beyond the reef patterns Studio

"...thank you for including me....

...I would love to show your readers where I create...."

I said, when Heather and Jennifer contacted me.

thank you to

The Sewing Loft

for those of you who don't know me, I am Natalie Barnes

owner, designer and shipping clerk

at

beyond the reef

I design quilt patterns
that can be seen in magazines, or fabric websites, or on occasion at a quilt show

most recently, I contributed to a wonderful Martingale book called Set the Table

now that we've met
let's take the tour

my studio is in a little 1940's shingled cottage in southern california

if you follow along with us on facebook, twitter or instagram (or pinterest)

you'll know that a lot of inspiration comes from outside of my studio as well as inside of my studio

as for sewing machines
I have a collection of old metal singer sewing machines to set up on the dining room table

when sewing with friends
(I do believe in team sewing!!)

but my day to day piecing and sewing is done on an industrial Bernina machine

(zoom-zoom)

I will put a small ironing board on my cutting table

or I will iron on the kitchen counter 
(the perfect height!!)

it's nice to get up and move around

you know, pet the dog, have some water, look at fabrics, take a picture, post, email

that kind of thing

then it's back to piecing

a good friend owns a really great French lifestyle boutique in Los Angeles

Vintageweave

where I found this great piece...just the right height for a cutting board

(and yes, some storage too)

I am a multi-tasker-sewist

directly behind my sewing machine is a little round table that I use as my desk

there's a laptop and a basket full of things that normally would go into the drawers of a traditional desk

 I can see out the door of the studio and into the garden

if I need to rest my brain for a moment

or check to see what Buddy-dog is doing

I can answer an email, print a postage label (yes, we have an online shop), 

or post a picture of a technique, fabric, or (ahem) a glaring mistake

and then get right back to the sewing machine

it is probably pretty obvious this is a place where creativity is fairly organic
I find a lot of inspiration from nature for shape, color, design

many of the things I use are repurposed

my pins live in jam jars carefully carried home from Hawaii

my threads are in old mismatched canning jars

my tools - scissors, seam rippers, rotary cutters - are in depression glass pitchers
(yes, that is my grandmother's button hook)

many things on the shelves have personal meaning to me

and give me pause to think about what it is that I am trying to achieve

 the bookcase along one side of the room not only contains travel titles and friends' books

but my grandmother's book ends, my father's creel, cards from friends, and my toy piano
and yes, some of the fabric I'm working with at the time

there is also space in the studio for hand work

binding

thinking

sketching

learning

writing

and

resting

 my background is in commercial/corporate interior design/architecture

the offices I designed for producers, engineers, and executives

were meant for people that came and went

they continued their lives in other places

or other people would continue their work in those same spaces

but this office, this studio, this peaceful place

is a place that I have come to stay
I am happy to call it home

thank you for giving me an opportunity to share with you 

a little bit about the

beyond the reef

studio

please.....leave us a comment, or an additional question, if you have one

be.do.create

natalie

please visit

The Sewing Loft

Ellison Lane