Lighting Your Quilting Space

Quilting spaces require a variety of lighting options to make them comfortable and convenient. Do you have your space lit effectively, or is it time for an upgrade?

Lanterns And Candles!

We are so fortunate to live in a time where there are so many great lighting options for our quilting studios. Can you imagine how much easier our ancestor's lives would have been if they had not been quilting by oil lamp, lantern, or candles?

Overhead Lighting

Overhead lighting is a great option for your quilting studio and there are so many different types you can purchase if you are creating your space in a home as it is being built. You can request pot lights, directional bullseye lights, a large central light for the middle of the room for general lighting, and even movable directional LED lights. Unfortunately, we don't all get to build a new home and design our quilting studios from scratch, so what options can we use to make our spaces work for us?

LED Lighting

Ott Lites or daylight fixtures are a great option for those areas that are not brightly lit by overhead lighting in our quilting studios. Both of these types of fixtures come in table-top and floor lamp options and provide true color that is ever so helpful in matching fabric colors and threads at night when natural lighting is not an option. Consider your lighting needs in relation to each area of your studio. You will want your fixtures to light your workspace without shining directly in your eyes or onto your back where you will be creating shadows on your workspace. If you are already blessed with a central overhead light in your quilting studio and it is not really doing the best job for you, consider one of the many new LED flexible lighting fixtures that are available. Some are as inexpensive as $20 and can really help add a lot of light to your space.

In your ironing station, are you creating shadows on your fabric and missing some wrinkles? You may want to consider placing a floor lamp behind the ironing board to light the board up well and eliminate the shadows. If you have a shelf over your ironing station, you may also want to consider attaching a long LED bar light fixture to the bottom of the shelf to light your entire ironing surface.

Wimpy Sewing Machine Light?

Is your sewing machine light a bit wimpy? Maybe a floor lamp to the left of the head of your machine will help. A great option is one that has multiple flexible arms that you can point in just the right place, or there are some great LED stick on strip lights that adhere to your sewing machine to help light your work area nicely.

Ott And Daylight Lamps

If your cutting area is leaving you squinting at your rules as you cut, it is time to upgrade your lighting there also. There are great Ott and Daylight lamps that clamp directly onto your table that are adjustable in height and can make your space so much more fun to use after the sun goes down (or before it rises)!

How about your hand quilting and stitching space lighting? You will want to consider your chair height, and the space you have around your chair as you consider this lighting option. I like a flexible Ott light coming over my left shoulder that has a really long head. This helps to light the entire project space as I stitch. Another option is a traditional floor lamp with a light color shade. If you have a nice tall floor lamp that you love, don't forget that you can get daylight bulbs and LED bulbs that can update your lamp and help provide a nice bright space.

In Conclusion

Now that you have considered the lighting in your quilting studio, have you found that all of your lighting needs aren't being met? Don't forget that your family might really like a suggestion for their holiday shopping that is as simple as a lighting fixture. When you offer suggestions of fixtures that may help, don't forget to make sure that your electrical outlets can handle your chosen fixtures and that cords will reach without causing a trip hazard or being in the way of your chair rolling around the room.

I hope these tips will help light up your quilting studio and make it even more fun and inviting to spend time in. Happy stitching!