Adding pieces to the puzzle

We live in a small house - maybe 700 sq ft - so finding space to do anything is a problem. It's even more of a problem when you need a large flat surface to cut material on. I could use the kitchen table, but it's usually occupied with my sewing machine, piles of cut material for projects, and whatever else we can squeeze on there. I was working on getting a bunch of material cut last week for future pieces and had to resort to using the top of our dryer in the laundry room (which is bigger than our bathroom and just a smidge smaller than Maddy's room) to cut. Not particularly easy when there's a rack full of not-quite-dry clothes to the immediate right, piles of neatly folded material on the washing machine on the left, and plastic storage tubs right behind. Small houses, while cozy and cheap, suck.

I was telling my mom about the issues I was having cutting material and she offered to get me a cutting board. I already had a self-healing cutting board that I thought I'd never use (it's turned into one of those things I can't imagine being without), but it's fairly small and virtually useless for the larger pieces of material I need to cut for the bags I've started making.

So on Saturday, my mom bought me a 36"x60" cutting board (not that brand, though... we got a Unique one). She had one when I was growing up that she stored in the kitchen with her sewing machine, and used it a lot because there were no self-healing cutting boards back then. Over time, it got lost or wrecked so she couldn't pass it on to me, so I got a brand new one.

(An aside - H.A. Kidd and Company is my favourite notions/supplies company... and not just because they're Canadian, but because they make damn good products.)

Another wonderful addition to my sewing life has been this:

A tackle box.

I had thought about getting a tool box to help keep all the bits and bobs I have in order, but none of the ones at the store seemed to fit my needs. And they were more expensive than the tackle box I did end up getting, which is also made of recycled plastic, so two birds, one stone and all that. I'm still working on a way to keep all the zippers in order (a safety pin through them all didn't work) but I like how everything has a place and I can see what I have without having to dig everything else out to find it.

I've got a pile of pieces I need to finish up before I can list them, but I'm aiming to have at least one piece in my shop every day. Whether or not that actually happens is another question, but it's nice to have something to aim for.