One Studio or Two???

[DoryJM]

I was giving Dennis a hard time the other day about how he's pretty much taken over our house for his studio. He has the office and a bedroom upstairs and often "spreads" into the guest bedroom. Outside,he has a yurt and storage shed (he uses the shed for his darkroom). I have one, yes, only one, room. My studio is 2/3s of our garage which has been remodeled, insulated, etc., and I love it. But...

He suggested that I sew upstairs in the guest room. We'd get rid of the bedroom furniture and put in a loveseat that would be a hide-a-bed couch. The room has a gorgeous view of our backyard pond/gazebo and the Olympic Mountains.

So here's my dilemma? How much of a pain is it to have two studios. How many of you out there have two studios? Do yo wish you had just one?

I'm attaching a pic of my current studio; I have a nice amount of space, but....

[DoryJM]

And apparently I need to read how to attach a pic...

You can see pics of my studio by going to my blog (http://crazyhorsequilting.blogspot.com/2012/03/sequim-studio.html) Those pics are pretty antiseptic, since I hadn't really moved all my stuff in yet

[HeidiP]

You have a beautiful studio, but I would go for windows and the breath-taking view where you spend the most time.

[meg]

hi dory -

when i first got my longarm, i kept my old studio for piecing cause of the view and nice daylight and had the basement for lola cause that's the only place she'd fit. it didn't work for me cause i could never figure out which thread to keep where...it was just inconvenient. i like to sew the A.D.D. way, skipping from quilting to piecing to selecting fabric....so i moved it all downstairs after just a few months. it was too much trouble running up and down all the time.

[Darlene Epp]

I've always had my sewing space separate from my quilting/office space. They are close, but not combined. I like that I can close the door on the mess (Works in Progress) in my sewing room and keep my quilting studio presentable for clients. They don't need to be distracted by all my fabric, books, cutting table etc. and neither do I when I'm at the longarm machine. I have my piecing threads in my sewing room, and my quilting threads in the studio.

It's always worked well for me, and I've never considered changing it, even tho' I have the space to combine the 2 if I wanted to. What I really like is that when I go into my sewing room, that's ME time. When I'm in the quilting studio, that's WORK time.

[mcmullen]

I think it will work in 2 different spaces if you can keep your piecing threads separate form your quilting threads. I finally ended getting double of everything such as scissors, cutting mats, rulers, pins,etc, to cut out the running back and forth. Becky

[DoryJM]

Meg, for you, I think your situation makes sense.

However, Darlene, I remember your two rooms. I also remember your not letting anyone look in your sewing room until you cleaned it up!! The farther along I got in your reply, the more it made sense to me. When I'm at the longarm, I'm generally always quilting for business (I have tons of my own quilts that need quilting, just not enough time to do them. However, when I take the time to piece and my LA is staring at me (she watches me all the time!), I either feel guilty because a customer quilt is loaded and I'm not working on it or because there isn't a quilt loaded and their should be.

I like the idea of "me" time in the sewing studio and work time in the quilting studio. So much for a dedicated guest room *sigh*

[Janette]

I rent a studio for my longarm quilting business about 15 minutes away from home, and tend to piece at home, although I like the discipline of "going to work" I never get time to quilt my own quilts anymore... and I don't have enough space at home to sew, so most of the time I end up piecing my blocks at home then taking them to my studio to put up on my design wall etc, which is a pain, because then I feel guilty piecing when I am supposed to be quilting customer quilts, etc... I would love to have my studio at home, but space is an issue and I love not having the mess at home... and I miss quilting at home too. - You just can't have the best of both worlds... I love the studio though as it gives a more professional feel to my customers I feel and can hold classes and workshops too . Shame it isn't any closer to home though as in busy traffic it is more than 15 minutes, and my petrol costs have risen too,, plus I have electric etc to heat my studio etc... and phone line .... it goes on and on...

You're lucky to have it all at home though Dory.

[TerriVB]

Dori--I feel like Darlene--the longarm is my job and my sewing machine is my hobby--most of the time--unless piecing tshirt quilts. I really like my LA studio outside in the shed--that way it feels like I am going to work and I usually have the dishes done and supper planned. Then when I get time in the house it feels like a day off!! plus customers don't snoop through my projects!! It is what works best for me.

[LadyLake]

I would not recommend two studios. Go for your dream, Dory -- make your studio everything you want it to be and more!

[Heritage Keepsakes]

I have 2 studios. When the longarm came home it wasn't physically possibly to put it in my 1st studio. We converted a garage, and I have to say, for my own personal circumstances it works. There is the odd occasion it would be great to have it all in one, but I like the idea that my first studio, is my room. My personal space, my inner sanctum so to speak.

There are pros and cons to having either 2 studios or 1, but at the end of the day, if you have the choice, it has to be what works best for your specific sewing/quilting needs.

[anniemueller]

I moved all of my sewing and quilting and exercise stuff to our guest house late last year. I love have everything in one place. My longarm is upstairs in the loft, my sewing machine for piecing is downstairs. All my tools are under the same roof. I love it! Wouldn't go back.

[RoseCity Quilter]

I have two studios as well. A gorgeous and large studio in my basement for sewing, and a corner of our quilt store's classroom for my longarm. I like keeping my two areas separate for the same reasons Darlene mentioned. I wish I had a separate room from my classroom for my Milli, but it isn't possible right now. It is distracting having activity going on in the classroom....

If I were much richer than I am, I would love to have a longarm at home as well, just for my own quilts! Sigh....only in my dreams......

[GrandmaLKB]

My sewing room where I piece is also my laundry room, back door entry. I have a big window that overlooks our lot and hillside, so I can enjoy the outside sights and have lots of natural light to work by. It is also close to my kitchen so I can sew, cook, etc. My Millie is in the basement with all the stuff that goes with it. I keep rolls of batting, wide quilt backs, all my thread and tools down there. Sometimes it would be nice to have it all in one place, but I do like it this way too.

[fineseams]

I have my Millie out in what used to be a garden shed. I insulated and painted it, put in some cupboards and great lighting, installed a heater and AC, etc. The longarm went there because there just wan't room in my studio/office. The only problem I have is that there are tools I seem to share between the two different spaces, and whichever tool I want is always in the other space. Most of the year it is just fine - a short walk from studio to shed, but in the winter during the rains, I sometimes decide that something besides longarming is what I'll do that afternoon.

[chrisquilter]

Dory, I would kill for a view. My longarm is in the lower level with no convenient view to the outside. My sewing room is on the other side of the lower level with the same non-view. If I could, I would piece upstairs where I could look out the windows on to our property. I think I would spend more time working at my sewing machine in a sunny room. Go for the Sun! LOL When we moved into our house, the deal was "You can have the whole lower level if you keep everything down there" MMMM... Well the customer quilts are stored in the spare bedroom closet, oh, is that fabric boxes under the bed? ect. ect. ect.

[Quilting Heidi]

I started off with my longarm in the basement studio and my sewing room upstairs in the spare bedroom. I hated it for many of the same reasons as Meg. Everytime I need something that I use for both longarming and piecing I had to run 2 flights of stairs and that just got old. I have enough space downstairs that I could have one room for the long arm and one room for sewing but I opted to have both in the one long room, 13ft x 32 ft. Maddie has the other room, probably 12 x 14 or so as her play room and I also have a computer desk and printer in there for my business stuff. This set-up has worked out much better for me.

[Darlene Epp]

I don't think there are many tools that I use both in my sewing room and my quilting studio. I have more than one rotary cutter, ruler and cutting mat, but almost always take the finished quilt into my sewing room to trim. But that room is right next to my studio so it's not a big deal. If it was on another floor, I'd just buy the tools I needed for my quilting studio, although climbing the stairs would probably do me more good!

[DoryJM]

Stairs are highly overrated!! Actually, I already do have double of most everything, so I don't think that will be an issue. A bigger one is what to do with the bedroom furniture. Dressers can be repurposed to store fabric (of course), but what about the bed and the end tables. Still mulling it over, but now that I'm thinking I'd really like it, I'm seeing roadblocks. Oh well, I'm off to my ONE studio to organize.

[sammi357]

Sewing room in a small bedroom upstairs, and longarm in the basement, I guess that qualifies as two rooms.

I like the light from the windows upstairs, while the basement has room for the longarm and storage.

Upstairs Sewing room has the sewing machine, serger, cabinets for fabric and all the stuff that goes with sewing, a long counter, mat and cutters, etc, as well as seasonal clothing.

Besides the LA, the basement also stores fabrics, large projects (reupholstery in progress) a flat file, pressing surface for fabric, ironing board, all my books (sewing, art and cookbooks) yarns and etc. As well as stuff that doesn't get used as often & household storage. The basement can be cold. Hubby has hooked up 4' fluorescent lights over the longarm.

I just recently added an L-shaped (with angled corner) Steelcase counter in one corner for setting up machines down there as well. Steelcase is that metal, industrial looking stuff, like those old, really heavy desks. I work on old machines, so I wanted a place to do so where I could keep tools, cleaning stuff and grubby things so that they wouldn't get on my sewing projects. Adding that desk created a complete disaster! We moved everything, including the flat file, which is full and weighs a ton. Everything has to be up off the floor, tho, because the basement flooded during the storms a couple years ago. We use the chrome shelving units from Costco. They're full of tubs of fabric (horder!) and sewing machines.

I don't mind going up and down the stairs. The washer and dryer are down there also, so I consider the stairs my exercise program!

The down side is that the 'guest' bed is stuffed in an unfinished corner of the basement, so it's not ideal for company....but I use the sewing room upstairs nearly every day, and the spare bed doesn't get used very often.

s

[cjtinkle]

Mine is spread out in 3 rooms over 2 floors, I hate it. When we build our new house, my studio is all going to be in one space... or at least on one floor! I could get a lot more done if all machines were in one room, as the computerized ones could be running while I sew or cut or do something else.