month a group of top designers in the quilting industry will each create a FREE 12” block that fits the month’s theme and color palette. We will all post our blocks on the first Tuesday of the Month. You can hop from blog to blog to learn more about each designer and collect your free block pattern. This month’s theme is “Romance” and I created our sweet Puppy Love block for you. The pattern is available on our website. The Block Mania Blocks will only be available free of charge for the first two months afterwards they will be for sale for $5.00 as a digital download.
