While on my walk this morning with Lucy in Lincoln Park, and still frustrated from yesterday, it came to me that part of the problem is my lightbox. Now, I must preface this with saying that I really love and use my lightbox all the time. My cousin, Steve made it for me probably ten years ago. I wanted a large one that I could use for putting quilting patterns on quilt tops. I couldn't afford the ones on the market at the time, and I don't think they even made one as big as I wanted.
Steve made it for me out of scrap plywood and a nice piece of white plexiglass 28" by 22". It's very nice. But, there was only one fluorescent tube in it. This project has layers of dark fabrics, and I was having a very hard time seeing my pattern, for alignment, underneath.
I decided that if I only had brighter bulbs in my lightbox life would be perfect.
So, after our walk, we went to the local home shop and looked at lights. I settled on the little xenon lights used for under cabinets. They were definitely the brightest ones there. They came in an all-inclusive package of 5. It cost me about $38 with tax and everything.
Back home again, it took me about 2 hours to get the old light out and the new lights in and wired.
I was a little worried when I plugged it in and switched it on, but nothing blew up, nothing caught on fire! But, one of the lights didn't work....so I switched a few bulbs around, and one of the bulbs is burned out. That means it's back to the home supply store tomorrow. I wish I could charge them for my time, trouble and gasoline.
I wish I could return all the extra stuff included in the kit which I had to pay for:
After all that fuss, time and money, I don't think these lights are any brighter and they are definitely hotter. Dangmagang!
I went to work putting the fabrics on and sewing them down anyway, I just continued on as before, trying to see through to the pattern and occasionally lifting up the fabrics to make sure what I though I was seeing was really on the pattern. I think I made a big fuss for nothing, because it was easier than I thought it would be.
I use it instead of pins. It's very good for small pieces, or in this case narrow pieces, where pins just get in the way or shift. I like it because it just puts our one tiny light droplet of glue right where you need it and it washes out with water when you don't want it there anymore.
It was very hot up in the studio and there was one small fright when we experienced what we later learned to be a sonic boom. [We all ran out of the shop thinking something had fallen on the roof or something had blown up somewhere.] But, I managed to get all the dark fabrics appliquéd down. I will get to the red ashtray tomorrow.
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