Making Room for my Bernina 830
10.30.09
Last week I finally got my very own dream sewing and embroidery machine – a new Bernina 830. As well as being a masterpiece of Swiss engineering, this is one big sewing machine! Add the embroidery module onto it and it’s even bigger. The jumbo hoop (an extra – but very essential in my opinion!) has the largest embroidery area of any hoop currently available for the home embroidery market.
When I brought the machine home it became very clear to me that I was going to have to do some rearranging in my quilting studio – which is also my living room!
Tuesday morning of this week – this is what my studio looked like:
My Bernina artista 200 is in the corner on a portable cabinet that has been extended on the left and behind by the addition of a couple of shelves. The cutting table is a free standing kitchen cabinet from IKEA – the perfect height for working at! It has been buried under “stuff” for a really long time. The portable cutting table gets moved around – and when it is open and in the middle of the room, there’s not a whole lot of space to do anything else.
Even the 830 box has “stuff” on top of it and is surrounded by bears, blankies and Jasmine’s new scooter.
On the other side of the room is the sofa – which hasn’t been sat on in months due to the fabric that is piled up on it – and in the corner are the wardrobes that contain my fabric stash. Heather’s scooter is propped up against the french doors. We’ve been getting out and about on the scooters since the weather cooled down – but you can probably tell that none of us (that would be Heather, Jasmine and myself) are very good at putting things away when we are finished using them!
After picking all the kid stuff up off the floor and transfering it to the playroom, the sofa was moved down a bit and the fabric stash wardrobes were moved to their new home – in the bedroom. That created enough space to move the portable cabinet minus shelf extensions for the 200.
Now there is enough space where the portable cabinet came from to move the cutting table into the corner.
This kitchen cabinet cutting table is one heavy piece of furniture, even when empty. It is, of course, full of stuff, and I was not about to empty it, so after a good deal of pushing and shoving, it finally found it’s new resting place.
I love open spaces – but they don’t usually stay open for very long! This is the space that the new cabinet that fits my 830 is going to fill. As of today, it has been shipped, so hopefully it will arrive on my doorstep of Monday or Tuesday next week.
I have found that if you contemplate a “problem” long enough, a solution will emerge. The “problem” in this case was what to do with all the fabric and other stuff that was burying my sofa.
The solution was to organize the contents of the cutting table cupboards which made plenty of room for the fabric which is now neatly folded, with all the small scraps saved in a zip-lock bag. The added bonus is that my stabilizer is now also organized and easily accessible!
Two mornings of work, and this is what my studio now looks like:
The cutting table is fully functional for cutting – not a thing on top of the 24″x36″ cutting mat. The storage underneath is organized (you’re going to have to take my word on that since I didn’t take a photo!), and underneath the whole thing are all the quilts that are waiting very patiently to be quilted.
The Bernina 830 has been moved into position – waiting for its’ cabinet to arrive before I unpack it. Although with the weekend coming up, that might not last!
The 200 is ready and waiting if I should need to use it. And it’s also ready for Heather to use if she should get the urge. All the accessories are neatly arranged on the shelf which was moved over from the other side of the room.
The sofa is finally back in action as a place to sit – and I did actually sit on it for a few minutes this afternoon! There is even a pillow that came out of the cutting table where it was taking up way too much space!
It’s good to know that my vacuum cleaner still works – not a scrap of fabric or a piece of thread to be seen on the carpet – and I can guarantee that will not last for very long!
Tags: Bernina, Bernina 830, Embroidery Machine, Sewing Machine
Sarah: You did an extraordinary job getting ready for the 830. You will LOVE LOVE LOVE the 830. Please post an update when it is setup!
Thanks Eileen! I certainly will post an update when it’s all set up. Productivity is going to soar!
You will absolutely love the 830. I’ve had mine since June and every time I use it I love it even more than the previous time. I can’t wait to see what marvelous things you will do with it!