Needle's Eye Designs

A place for sewing and painting, with a smattering of homesteading adventures, and a sprinkling of healthy living.

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Sewing Room Remodel

Thoughts about Quilting

Hey everyone!

The sewing room is finally to a usable state!! I am creating curtains for our new abode in my new room. Though some of my tools are still in a box somewhere. (Moving seems to be never ending – especially, the unpacking!)

Along with sewing, the new space doubles as a classroom for homeschooling. I threw in my treadmill, because why not? Running while surrounded by fabric – yes, please! My home office is set up in the same room as well. (Yes, the room is huge!)

We still need to finish the ceiling and install the trim. All that can be done while the room is being used. The ceiling is just ceiling tile and the trim is cut and painted outside in the garage, and then nailed into place.

I installed some temporary shelves for all my fabric in the spacious closet. There’s room for tons more shelving.

This new space is amazing! Lighting, with which I can see. Floors that are easy to maintain! If thread trimmings fall to the floor (which it inevitably does), I just sweep. Although, I need a cover for my window well. I came down yesterday and was greeted by 6 frogs. 

I love homestead life – lots of work but so much to enjoy (including the little ribbiters staring at me as I sew)!

Happy sewing everyone! My next topic will be design walls, because I love mine and I need to share!

N

Sew Room Project: Paint!

Thoughts about Quilting

I wasn’t going to do a post on what to paint your walls. Personally, as a quilter, I have to resist the urge to be very creative with my walls — and my husband has whispered “resale value” in my ears every time I have had the hankering to paint a wall. It’s kept me restrained so far. For my sewing room, I expect lots and lots of light. I love light because I love to see what’s in front of me. As I result of my love for light, I chose to stick with a basic white paint.

Do you have to do white? Nope. It’s just what I chose knowing that my walls will be lined with shelves and storage compartments suitable for my sewing. However, I would stick to light neutral colors – colors that would not color your view of a quilt on a design wall – a design wall what would butt up right next to the painted walls. Light colors so that the room appears brighter and airier.

For the ceiling we chose a drop ceiling, mostly because we want to be able to access the plumbing for the master bathroom that is right above this room.

Here are the before and after pictures of the room.
Before (Taken mid-day during prime sun and the light is on.):
20180721 001

After (Taken in the morning and the light is on.):
IMG_20181016_092138477.jpg

I will soon have an official retreat, ehm, I mean sew room!
N

Lighting

Thoughts about Quilting

Here’s the skinny for my plans for my sew room lighting (hobby/craft room) – really this would cover any room in which you want to be able to actually see. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want “mood lighting” in my sewing room. I want to be able to see my work, most importantly to be able to see my color choices. I’ve been to quilt shops where I had to take a bolt of fabric outside or close to a window in order to best assess the colors. (Mood lighting in quilt shops…really? I guess, I’m too focused on my projects… Haha!) It all just gets worse as I get older and the better the lighting I need. (Age happens. ?)

Types of bulbs:

Incandescent are obsolete with the newer lighting technologies that emerged over the years. They have served their purpose since Edison introduced us to them in 1879.

CFLs are a more energy efficient choice than incandescents; however, as LEDs grow in their technology, these are best left on the shelf. They last a long time, but when they burn out, they require special disposal because of the mercury – however minute!

LEDs are the best! I love that this technology has progressed past indicator lights on computers. I am all about LEDs, but they are good ones and not so good ones (as my husband has recently discovered in his tinkering.) When choosing new bulbs, I always go for LEDs . They last even longer than CFLs and contain no mercury!!!!! I’m sure someone will eventually find a massive downside to these lights (science changes as new discoveries are made) but right now I love them.

(Picture credit to consumerenergysolutions.com)

There are different types of lighting:

Soft/Warm white runs at 2700-3000K and often emits a yellowish glow. (Not a good choice for craft rooms but a great choice for living rooms or areas for mood lighting. NOT a good choice for quilt shops. (If you are a quilt shop owner, please, please give us older ladies a break and do not use these!)

Bright/cool white runs about 3500-4100K has no yellowish glow, and in fact emits a whiter color. I find these lights sort of meh for craft rooms. Not the greatest and not the worst. However, if you are taking the time for new lights let’s go for the best possible.

Daylight!!! I love daylight in my craftroom ( in case it was not obvious by my overzealous use of exclamation marks). It runs about 5000-6500K and emits the best light possible for those of us that need all the help we can get! We changed the lights in my old sew room from bright white to daylight and my first thought was “Hey, I can see!” ?

(Photo credit http://get-it-together.ca/light-bulb-guide)

Now I do have to admit not all LEDs are equal (as I mentioned before.) My husband was tinkering with using the LED strip lighting as a potential for my sew room and I don’t think it emits enough light. It’s great for his work shop, but not so great for my sew room. We would need a lot of them for there to be enough light. (Keep in mind I am a bit older and will need bifocles in about 5-10 years…).

So, in conclusion: daylight LEDs …seriously awesome stuff!

Happy quilting!!! (I am hoping to get an area setup soon between training a new LGD for my goats and homeschooling my son it’s a bit slow going but I picked flooring – next post!)

N

Next big project: Sew Room Remodel

Thoughts about Quilting

Since we are in a new house and my old sewing room is about 40 miles away with the perfect lighting and the just right storage, I need to refinish a room in the basement for my new sew room. This is one of those times I wish I could snap my fingers and have my sew room just perfect, because I currently have no space to set up my sewing machine. Ack!! (Yes, I am experiencing serious withdrawal. Everywhere I turn I think “I need to sew something for that” and then realize it’s not going to happen until I can set up my sewing machine. All flat surfaces are currently used as staging areas from filing to homeschooling, etc. Literally, no space for a sewing machine!!!!)

However, as I go through this adventure of setting up my sewing room, I will bring you right a long with me. Starting with lighting, then flooring, and storage and layout. I am very picky about my lighting – more so the older I get and my eyes begin to experience that agey-thing – which is why a whole post will be dedicated to lighting!

This is my starting point. Pictures taken from opposite corners of the room. The room is 11′ 5″ x 23′ 1″.

Whew! I have my work cut out for me!

Happy Quilting!!

N