STUDIO: Sarah Harper of Rowan Tree Studio

For years I worked out of the back of a tiny garage shared with another artist in North London, it was very cramped, freezing cold in the winter and nowhere near enough room for my hoarded fabric stash. When we moved to Devon in March we were lucky enough to find the most amazing barn conversion to rent with a brand new purpose built studio attached, it was love at first sight. It was the perfect place to start up my dream of my own teaching studio. I had been teaching in London for the past 2 years at a craft space and absolutely love it, particularly teaching people something that I know will be a whole new dimension to their lives.

It has taken us several months to unpack and for me to fill my studio space with all my fabric, buttons and my rapidly increasing vintage sewing machine collection. I love to sew on treadles and hand cranks and can’t resist a poorly old sewing machine that gets brought home, restored and found a new owner. I brought with me from the shop I worked in a very large table made from long and heavy 2 inch thick planks of wood. It is one of my favourite things here, large enough for 12 people to sit round for a class and more than enough space to lay out a quilt or any other large project I have on the go.

I tend to use a lot of recycled fabric in my quilts and other projects and have several lovely old wardrobes that are filled with shirts, vintage bed sheets and wool jumpers as well as a new selection of fabric to use in workshops and to sell. I adore buttons and in my more organised moments I sort them into jam jars according to colour which gives me a huge amount of pleasure each day when I look at them.

The studio is still part of our home so I am forever running around and removing toys, laundry and other household items that migrate during the day when I am working with my toddler in the room. Because it is still our home we have to be open by appointment to allow me time to have a quick run round.

Throughout the day I have the privilege to have our village peacock sit by my studio window and keep me company, for this and many other reasons I am very glad to be here.

Find out more about Sarah's work at www.rowantreestudio.co.uk