Studio Tour: Let There Be Light! And Also, Thread! Upgrades From My Sweetie

You guys, I am SO EXCITED about the wire cable track lighting that my husband installed above my new Bernina long arm last night!  I LOVE IT! 💕💕💕

Wire Cable Track Lighting Installed Above My New Q24

The Bernina Q24 has plenty of bright LED lighting along the throat of the machine head itself, but I wanted the entire length of the frame lit up from one side to the other so I can inspect each section of a quilt as I'm advancing it on the frame.  Bright task lighting enables me to find and remove any pet fur or stray threads before they get quilted in, and makes it easier to notice things like open seams that my hopping foot could catch in if I didn't see them ahead of time.

Bright Lighting Helps Me Spot Problems Like This Open Seam

That photo above with an open seam was my own kaleidoscope quilt, by the way -- I am not a perfect piecer, either!  (When I see something like that as I'm quilting, I like to mark it with a hand stitched tailor tack in contrasting thread so it's easier to find it later when I want to hand stitch that spot closed).

Cable Track Lighting and Ruler Racks, Both Courtesy of My Sweetie

The wire cable lighting came as a kit that you can get on Amazon here.  It comes with low-voltage halogen accent lights, but we swapped the halogens out for these brighter, whiter LED bulbs that won't emit heat.  It was the perfect solution for this space where I have a steeply sloped ceiling with limited options for where lighting could be recessed, and it was all less than $200!  I also like the flexibility of being able to position the five bulbs wherever I want them along the length of the cables, in case we want to adjust the position of the frame at all when my Q-Matic and hydraulic lift are installed.  (Which will hopefully be SOON???...)

Bernie made me those wall racks for my long arm quilting rulers about a year ago, but we moved them to the other side of the window as we were tweaking my studio layout for the new machine.  They're still close at hand when I need them, but rulers won't be knocked off accidentally as easily.  (You can find a tutorial for making ruler racks like these here).  I'm looking forward to doing a lot more with those rulers on my new machine, once I get caught up with the customer quilts that have been accumulating during the transition.

I completely forgot to share the pictures from the day my new machine was delivered and set up.  Here's my wonderful Bernina dealer, Berry of Creative Sewing & Vacuums, unloading the truck.  Seeing the Bernina truck in your driveway is better than seeing Santa's sleigh on your roof!

When Good Things Come in BIG Packages

And here's my new machine after I got to cut the shipping carton open myself, like cutting an umbilical cord...  I know: I am SO cheesy...  😁

Welcome Home, Snazzy Quilt Beast!  Mommy Will Take Such Good Care of You

Berry was doing my installation himself in the evening after his store closed, so my husband Bernie and younger son Anders helped him get everything unloaded off the truck and upstairs to my second floor studio.  Here's my son Anders handing one of the frame rails up to my husband from my foyer:

Anders and Bernie Helping With Delivery

I love that picture!  Sometimes, you have to make those teenagers earn their keep!  

Okay, back to the studio tour.  I did get my sampler blocks back up on my design wall last week, and I'm hoping to get back to working on that project soon.  

Sampler Blocks Back On My Design Wall

Hooray For Thread Shelving!

...And, just to the left of my design wall, near my long arm machine, I now have custom oak shelving to hold all of my long arm quilting threads!  This was something I'd asked for back at Christmas.  It's like a candy store, except better because it's THREAD!  I love thread!😍

Custom Thread Shelving Made By Bernie

My thread is arranged first by fiber and weight and then by color within each thread range.  The very top shelf has my invisible monofilament, metallic, and 50 weight cotton threads, as well as extra mason jars and a couple boxes for collecting the recyclable magnetic bobbin cores from my prewound bobbins.  Below that is my 50 weight matte poly So Fine, then 40 weight poly Omni, and then 60 weight poly Bottom Line.  The mason jars hold prewound jumbo bobbins of 60 weight Glide thread, and below them are four shelves of 40 weight Glide cones and small containers of prewound 40 weight Glide bobbins.  The bottom shelf holds my collection of 40 weight variegated cotton machine quilting threads, both YLI and Superior's King Tut.  Now I can see exactly what I have when I'm selecting thread for a particular quilt, and it's also a lot easier to see where the "holes" are in my assortment of colors and neutrals when it's time to place a thread order.

All that remains to be tweaked in my studio now is sanding the patched drywall repairs smooth and touch-up painting.  My Bernina dealer thinks he'll have my hydraulic lift to install on my frame within another week.  The hydraulic lift will enable me to easily raise and lower the height of my frame all by myself with the touch of a button, without having to call in the menfolk and get out a level.  (The menfolk are glad that they will no longer be "on call" 24/7 for long arm frame adjustments, too).  And finally, FINALLY -- my Q-Matic computer robotics should come in and be installed on the new machine by the end of the month.  I believe the hold up is backordered computer chips for the Dell computer that the system runs on or something like that.  Waiting is AGONY; just sayin'...

By the way -- my 2013 APQS Millennium long arm quilting machine with 12' frame is still available for sale with local pickup in Charlotte, NC.  If you or anyone you know is in the market for a great deal, check out my Facebook Marketplace listing and please share!

This Week's To Do List:

That's it for me, for now!  This week, I'll be working on:

• Client's vintage Economy quilt repairs & rebinding
• Window treatment designs for an interior design client
• More "Getting-to-Know-You" free-motion quilt doodling with my new long arm
• Studying the Q-Matic owner's manual and watching training videos so I can hit the ground running when it gets here

I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties:

 SATURDAY

UFO Busting at Tish in Wonderland

SUNDAY

Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Appliqué

Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

MONDAY

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

BOMs Away at What a Hoot Quilts

TUESDAY

To-Do Tuesday at ChrisKnits