New Millennium--Studio?

[dcs]

We're in the process of getting a new Millennium with a 14-foot table and are trying to figure out where to put it. Our house is quite small (the rooms are 10 x 10), so the only space available is the basement. It looks like we may be able to make a 20'x10' room out of two rooms. Is that enough width? How wide is your machine? Obviously, we need at least 14 feet in one direction because of the table length, but how much front-to-back room is required? (Does that make any sense? I am seriously in need of some java.)

Thanks for any help. This is all very new and exciting to us!

[busybee]

I don't know how much stuff you have but I have mine is the basement(20x15) Table(3x8)for cutting and sewing machine on, 2 shelfs (big), 2 small), sewing machine cabinet, ironig table, 2 stacks of fabric plastic containers(big)5sewing machines on shelf, and still want more. Wish is was 20x20 building. I don't have closet, wish I did for fabric. Nita

[jeri]

Congratulations on your new machine. My main space is about 19 feet by 11 feet. I also have a 14 foot table and also in this space are 2 sewing tables, a small computer desk, various shelving units, and 4 rolls of batting (stored under my table). A handy addition is a roll around wire four bin/shelf unit that I can tuck under my table. One end of my table fits up against the shelves at one end of the room, I would love to be able to get around both ends of my table but it works (a little more exercise never hurts (grins). I prefer working from the front of the machine but do do pantos and block designs using the laser from the back. The back of my table is 39 inches from the wall. I have low 6 inch shelves aling that wall and a taller CD shelf--it's a bit tight but it works. I'll post some photos if you'd like after I get it cleaned up a bit--I've been piling all my stuff from Quilt Market and MQS and the laundry in this room for the past 2 weeks and I have to unbury it tomorrow or Tuesday so it's useable again.

We are hoping to move sometime over the next year or so and a pre-req is a bigger space for me. It will will also require zoning laws that allow my customers to come to me instead of having to deliver quilts to them. Our town allows home businesses if customers aren't coming to the house, so I pick up and deliver quilts which is rather time consuming though it does save on liability ins.

[Phyllis]

We put Jenny(my millennium) with a 14 foot table, in our master bedroom. It is a 12x18 room. However, I have an 8x10 foot sewing room and I seem to have invaded a third bedroom with material and my ironing board. Four bedrooms upstairs and I am using 3 of them for sewing! Thank God for a patient husband.

Jeri, it is interesting to me to know that Kansas City is kinda picky about home businesses. We have talked of moving there after my husband retires. Our son lives in Columbia, Mo., and our two daughters and their families live here, in NW Missouri. That way we would be half way in between. The rules and regulations are so lax here that I may want to reconsider the move. Of course, we have also talked about retiring to northern Georgia.

I see that some of you were at MQS. I was there from Wednesday afternoon until Friday afternoon. Had a ball and learned lots. Came home and started a money stash for next year! It was great...hope you all had as much fun as I did. Next year we should all plan on meeting for dinner, if possible.

[Phyllis]

By the way, when Jenny moved in, we had to move to a smaller bedroom, had a heck of a time fitting our bedroom furniture in there. Thought I should clarify that!

Congratulations on getting a Millenniun...you are in for such a good time!

[dcs]

Thanks to everyone for your responses! I know this is going to be a great adventure and challenge. I wish I had a larger room to put everything in, but 10 x 20 is the max I'll be able to manage. I've got a room upstairs with the sewing machines and half of the fabric stash in it (the other half of the fabric, minus miscellanous boxes full, is in my bedroom). I gather, from your responses, that as long as I don't have much else, widthwise, in the room, the 10 feet will work for the longarm?

[Guest Linda S]

I think that should be okay. I have a room that is about 15 x 25, but there is a wall that sticks out 6' into the room about half-way down. I don't have any problem with it being there!

Linda

[SandraC]

Hi there...my sewing room isn't very big either ~approx 11 x 13 bedroom. It helped to set the machine up kitty-corner. My table is a 12-foot and I am just able to walk around one end of it but it's better than having to crawl under!

[Cheryl]

My Liberty is in the basement....I hope to move it into the new 3 season room this summer...but in the mean time I have about 17 X 10 ft space that works OK for my 12 ft table. Altho one end is up against the wall, I have adjusted to just walking around one end...it's all the excersize I get some days!!

I don't know your climate, but here in Iowa I must run a dehumidifier from June to September to control the moisture. If your climate is drier you might not need to. Best advice I can give about lower level sewing rooms is get plenty of light....:cool:...and the ability to turn some off to cast a shadow on the work which actually lets you see your stitches better sometimes.

Cheryl in Iowa

[CaliMom]

My Millie is 14' long also and I currently have it in an 11 by 26 room. I roll it back on casters out of the way when I am not using it on the back... It works fine for me.

Congratulations!!!!

[dcs]

Waahooo! Thank you, all, for your comments. I think we're gonna be fine! Linda, special thanks for the photo. It really helps to see how others have their spaces set up.

We're lucky here in Colorado. It's pretty (!!) dry most of the time. Even with our swamp cooler going, the basement is dry.

Light is a concern, though. Since we're going to be redoing the rooms when we make them into one "long" room, we'll have the opportunity to redo the lighting (currently there's one lone ceiling fixture in each room).

What kind of lighting have you done in your studio spaces? Anything special? Custom? These newbees wanna know! :cool:

Donna

[Cheryl]

I am interested in what others use for lighting, too.

I have less than wonderful lighting...a central incandecent fixture that has several bulbs, so I can get less light on a project if necessary....I also have two clamp on arm lamps...clamped on to each end of the table....these can be adjusted to a certain extent....but not in the middle of the table. If I had the option of doing this room over I would install at least 3 four ft floresant fixtures...with the ability to turn them off individually. Table going this way------ light fixtures going l l l It might be over kill, but I am having difficulty seeing darker colors, and I really need more light.

Cheryl in Iowa

[sammi]

I too converted two bedrooms into one room for my studio. It is 12 x 24. Attached is a pic of my fluorescent lights - one on either end of the room. I ordered them from Hofcraft for $60 each - they do not "buzz" like regular fluorescent fixtures and they have Ott light tubes in them .... so I don't have problems with color distortion etc.

sammi

[Darlene Epp]

Originally posted by dcs

We're in the process of getting a new Millennium with a 14-foot table and are trying to figure out where to put it.....the only space available is the basement. It looks like we may be able to make a 20'x10' room out of two rooms. Is that enough width?

YES. You have more than enough room. My first studio was 9"8" x 22' and I had a 14' table. Just make sure you have direct access to the room. Those 14' poles do NOT bend! Mine had to come in throught the basement window. If you have to do this, make sure you get the table rails in the right position before you bring them in, because you won't be able to turn them around once they're in the room. This is the voice of experience talking!

With regards to lighting, I would really advise getting "cloud" fixtures with "full spectrum" fluorescent bulbs. Even tho' I was in the dark basement with one little window (to the north and shaded by HUGE trees and a fence), it never felt gloomy in there. I can't tolerate regular fluorescent light (make me head achey and sad), but the full spectrum lights are just wonderful. I can rain all week long and I don't even notice. It feels warm and sunny in my studio.

ALSO, make sure that each fixture has it's own switch so you can regulated where the light is coming from. Sometimes you don't want to have the light on directly above you because side light from another direction will make it easier to see where you're stitching with a matching thread.

You can see the type of fixtures I'm talking about in the picture. I wish mine were running the other direction and that I'd insisted on having 6 fixtures instead of 4, but DH and the elctrician won that battle. I should have fought harder!

Darlene

[dcs]

Sammi, thanks for the picture. I love the Ott lights, too. They last forever and stay so cool.

Darlene--thanks for the tip about direction on the rails! I think we'll have to get them into the house through a basement window, too. I KNOW I wouldn't have thought about the orientation before bringing them down, until I saw I had them wrong, that is! THANK YOU!!!

By "cloud" fixtures, do you mean the lights that have enclosing shades? I can't quite tell (because the lights are so lovely and bright) what the fixtures look like.

Love your studio, too. It's so nice to see how others have things set up. And what a beautiful quilt!

Donna

[kixee]

Hi,

It is always interesting to find out about other quilters' studios. I love how clean and neat Darlene's is! Not mine--whew! How crammed full it is!

I have a tiny room, with my 12' table up against the wall, under my cabinets. On the front side of the machine, I have blank wall/window, and about 2' of space. I have to squeeze thru between the end and a bookcase to get there, so have to be careful about getting fatter! On my open end, I have about 3' of space, but my ironing board is against the wall, so there is only about half that width for getting thru. On the backside of my machine, I only have about 2 ft. til my chair for my serger area. So, it is quite cozy in here... My computer desk is also in another corner of the room! I long for those wide open spaces...

I have an overhead fixture with 4 bulbs, 2 of which are GE Reveal bulbs. This does make a lot of great light. But, for the times when I don't need/want overhead light, I have a halogen floor lamp that is adjustable in brightness, in the corner. That light shoots up to the white ceiling and is also quite bright at it's highest. Sometimes I use them all at once, too. I got a 3 lite track fixture that I want to someday mount on the side, but so far, I seem to be fine with what I now have.

Ann in Iowa

Millenium

[Guest Linda S]

My lighting is exactly what you see there in the photo. I live in a house that was built in 1932 and still has the two-wires wrapped with brown fabric over ceramic insulators for electricity! I was going to have an electrician come and put in special lighting for me, but once I got that gooseneck lamp that I can shine across the quilt top, I found I really don't need anything else. Just have to be careful with it, as it gets very hot -- it's halogen. I never leave the room without shutting it off.

Linda

[BarbWetzel]

My husband made me a quilting room is 20 x 27. It is nice and roomy. I will have to take some pictures and see if I can add them to the posts.

I am so excited to have my machine working correctly. Connie is wonderful@@

Barb Wetzel

Ivy Corner Quilting

Altoona, Ia. ;);):):cool:

[Betty]

I'm building a shed on the side of the house to put my new Millie in. Looking at the end of June completion. It's 10X20.

Thanks for the info on the lights...but any ideas on the best floor to use? Also, since this will be outside and I'm in Utah, I also need the best way to heat and cool this space. This is very exciting and scary, wish the house was big enough to put Millie inside, but then again we do what we have to for quilting.

Thanks, Betty:)