Lighting in my quilt room

Sometimes it can be so difficult to get good lighting in your sewing room. I was recently talking about how frustrated I was with the lighting in my room and how I didn’t even want to go up there and work. 

Let me tell you, getting more lights really makes a difference! It even got me in the mood to rearrange things in my studio.

Here was my setup before:

I had the ceiling light behind me when I was at my ironing table. This is also where I would cut out my fabrics.

My body cast a shadow over my work, I tried putting a lamp to the left of my table but everything was still too dark.

Light over my sewing machine

I ended up setting up a floor lamp that I normally use by my sewing machine and that helped some. I think this is an old Ott-Lite that I bought years ago. 

It helped quite a bit so last weekend Builder Bob and I ran to town and I stopped at Joann’s with plans to buy at least one Ott-Lite with a coupon. I don’t remember them being as expensive as they are now!

There was no way I wanted to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a lamp that I wouldn’t need when my new studio gets built.

The next stop was Walmart! I knew they had inexpensive floor lamps as I had bought one a couple of years ago for my dad when he was still alive and reading in bed most of the time. 

Floor lamps that work perfectly

You can find a similar floor lamp online at Amazon. I bought two floor lamps that are 72″ tall with a side reading light. The top holds a 3-way 150-watt bulb and the side is a 60-watt.

What really made the difference was pulling out my wire storage shelves and placing the lamps behind them so I no longer have a shadow. I also put both of them on surge cords so I can just flip the switch and turn them on or off easily.

Now I look forward to working in here again!

Rearranging my room again

Since I had to move things around to place the lamps behind my cutting area, I once again rearranged things. I love doing this and quite a few of you wanted to see some new photos.

Next year we will build my new quilt studio so I don’t want to make too many changes to my temporary rooms as they will go back to being guest bedrooms.

Computer table:

I was using a folding table that wobbled every time I did something so we ran to Menards and bought a 24″wide shelf that was 6 foot long to use as my desk top. I have a larger one but it is in storage for now.

We put it on top of my file cabinets but it was too low. I just happened to have some storage boxes that worked perfectly for raising it. Yes, it looks a little funny but it works. I placed some non-skid matting under them so everything stays in place.

Most of the time I have my laptop downstairs. Did you notice the large TV on my storage shelves? That was originally in my old studio and then moved upstairs to our living room at the river house. I then bought a smaller one for my studio.

Well in our new house the wall in the living room was too small so we ended up buying a new TV. This one will go in my new studio. I think I’ve turned it on…..once.

Have you seen the plastic pegboard that IKEA has? I ordered one 30″ x 22″ and some of the accessories and knew right away that this is what I will want instead of the pegboard I used to have that we painted.

I was able to order it online as a kit with some of the accessories. Once I got it I figured I had better order 3 more just in case they weren’t available next year. 

Builder Bob just hung a couple of them on this wall, now I get to figure out what I want on them. I may have to buy a few more as I want a whole wall of these.

Behind my desk, I have several bookcases that just have odds and ends on them for now. Can you see the large Sparkles quilt hanging on the railing in the hall? Still need to get that quilted.

Where I quilt

My other room is where my sewing machines are. I use my vintage 15-91 Singer sewing machine for all of my piecing and quilting. I recently bought two of the narrow Alex cabinets from IKEA. These match the larger Alex cabinet that holds a lot of my threads right now.

We don’t have an IKEA store nearby so I usually go online and see if I can get something delivered. If the shipping price comes up as two hundred dollars……I know I’ll have to make a trip to the store if I really want to buy it.

You have to put them together but even Builder Bob was impressed by how easy it was to do.

Quilts on shelves

I haven’t really changed much in this room, I have the heavy-duty adjustable wire shelves that are great for holding all of my quilt projects. I found them here and I think they are cheaper now than they were 3 years ago when I bought them!

AccuQuilt Goodies

I cleaned up this side a little bit as it was too cluttered. I think I made about 15 trips to the basement moving things I know I won’t use in the next year. 

Two bookcases hold all of my AccuQuilt dies. I have all of the die cutters and also the Studio cutter. I love using the dies to cut out my quilts.

I also put one more of the pegboards in this room. Yep, there is still some clutter behind the door.

Quilt Studio

I hope you have enjoyed seeing where I quilt. As I said in the beginning, having enough light really makes a difference.

I really miss my old studio, Builder Bob made sure I had plenty of light and having a cutting table that I was able to move around was awesome (it is in storage right now). 

I always get asked about the wire storage system I have. I purchased them from IKEA and they are the ALGOT system but I can’t find them on their website. I did find something similar called the Jonaxel storage system. The SewStation 101 is the white sewing table in my room.

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