Garden Room and She Shed Inspiration for your Longarm

For many of our customers the size of the longarm Studio 2 frame at 12' long which will accommodate a King size quilt or even a Loft Frame at 8' or 10' is too big for most of the rooms in their UK homes. This is understandable as by the time you have walking space around it you need quite a lot of space. Our homes just weren't designed with quilt frames in mind!

For many quilters frustrated by the lack of space under their domestic free arm the first question they ask themselves is but where would I put a longarm?

Good question!

Many of us in the UK live in small houses or cottages built many years ago when space was at a premium. Aside from an extension to your house, another excellent solution if you have space in your garden is a Garden Room, otherwise known as a "She Shed". During lockdown in 2020 we installed lots of Handi Quilter longarms in Garden Rooms.

One example of these was an Amara with Pro-Stitcher which we installed in a lovely Garden Room on the Isle of Sheppey. Kerry (@thatssewkerry on Instagram) has been making some amazing quilts on her Handi Quilter Amara since we installed it during the first lockdown in 2020. We literally set it up, driving there and back in one day, visiting near deserted service stations as soon as we were able to do so. We then did all the training on Zoom.

 

Garden Rooms can be custom made to your requirements, fully insulated and represent a good investment if ever you sell your house on. One of our friends runs a company locally and he has work scheduled for the next two years for his business. Home offices have become very popular for obvious reasons.

We recommend discussing some of the details such as lighting and location of sockets before you complete the project but the sizing is up to you. We have sizing charts for all the frames on our website and we can email them to you for planning purposes.

Here are some of the garden rooms that we've visited recently that might inspire you to create your own special space. 

We installed a 12' Studio 2 Frame in this space with an Avante. There was still plenty of space for a Chesterfield sofa to go back in as the space doubles for when visitors come to stay.

Exterior of the shed matched the local houses for planning reasons

This shed was very much in keeping with the area

This is Pete pacing out Kerry's newly built shed. It's got a lot more in it now! Kerry has her sewing machine in on the left side. The video at the start of this blog post fit in here with a Handi Quilter Amara and Pro-Stitcher computerised system.

Pacing out the enormous shed

This is an installation in July 2021. The view is towards the Isle of Arran. There is plenty of room for when Jacqueline's friends come over. The frame is on wheels so that it can be pushed out of the way when not in use. It is a Handi Quilter Amara with 12' Studio 2 Frame with the optional quilting from the back kit which comprises the rear handlebars, laser light and pantograph.

Amazing views toward the isle of Arran

Soft flooring (good if you drop the bobbincase) 

We put together a video of the frame setup - we hope you enjoy it!

More than a She Shed

Some of our customers have BIG plans!

This is Sarah Wickett at Ambleside Quilting near Bude. Sarah lives on a farm so space was less of an issue. 

This is the biggest "shed" we've done!

Sarah has a Handi Quilter Avante on a Studio Frame and then added a Handi Quilter Forte with the computerised Pro-Stitcher on a Gallery 2 Frame in 2020. 

She quilts for others and runs classes from her new teaching space next to her longarm room. You can find more about Sarah and her business on her Facebook Page - https://www.facebook.com/amblesidequilting/

This particular customer came into the showroom having had dreams of the Sweet Sixteen. As you can see she's using a new Amara with Studio 2 Frame. The benefit of having all the machines to test means that you can literally test any of them. We normally start demonstrations by talking about you, your quilting, your experience and aspirations. Then we play on the machines.

Outlook on a leafy garden

This customer had had a small domestic on a wooden frame so moved quickly to an Amara

This is a short video taken at a customer's Garden Room prior to the installation of an Infinity with Pro-Stitcher computerised quilting system in 2020.

Inspiration in her She Shed - Moxie Mentor Jo Avery

We hope that you have enjoyed this roundup of some of the 2020 and 2021 She Sheds. 

If you would like to discuss your longarm quilting requirements in more detail please contact us by email quilt@pinholequilting.co.uk or call 01905 942972.

We will be attending the Festival of Quilts 29th July to 1st August 2021.

Appointments by arrangement in advance. 

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