Your Quilting Studio

[Betty J.]

Currently my sewing space is in a spare bedroom. It's a little tight in there but I have to share it with the cats - we all know that those scraps are comfy. I'm considering moving my space into our finished basement (that I would want to re-carpet and paint - lighting is also an issue). I'm wondering if I'll get 'lonely' down there by myself or if I'll wander down there more. Hmmm, not sure.

This makes me wonder how large your space is, what do you love about it and what do you wish you had done differently? A picture would be nice too. :lol:

[Sharon E.]

My sewing space has always been in the finished basement. I took over DS's bedroom; however, just this summer have considered taking down a wall to his brother's old bedroom. With my big table for draperies, my room is also getting tight. My DH just rolled his eyes and I am sure he is hoping I will forget the idea. I think it would make a good winter project. Other idea is move the wall into the family room about 5 feet and not take down the wall between the two bedrooms. Not sure which idea I like better. I have my TV and radio -- old fashioned -- and I don't get lonely down there because they all come to visit me. No pictures, too messy.

[Sharon E.]

My sewing room is about 12x12. In it I have 3 etageres (1 with blender fabrics, 1 has quilting-related books and my TV and 1 has project bins and magazines), a computer table, ironing board, cutting table, small bookcase, and my large Horn sewing table that stays fully open (with four roll-around drawers underneath). The room has a narrow wall-to-wall closet that has batting on the top shelf, and filled with shelves for UFOs, backing/background fabrics, and specific collections (black and white, batiks, florals). That's a lot of stuff for such a small room, but I drew a grid and all the furniture pieces to scale and arranged and re-arranged until they all fit comfortably, before putting anything in there. On the walls I have two bulletin boards, a large design wall, wire shelves for (fq's, jelly rolls, Kaffe fabs), quilt hangar, clock, file hangar, pictures, nick-nacks, ruler holders, and on the floor I have a tote for kits I've gathered, and one for to-be-quilted projects, a large trash can and tall open laundry bin for fusibles, interfacing, stabilizers, etc., and a vinyl shoe holder on the back of the door for threads. I wish I had more room, of course, but I manage very nicely :-D Wish I could get an overall picture, maybe I'll work on it!

[Sharon E.]

Right now I have a room in the finished basement measuring about 10X12. In this little space I have a horn sewing table, cutting table, cubes for books and stash, a dresser for supplies, a small kitchen table, small bookshelf and microwave cart that also holds books. Since there aren't any windows I have two quilt racks and a large design wall. My computer is on top of a tall stand that once belonged to my son and I "inherited" it. I would like to eventually get rid of all the odd furniture and put in cabinets, both base and wall with a corner desk. My sis helped me plan it out, just need the $$$ to do it. There isn't a door so the cats can come and go as they please another thing I'ld like to change. I definitely need better organizing in this space.

[Jules M.]

My sewing room is in the basement. I don't get lonely but do have to come up to check on dinner, come up to switch laundry, come up to check Facebook. That gets distracting. My sewing room is the only finished room in our basement. Albeit, 36 years old but at least I have a floor covering & lights!

I have a TV and a DVD player there so mostly have a DVD going to give my mind something extra to think about.

DH works outside so is in & out. Our son is 18 y/o and is usually on a computer on the main floor. He isn't too chatty anyway! LOL!! Next week his college classes resume so he'll be gone every morning. Neither of them are ones for keeping me company.

This summer there were 2 times I had SO much going on that I brought my sewing machine upstairs while doing embroidery. I could babysit the machine but be close to the other jobs I needed to be doing. Worked great. I've considered bringing up the current project and the tools I need when our son heads off to a 4-yr college next fall. Not sure I want the machine upstairs but I'd probably get more done.

[Jules M.]

Cheryl, isn't it amazing how much we can stuff into a small room, and still have it be functional!?!? About your cats coming and going, I read somewhere about someone putting a screen door to their sewing room. The critters (cats, dogs, kids) can see in, but stay out!

[Jules M.]

due to the fact that i am from the netherlands, i cant tell you how big my quilt corner by foot, but by inches - 50"x120" ! small as a niddle hole. i store my fabric at my cats room (the way that Alex does, i found it great way) and when i need to basting, batting etc. i empty my living room and my eating corner. as you can imagine i live in a little tiny place but loving it. my cats enjoy it very much as i do

[Barbara C.]

My sewing room is 12 X 21 In there I have an iPod and a TV to keep me company. Nice and quiet if need be when trying to work out a problem. I am at the far end of the house where 4 under foot dachshunds can't bug me and no constant interruptions from retired husband.
In this room I have jammed in...... 10 foot table holding my Gammill premier, two cutting tables, a sewing table, 3 wire basket towers, one chair with footstool and a SewEZY table for my Featherweight named, Brat! Under my Gammill table are several designer type cardboard boxes from Ikea holding supplies. Extra fabric and batting are stored in a closet in another room. I have windows on three sides and canned lights in ceiling but favor Daylight magnifier light sitting on cutting table.

Barbara

P.S. One wall behind the door is covered with foam and flannel to serve as my design wall.

[Barbara C.]

I have a back corner bedroom too & I love it! I am fast outgrowing, but don't really want it to change. My hubby would love to redo it, but he tends to tear up & start things, but not finish the job & I have no intention of packing all my room away, then it sits there forever, till, if & when, he ever decides to complete the job! I have my machines in there, a tv/dvd player, a nano, & most anything else I want. i could almost live in there, but DH wouldn't like that too much, lol. In the other extra bdrm, we are empty nesters, I have a Grace Mini Pinn Frame set up in crib size, & I love it!....

[Marion D.]

Iused to have a bedroom, which I vacated periodically to house an exchange student. My two daughters shared the other bedroom. Then my oldest daughter asked "How come the exchange students get their own bedroom and we don't?" and I knew I wasn't getting the sewing room back! But in the meantime we had remodeled, the living room was much bigger, and I tookover a corner (6 or 7 foot square) of the living room, with fabric storage elsewhere. I really like being in the middle of things! Except now I have to actually finish a quilt or two, especially when there is an avalanche among the project bags!

I am going to take over the family room someday.

[Marion D.]

Hi Brita, Right now I have a curtain across the doorway. I'ld love to put in something more solid, but would have to custom build it. It is an odd measurement. My other problem is the cats would probably retaliate. They are Ragdolls and LOVE to be in the same room. It's part of their trait.

[Marion D.]

I hear ya, Cheryl. Kitties do think of ways of getting back when they're not happy :wink: I just have to be extra cautious to clear out or cover everything that a cat could swallow or hurt herself with when I'm out of the room. But it's so worth it to have the companionship of a Quilt Inspector

[Diana L.]

I'm the one with the screen door on my quilting studio. I have 10 cats that would just love to inspect everything in there and leave behind tons of fur. Two have behavioral problems so they would be leaving behind more than fur! None are Ragdolls but they all would like to be in that room with me. Most of them don't show much interest if I'm not in there. They take turns laying in different spots outside the door to keep an eye on me so they know that I'm still here.

As far as storage goes, I have two wooden wardrobes for fabric, thread, scraps and some batting. This was a 10x12 bedroom with shelves on the walls which I have now filled with books and boxes. There are two 5-shelf bookcases and two DVD stands. My table is huge. DH built it for a dining room table. There are only two of us at home now. We don't need a table that seats 10 so I bought a smaller table for the dining room and took the big one into the sewing room. On the table is my regular machine, serger, large cutting mat, small TV and DVD player plus boxes of misc. items. There is enough room to keep my ironing board up all the time. All my old machines are stored along one wall. I just can't part with them. There's plenty of room under the table to store boxes. The only thing quilt-related that's not stored in there is my roll of batting. That's stored in the guest room.

This room was the only bedroom on the first floor. It eventually became a storage room. I chose it so I could be close to everything and so I won't have to run up and down stairs all the time. It did take a lot of work and rearranging to change it from a storage room to a quilting studio but I'm happy to have everything in one place and have a room all to myself.

[Diana L.]

When I'm not working on a full quilt they usually sleep on a cushion to the left of the machine under my OTT light. But as soon as I leave to check laundry or whatever, they follow. It's really funny when i am cleaning the house going room to room.

[Dawn S.]

I used to have a nice large, 16' x 16' quilt room that had a fully enclosed Murphy bed in the wall where the closet was supposed to be. And, storage on both sides of the bed behind cabinet doors. It was in a finished basement, and there were days when I only saw my husband when I came up to fix him a meal. We have since moved into a smaller place that is all on one floor, and I now have a 12' x 12' room that I love! I have 4 pieces of Koala furniture along the walls and a large Koala cutting table in the middle of the room. DH put baker shelf type racks into the sliding doors closet, and we added a tall 2 and 1/2' wide book shelf unit. On my blank wall (next to bookcase) I put two, side by side, 4' x 8', 1 and 1/2" thick foam boards covered with fleece, for my design wall. They are hardy, and tend to stand on their own and hug the wall! I use one Koala unit as my computor station. Everything is within reach, and I can even add the ironing board when necessary. I can easily get around the cutting table, even when the sewing table is completely open to large quilt mode. My husband can call to me from the livingroom or his office. I can hear when he goes to the pantry for a snack, and therefor know it must be time to fix a meal, and sometimes he stops into my "studio" on his way to the bathroom. This whole set-up works well for me, and my husband and I are no longer disconnected!