Designing a studio

[JustSewSimple]

Cover your ironing station (wooden board) with 2 layers of batt and then Duck. Just pull to the back of the board and staple. You can recover with new Duck when your board gets stained or burned. Duck will last a long long time and you don't have to take off the old Duck, just put the new piece on top. Use an old table and just place your new board on top. Make yourself a small one to take to classes with you or place by your sewing machine. I wish I had room for the big one. We used to do this in Home Ec class. Lift up the board to a comfortable height by using bed risers. Easy and cheap!!!

[GrandmaLKB]

Idon't have a seperate quilting studio area. My sewing machine and fabric stash shares a room with the washer/dryer and I have a nice big window that looks out on the lot (we live in the country on a farm) so I can see what's going on outside, get some fresh air and good natural light. I have a nice countertop and BIG cutting table with storage under. I designed the room and one of the guys building it thought I was nuts to want such a big cutting table, but another guy said he just built a sewing room for his Mom and knew exactly what I wanted. We got along fine! Now that I have graduated to the longarm machine, I have it all set up in our finished basement. Plenty of room down there to spread out. Hubby built me a nice cabinet for storage and we have an old cupboard I use for storage too along with some old quilts hanging on the open doors. It actually reminds me a lot of the green cupboard in the picture on the APQS Home page. Mine is green, too. Then I have 3 6' banquet tables side by side for my work space to lay out quilts, cut batting, trim quilts. I bought some of that silver quilted "ironing board" fabric and made an ironing space on the whole top of another 6' table. One thing left that I want is a rack to hold my rolls of batting. Hubby will build me one when he gets some time. So, I am pretty happy with my set up. It would be nice to have it all in one room, but then again, when I have a mess downstairs, no one sees it but me and I can ignore it if I want to. If I had known 12 years ago when we built this house that I would be doing longarm quilting, I would have planned differently, but it has worked out just fine. As long as I can navigate the stairs, I am good to go!

[Lsilver]

skylkights

[Front Porch Quilting]

Lots of lights. I have spots in 9ft ceiling and find they are too far away to be good light. A big center cutting table really would be helpful. built in storage if well thought out. A nice big comfy chair for handwork. I have a small fridge to have cold drinks handy. Place for a computer so you can easily access the forum:) A microwave to warm hot chocolate in the winter. TV for entertainment. A bed in the next room so if you are to tired to get anywhere else you can just fall in:P A close by bathroom ( don't want to waste time traveling very far for that) Big closet for Batting. OK so are you sorry you asked yet????

[blair8904]

Thanks for all the great suggestion! I have order the suggested book and taken notes from here. I doubt the architect has ever designed one.

[Carol Halstead]

You can buy the big board and cover at my local quilt shop that fits on top of the standard ironing board . They do ship. I have one and love it! Once you have it, you won't be able to live without it! Quilt shop is What's Your Stitch N' Stuff in Virginia Beach, VA. Website for contact info is www.whatsyourstitchnstuff.com. Give them a call.

[Linda G. Craig]

I think you've been given some super ideas. My studio is fairly new as well and I'm very happy with it. What I like the most is the lighting, the windows, and just the airiness of it all. I'm a big girl and I'm not great in confined spots, so I love the space. I purposely did not put my ironing board real close to where I sew, and I have to get up to press anything. I like that, this way I'm not sitting all the time. Gets me off my butt. LOL! A great stereo system is a must for me and my music, and I love my armchair, foot stool, great lamp and my TV for watching DVDs.

I think you have to build/organize to suit your own needs, your likes and dislikes. I hope that some of these ideas will help you make your decisions. Sure would love to see photos. Good Luck! :cool:

[KDquilter]

I would love some place to store my batting that is easily accessible and easy to cut!!!

[DB]

Please keep thosse ideas coming. I too am in the planning stages of a new studio. I am planning on floor space 24x34'. Figuring out lighting is one of the challenges as I am planning to have cathedral ceilings and I think that will set the lights pretty far up. I am sure that the architect that I'm working with doesn't have an idea of what I'm talking about when I told him that I need space for a quilting machine.

Dianne

[Linda G. Craig]

Diane, I think with high ceilings there is a tendency to go with hanging pendant lights, but I've found this type just lights a small area. I would just say make sure you are getting enough light, especially with high ceilings. Good Luck! :cool:

[IQuiltToo]

Canned recessed lighting with plenty of light over where you ironing, LA and DSM are located. On different switches if necessary. Good lighting in storage closets too.

Marilyn