Originally Posted by BellaBoo
I have read and heard many quilters say they can't sew in their sewing room when someone is sleeping in another room because it will wake them up. I don't understand that. If the bedroom door is shut how can anyone hear you sewing? None of my machines are loud enough to wake anyone. Cutting and pressing doesn't make any noise. Just curious why someone sleeping would stop me from sewing. A white noise machine works great to block all outside noise from a light sleeper.
A variation of this topic was recently dealt with at my quilt chapter meeting. Ladies used to sew during the business meeting which I for one consider rude but they were doing it. Several of the ladies complained to the President that they couldn't hear because the machines were too noisy so now we are not allowed to sew during the business meeting which is fine with me. Two weeks later I took my little light weight Baby Lok Maria in for a class project and didn't realize the meeting had started and was still sewing. When I realized, I quickly stopped. After the meeting several came over to see what kind of sewing machine I had because it was so quiet. Since my machines have always been about the level of sound, their reaction surprised me. I was told I could continue to sew during the meeting (by the President) but won't as it's not fair to those who can't. This has to be an across the board policy for all in my opinion.
Could it have to do with surface you're sewing on. My machine is on a solid desk and does have a bit of a motor hum but nothing disturbing to anyone or anything. However, I did notice when I had it on my wooden dining room table, that it was considerably louder on that table. Evidently some of the noise is lost or muffled by my sewing machine desk which is an old one that the sewing machines used to drop down inside of. We had to fill in the opening with a shelf for the new models to sit on.
Several of the ladies in my chapter use a quilted thing with pockets in the front to hold their tools and snips and that tones down the noise of their machines plus keeps them from slipping. Mine have never had a slipping issue either, no matter what surface I use.