Ann's Studio

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Ann spent many hours in her studio, so it was a good thing that she reallocated one of the guest rooms towards that purpose. At first she was reluctant to do so, having just gone through the ordeal of treatment for her breast cancer. But ultimately she decided that it would be a good investment for future quilt work, as well as a serious morale booster for her to do it. She got more than five fruitful years of use out of the room that had some very helpful features.

On the East side, she had her 'design wall'. This consisted of a foam core type material covered in flannel. The combination let her temporarily put things up, then pin them in place for longer term experimenting.

The South wall consisted entirely of bookcases floor to ceiling. With many shelves in them, this permitted her to have her fabric readily available for selection and later refiling.

The West wall was windows to provide natural afternoon lighting. (She rarely arose early to work on quilts or anything else for that matter. She was much more likely to stay up until the wee hours of the morning working on a project.)

The North wall was storage for projects in process as well as notes, magazines, reference books, slides and pictures of her works, and some flannel and inner-facing.

In the center of the room, she had two sewing machines: the Singer that she talked her mom out of that she used for many piecing jobs; and a newer Bernina that she used for zig-zag and other fancy stitches.

And last, but definitely not least, there was the TV and radio. Many a summer day she would work on quilts while listening to baseball games. For this reason, October was probably the most traumatic time of year for her as it meant the end of Baseball for nearly 6 months. Later at night, she would also watch such TV classics as I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show and other favorites.


		Ann's Studio [To navigate around this QuickTime/VR scene, drag with the mouse inside the window.] Ann spent many hours in her studio, so it was a good thing that she reallocated one of the guest rooms towards that purpose. At first she was reluctant to do so, having just gone through the ordeal of treatment for her breast cancer. But ultimately she decided that it would be a good investment for future quilt work, as well as a serious morale booster for her to do it. She got more than five fruitful years of use out of the room that had some very helpful features. On the East side, she had her 'design wall'. This consisted of a foam core type material covered in flannel. The combination let her temporarily put things up, then pin them in place for longer term experimenting. The South wall consisted entirely of bookcases floor to ceiling. With many shelves in them, this permitted her to have her fabric readily available for selection and later refiling. The West wall was windows to provide natural afternoon lighting. (She rarely arose early to work on quilts or anything else for that matter. She was much more likely to stay up until the wee hours of the morning working on a project.) The North wall was storage for projects in process as well as notes, magazines, reference books, slides and pictures of her works, and some flannel and inner-facing. In the center of the room, she had two sewing machines: the Singer that she talked her mom out of that she used for many piecing jobs; and a newer Bernina that she used for zig-zag and other fancy stitches. And last, but definitely not least, there was the TV and radio. Many a summer day she would work on quilts while listening to baseball games. For this reason, October was probably the most traumatic time of year for her as it meant the end of Baseball for nearly 6 months. Later at night, she would also watch such TV classics as I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show and other favorites.
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