I was watching the Fons and Porter show yesterday and they had a great hint which I had never seen. Perhaps it's old news to most of you but I thought it was clever.

You take a clear plastic tote, now who of us doesn't have tons of those loaded with our stash? You buy an under -the -counter light, very inexpensive at a store like K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc. under it. Just plug in the light, drop the clear container over it and voila' you have a light box.

good idea--thanks for sharing the tip

Also saw that you could one of those closet lights that you just tap to turn on, run by batteries, under your plastic extender for your sewing machine...if you have one. We are more apt to have plastic totes however. And you could place it anywhere.

What a great idea. I'm going to try that. I need to watch all the Fons and Porter shows I have on my DVR. :oops:

I use the extension table all of the time. It is the only flat surface in my sewing room that does not have stuff stacked on it!

I couldn't find a plastic bin that had a smooth flat bottom!

Any box will do. A drawer can work too.
:)

All three of my sewing machine extension tables are white - not see through - but a good idea for those that have the clear ones! Too, my totes don't have smooth bottoms, neither do my tote drawers - but I do have a clear piece of laminate I can set on thread spools to raise it - and the idea of those tap lights will work great! Thanks all for the terrific ideas - and thanks Roberta for bringing up this topic for all to benefit!

Also, I took the lid off of a two Piece box. (One copy paper came in actually). Took glass from an old picture frame, cut a hole in box slightly smaller than glass, taped the glass over the square hole with duct tape, put a light under it and had a light box.

Do quilters have ingenuity or what?!