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 have bins and totes and shoeboxes and baskets etc. of fabrics. I really wish I had a simple, unified storage system for my fabrics.
I’m one of those odd people who loves to sit and read organizational books so of course this one would catch my eye! My sewing space is a small second bedroom in our apartment – shared space with the computer desk and a pull out couch for guests. Needless to say I’m always searching for ideas to make it pretty and more functional.
In the past, I’ve just moved my sewing machine around wherever I could find a spot–either the kitchen or dining table or even the kitchen counter. Now, I have an extra bedroom I’m trying to turn into a sewing room. I’m using an old table for a cutting table and another table for my sewing machine. I’m using an old chest of drawers for storage space. Although I would consider myself an advanced beginner, I don’t have much of a stash. I’m working on that, and I want to keep everything organized as I go. I’m excited about this book. It’s very timely for me!
I’m so excited to see you connecting with this activity. We just moved, so I’ve been making all those decisions involved in setting up my creative space. I must get this part of the house in order, because using it soothes my soul so I can get the rest of the house in order.
I sew in the living area downstairs but store my things in a bedroom with super high windows upstairs and also under the stairs. Needless to say my dining table and couch always have sewing stuff surrounding them. Perhaps a new house might be an option.
I have my own room for my knitting and quilting but with a longarm and 5 machines, I have definitely run out of space. Will consider any and all ideas!
I need to better sort & organize my stash. I need to share some fabric i have been give and focus on ones i love & finish quilts i have ideas for. Thanks for the chance to get ideas to help me.
I love organization books! I’d like to go through my area and make spaces. I tend to just stash things where they fit so maybe if I can get like things near like it’ll work out better.
I have a medium space but it is full; I definitely need to reorganize and declutter.
Im setting up a new quilting studio in a yet to be built shed, im desperate for ideas to maximize the space so this book would be a godsend.
The master bedroom is a good starting space, mine has two closets. New ideas are always helpful, and life changes may not be fun to address, but with new ideas we can greatly increase our ability to function!
My fabric is spread across multiple rooms and multiple storage devices. I’d love to organize it all into one area and start using more of it (not just the easy to access fabric).
I have an awkward shaped closet – it fits a fair amount of stuff but it is difficult to get things in and out. I’d love help with that.
I’m in the process of moving to a new home that will include a dedicated sewing room! I am struggling with how to keep it organized (my challenge) and how I can make it work for me and my style.
I am in the middle of moving to a new home that will have a dedicated sewing room! I’ve been struggling with how I want it to function, and how to keep it organized (one of my challenges).
So many projects require so many different storage solutions. I’m hoping to get some fresh ideas on how to deal with all the things
I recently moved and have less sewing space than before. Every time I want to work I have to shift things around to make space. I’d like to be able to have everything organized so that I could just quilt!
I have a small room and not much wall space for cabinets. I would like ideas on how to organize my closet better.
I need to get some shelves and clear totes to organize my fabric and supplies in one area so I can see what I have when I need something or when I want to get inspired.
I need to build some closets with doors to protect my fabric stash from light. Right now, I have my fabrics in clear bins (27 qt. size). It works fairly well for just storage, but can be a real pain when I am picking fabrics for a new quilt… a LOT of work to put the fabrics back neatly!
I need storage ideas. I like to see my fabrics.
I’ve been trying to organize my sewing room for a long time and I think I just have too much stuff. Not sure what I can do though. I have two cupboards where I store fabric and my fat quarters are in plastic sweater boxes that are under a bed in another room. My books are also in another room. I will have to check out this book and hopefully get some ideas.
This book is exactly what I need to create an improved creative corner. Thank you!
I hope to learn how to make my space more functional, and pretty.
I have a large space, but too much clutter. I recently moved some things out and it is much better. One problem that I have is a lack of available wall space. Just no space to utilize that verticle storage.
I have a longarm studio that I need to convert to a conventional sewing room. It is a complete disaster right now.
The timing is perfect as we moved to different home just this week. I’ll be watching closely and taking notes from all the posters! Thanks!
I need to look at my space with new eyes to find storage space for my projects, sewing machines and quilts. I have downsized from a large home to one bedroom, bathroom and greatroom for living and quilting. A large part of my space is filled with my longarm quilting machine. I am always looking for new ideas and ways to make my space more efficient. Thanks
This is perfect as we just moved this week and I’m in need of ideas for my sewing space! I’ll be watching and taking notes from all the posters!
I will be moving soon and hope to have a full basement for my sewing/quilting space. I want lots of ideas for storage of fabric, books and patterns.
I have a 9×11 bedroom that I use as my sewing room. I had to take the hanging rod & shelf out of closet and put up heavy duty wire shelving as I have about 20 totes of material and stuff. I cannot see the bottom/ floor as totes and stuff in the way.
I need to downsize but I have a problem getting rid of material I can sew into scrappy or matching quilts or other items.
I have a small 2nd bedroom, now called my sewing room. I’m lucky that it has 2 closets, in one my son has installed open shelves on both walls for fabric. But I have 5 sewing machines in cabinets and a desk in the bedroom itself. As I live alone my dining room table is now where I cut out my projects. I need to find a better way to organize all the assorted stuff we quilters and sewers accumulate through the years.
I need to refine my storage system and refine and purge what I have. Also need to read the chapter on a cleaning schedule. I think that’s the step I keep skipping!
Your comment about cleaning gave me a chuckle. Who wants to clean when we can sew.
Thanks for the chance for the book–my quilt room definitely needs help!
Constantly looking for a better way to store fabric – from yardage to scraps. Looking for ways to organize craft & sewing tools. etc.
I so need this book. I am so overwhelmed by my space that I have trouble getting to the sewing.
I would like a better process to store and work on my UFO’s to keep them current.
I have lots of shelf space and closet space but it’s all full of projects i will never do and tools I will never use. I can’t seem to let go of anything.
My space is small 11×12 with a closet as a bonus. My problem is, when I get the creative bug, I end up having a real mess in my closet of fabric that spills into the room. Do I have too much stuff in my closet? possibly.
I have a fairly small room, 10′ x 13′, and a fairly large Koala sewing console, 72″ x 70″ the way it is currently configured. That doesn’t leave a lot of room for moving around. There are big bins under the cutting table side, a closet full of shelves, and shelves and cabinets along one wall. I think my problem is I keep everything. I mean everything. I spend so much time moving things or looking through bins and shelves I never get anything done.
Aurgh… my space is making me a wreck lately. Just when I get most of it reorganized…. I run out of steam to finish and then it sits waiting and I get nothing done. I do need to take a couple of weeks and really truly sort and organize the whole thing. I need this book! Maybe it would help me clarify a few things.
I need to re-organize my space. It is fairly LARGE (original footprint of the building is 24’ x 30’), I have to leave a walkway through the center to get from one door to the door on the opposite to have access from back yard to driveway. THAT is a major pain because I can’t put things in the center of the room. And the “path” seems to be getting smaller and smaller because of all the “stuff” I have accumulated since I first moved in to that area in 2004 when I got my first longarm. Amazing how that happens, right?
Downsizing my sewing space so this book would definitely be a help. I need all the help I can get.
I need help organizing my fabric and supplies! The book looks great!
I love seeing how others organize and create! My current space is too small to accommodate all my “toys” and “wish-I-had” options. I would dearly love to have a cutting area like shown above and a design wall!
I need to deciliter and give away some of the UFO’s. To much stuff and very unorganized.
Would like to have better lighting. My sewing room is a bedroom with a ceiling fan with lights which works but when I cut fabric I cast a shadow.
So exciting–always great to see others’ ideas brought to life! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
I’m not sure there is a solution for my space except to get rid of stuff. I would really like more space for creative energy. It will be interesting to see what others have done.
I need to f8nd a better way to store my stash!