Today I’m excited to tell you about a fabulous new book, from my friend Lilo Bowman.
Lilo Bowman
Love Your Creative Space: A Visual Guide to Creating an Inspiring & Organized Studio Without Breaking the Bank is Lilo’s new title from C&T Publishing. It’s full of ideas, solutions, and creative ways to set aside and love your personal space for making.
Click here to buy Love Your Creative Space on Amazon.
So backing up a little, I first met Lilo when I was a guest on The Quilt Show with Alex Anderson and Ricky Tims. She’s used to working behind the scenes as a producer for the show but now I’m excited for her to be the star of the show with her new book and blog tour.
Click here to see the trailer for my Quilt Show episode.
Lilo helped keep me organized and ready to roll on filming day!
Love Your Creative Space is divided into My Stuff (we all have it!), My Space (tiny or large) and My System. It addresses the common needs of needlecrafters, but also covers many less common topics.
For example, how do you stay organized when you head out for a class or a retreat? How can or should your space be altered when life itself changes because of a move, an illness or just getting older? There are many ideas and suggestions, along with questions to help you analyze your own stuff, space and system.
I especially enjoyed the gallery of artist studios. One space has been adapted for its owner’s special needs after a stroke left her with partial paralysis. One space is especially compact. A third artist requires both dry and wet work spaces!
If you work in more than one medium, you’ll find ideas to organize, separate and combine your supplies. The book’s photography might even inspire you to try something new!
This book recognizes that budgets for creative spaces come in all sizes, and Lilo gives helpful advice for saving, economizing and reimagining or repurposing. It’s clear that she wants makers to love and enjoy their spaces regardless of the size or financial constraints. That’s a win!
It’s a Giveaway!
This week’s blog tour includes a giveaway of the ebook Love Your Creative Space: A Visual Guide to Creating an Inspiring & Organized Studio Without Breaking the Bank. For your chance to win, leave a comment here by Tuesday, June 30. Tell me what kind of space you’d like to plan, or how you’d improve your current space.
There are other great stops on the blog tour. I hope you’ll follow these folks and check out their posts for more insight into Love Your Creative Space by Lilo Bowman.
The Love Your Creative Space Blog Tour:
Friday, June 26:
Monday, June 29:
Tuesday, June 30:
Be sure to follow the entire tour for much more inspiration around creative spaces large and small!
Christa Quilts 
I need a better way to store my fabric stash! It’s in plastic binds and a pain to pull out and pick fabric! Agh!!!
I have a small area for sewing/quilting so it is a must that it stay as organized as possible to make the best use of every inch of space. This book looks like it could be a great resource!
I have a large space and so I explode to fill it. I think storage is my biggest issue. How ironic is that?
My huge wall of closets is full—I need to de-stash.
I’m currently working out of the guest bedroom and need more room to spread out. There is an empty corner in the basement – all I need is ideas!
I’m fortunate to have a small room dedicated to quilting, but I could use some good, new ideas for organization. The room is long & narrow so only 1 place to actually put my machine. This book tour looks fabulous!
I am fortunate to have a separate area for crafts but organizing all of the materials for sewing and quilting is always a challenge, particularly all of the different stabilizers, batting, etc. for projects such as purses, wallets, bins.
Cleaning up the clutter would make my space a whole lot easier to use. Oh, and having more organizing bins.
while I have a whole room to myself for sewing, I need to make better use of my closet space.
thanks for the opportunity – I’d love to be able to have a cutting and ironing areas. right now my ironing is crammed at the end of my cutting table or I put the ironing board in the hallway. I get my steps in that way, but it would be great to stay in one room!
I’m fortunate to have a small studio space all to myself but would love to redo the fabric storage area and improve the ironing area.
I have half a bedroom and would like to rearrange the whole house so that I get a full bedroom. Then I can buy shelves and really get organized.
I have always been an “organizer” so my sewing space is quite efficient and I love spending time there. I’ve come to realize, however, that it’s time to key some things go, as I will just never get to all the things I want to make. It’s just hard giving up those “dreams” for the current reality of how old I am! This looks like a wonderful book with lots of inspiration.
I AM LUCKY TO HAVE TWO BEDROOMS FOR MY SPACE. ONE BEDROOM IS JUST FOR SEWING, PRESSING AND THE QUILTING .
THE SECOND ROOM IS FOR AUDITIONING FABRIC, CUTTING, AND STORAGE.
MY TWO MAJOR ISSUES ARE 1.IF SOMETHING IS OUT OF VIEW I WILL FORGET WHAT I HAVE .
2. MY LUST OF PROJECTS I WANT TO HAS SIMPLY GOT TO STOP GROWING. 85% OF THE THINGS I HAVE ARE PROJECTS I COULD HAVE USE FOR GIFTS IF I REMEMBERED I HAD THEM THIS NEMORY THING IS RELATED TO A DISABILITY SO I AM DOING MY BEST
I’m grateful to have my own sewing room, but it’s very small. I’d like to use more wall space for storage.
I would love to have a large sewing room with space for a long arm quilting machine. That dream continues to be on hold, and my current sewing space is a small bedroom. Fabric storage seems to be the biggest issue for me with so much of it stacked on my cutting table that I can’t even see the table top anymore. I need help to get things organized so I can start creating again!
I sew a lot…I mean …a lot…of humanitarian projects. More than one at a time so I don’t get bored. I need an organized area so I can be more efficient.
I have a complete bedroom in a 2 bedroom apartment. Too small yes, but too much stuff, YES. I have a sliiiighttt overflow into my own bedroom, but, in all seriousness, I am very happy to have what I do have. Keeping the dust bunnies down is the biggest problem.
I would like to have a better way to organize my PIGS. Gone are the days of working on one quilt until it is finished and they have a tendency to get lost in my quilting room because I don’t have a dedicated place to put them!
I have been slowing revamping my a sewing space. I have half a room in the basement. I sounds like a lot of space but 60 by 40 cutting table3 large iron station, sewing table and Mid arm area and stash you now have walk ways, I would however like to change current sewing area with drop down flush sewing.
I am blessed to have a full bedroom for my creative space. BUT it includes all the family photos in boxes and albums, my card making and scrap booking supplies and creations, as well as my sewing and quilting space and projects. I think I need to reorganize, trim down my supply of “stuff” and “junk”, and maybe rearrange the room into zones. Some advice on how to let go and where to send loved but useful craft supplies would be a big help!
I have a small room that I have to use as sewing/quilting and home office. I need something that’s arranged in a more functional way.
Moved recently and with some radical downsizing, I am struggling to make my sewing area work. I am open to suggestions and look forward to Lilo Bowman’s new book to help me make it a functional and inviting space. I have searched the internet and not found the tips I am looking for to accomplish my fresh new start. Thanks to Lilo, I look forward to some great advice!
My sewing and craft room was too small, so. I traded with the study. I’m still working on getting it organized, but I love having it all in one space ( it used to be scattered around the house because there wasn’t enough room).
My sewing room has been taken over by my boyfriend who is working from home. Really need to re-organize my scraps.
I have a beautiful well lit space, but don’t we always want more? I am wheelchair bound so having extra room to maneuver is a necessity. I am thinking I should use the dining room, right next to my current sewing room as my annex for more storage. Who really comes over to dine these days anyway, we are physically/socially distancing.
I’d like to have a space that was easy to clean and organize. Some type of system that didn’t use a lot of floor space, but allowed me to put things away easily and minimize some of the creative chaos.
I have a lovely large space but am trying to organize to get the most out of it. Suggestions are alway welcome.
My creative space seems to always be a work in progress. I am currently in the middle of the massive fabric stash organization – wrapping yardage on comic boards, cutting big scraps into useable scraps & storing them according to size, and sorting/storing my fat quarters by color . I utilize hanging shoe shelves, plastic stackable boxes, and some very nice cardboard boxes that other craft supplies/tea/etc. came in. This is a great blog that I’ve been looking forward to, and hoping for some great tips & inspiration. Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
My stash room has become overburdened. I need to clean it out and downsize the amount of fabric that I have. I’m one of the people who always thinks I shouldn’t throw anything away because there might be a need for it, but I need to change my mindset and just try to keep only what I know I’m going to use.
I am blessed to have dedicated space for creative play! On my wish list is space for a large design wall! I could be better with time management!
I’ve taken over two bedrooms in my house with my quilting. I need to how to better use the space before it overflows to a third.
I would love to be able to have everything in one space. As of right now sewing takes place in an upstairs bedroom, jewelry making is in the dining room and any embroidery or other hand work takes place in the living room. Maybe one day!
I would love to create a more organized space. My hobby room is a mess and I often can’t find something I know I have! I’ve outgrown my space.
I would love to have a large, beautiful space, like the ones I see in photos. But in reality, I have a corner of the kitchen where I sew. Unfortunately, it ends up being a catchall for drills, screwdrivers, phone chargers, and other hardware coming in and out of the back door.
I would love to push out the wall about 3 feet. That extra room would be so wonderful. I don’t know that it could be done. So therefore your book would be a great substitute!! It would most certainly improve my space.
I would like to come up with a plan for a better cutting table with storage and make some improvements on my sewing table set up.
I need to reorganize my space to make room for a little long-arm. I’m having trouble being more efficient. I could sure use Lilo’s advice!
my room is small, 10X10, and i am constantly moving things from one spot to another to have room to work. i need to know how to maximize my available space to be more organized.
Always looking for organizing. Just moved from bedroom to an out building Sewing Studio. Then came across a long arm in an estate and husband bought another out building and finished instead of putting it in the bedroom. Now I run between two buildings to get supplies.
I have a sewing room which I’m in the process of reorganizing. Now I have to sew at the dining room table and can’t find the fabric I need because I haven’t finished reorganizing! Help!
It would be great to get some ideas on how to better organize fabric, especially scraps.
My sewing room is the size of a small nursery. I need ideas of how to better organize. I have to move things in order to do the next task.
I currently have a 9×10 room, and a 9×12 room with large bins of fabric which essentially keeps that fabric contained but invisible and untouched. I have too many little bins of strips that need to be consolidated. Too much stuff, no beauty or peace in those rooms.
I sure could use a few tips! My sewing room is small, and has an angled ceiling on one side. Wall space is minimal, now filled with shelves of fabric and a design wall. I’m looking forward to reading your organizational ideas!
I’ve been working on organizing my studio during the last 15 weeks while I’ve been out of work. I’ve had luck selling things i don’t need. I need a better system to store scraps and patterns.
I need to move out of my dining room!
I recently built shelves to hold everything.
Hello Christa,
Thanks so much for the lovely words. And look at all the comments! It looks like everyone has areas of their space that frustrate them (including me). My hope is that you all find tips, tricks, products and work arounds that will eliminate that elephant in the room ;o)
Lilo
Perfect timing! Due to changes in my life, I have been researching and am actively looking for ways to downsize, organize, and transform the quilting/ sewing space I have to make it more effective and joyful.