Thread: I have a problem, help!!!!!

My brother and SIL had several 5th wheels and a number of trucks. The spent over 10 yrs on the road. They are in Manatoba, CA and cost of trucks to pull big 5th wheel was over $50,000 and second unit had problems with roof all the time. I am glad they did it for over 10 years and they had a storage area. My brother now is very ill, has a rare brain disease and all he can do it watch TV, cannot talk, walk or even use remote, has a feeding tube and only 74. SIL is a quilter and used to quilt on the road, but like other said, cost of gas and RV parks it NOT cheap, and they both had a good retirement. If you want to take a trip, rent a unit for a few weeks and go and then come home and quilt. They are in a rent controlled 2 bedroom apartment and she does a lot of quilting and has help 4 times a day with my brother, who is over 6" and now down to 135lbs. Your other option would be a park model in a park, depending on you climate. Good luck and keep enjoying your quilting. I see your in Denver and know it is very costly there as our granddaughter and family and her mother live there and housing is a bear when you have a small income. Maybe move to someplace where living is cheaper would be good and worth looking into.

Life is ALWAYS changing, you will do GREAT!!!!!!! Breath
Now when it comes to your sewing supplies, you can start by sorting out your tools. We all have tools that we don't like (it sounded great, but after we paid for it and got it home we don't like it, can't use it, etc....), these items can go into the garage sale box.
Then move onto your threads and embellishments, sort out the small amounts and the "What did I get that for" things. These will go into 2 boxes, the first to be used up ASAP the other to be garage sale stuff (someone else will "Know what to do with it").
When it comes to your fabric you will need to go into your stash with an open mind. My stuff is in space bags and in clear totes.
SPACE BAGS:backing fabric or large cuts of something special (these are all large amounts of yardage) - is washed (I always pre-wash my fabric) - folded and the size is put on a top of that fabric (I also have a list with what the fabric size is on a master sheet that goes on top of everything in a bag (put in just before I suck the air out).
I also had fabrics with patterns to make different quilt tops, we lived in a place that I used to go down to the club house a lot to cut out or sandwich my quilts. So I made it a point to make up my own quilt kits (I would go down once or twice a week and cut out my new kit), then place each item into it's own zip lock bag (I used all different sizes bags for this, because you have small cuts or large cuts or even large amounts of a cut). All the bags and the pattern go into the large 1 or 2 gallon sized zip bag, and a note is in with the pattern on if I have backing and batting for this pattern. I divided these bags up into sizes and kinds (lap quilts, baby quilts, etc - then I stored all like in the same place). Lap quilts have a space bag and that's all that I have in this bag, the same goes for baby quilts. My queen and king sized quilts go into a clear tote.
In the living room we have a built in desk (with draws and some overhead cupboards). This is my sewing space in the 5th wheel. I had room to place pegboard on one side under my desk (it's out of the way - I do have to use a flash light - but it works), up top in the sewing area I used the mag strips for kitchens to hold up all metal items (again placed on one side out of the way).
Clear plastic totes went into the underbelly in ONE storage area (this was one that was easy for me to get in and out of. It has a slide in it, so it makes moving things around very easy. My full sized ironing board fits onto of my totes, so does my small ironing table. I always keep my iron in the first tote on top, so when I pull out my ironing surface I can also pull out my iron.
My machines are always in the inside of the house (I didn't like the idea of having them in the underbelly). My small machines fit under my bed with my space bags (I can lift the foot of the bed and have all items at my finger tips). My larger machine stays in the living room all the time.
You will find that you don't have all the stuff you had before, but you also wont miss it. When you first move in, you will think that you have to have stuff for WINTER, but you will find that you don't need all the cold gear. Because you are not in the cold all winter. I have two sweaters and a jacket, but no big coats. I didn't need all the winter shoes (they take up a lot of room too). I have one winter outfit for DH and myself and I placed them into a clear tote and they spend most of the time (99.99%), in the underbelly.
Living small, you will live differently. But you will be able to do the same things. And you will enjoy it too.

Borrow or rent an RV and try this out. You may find out that is NOT what you want to do. You will not be able to take a large stash of fabric with you. You could put your stuff in storage and get what you want when you get back to the storage site, but that gets expensive too. I have friends who live in an RV and she is a quilter. She soon found out that it's one project at a time and buy the fabrics you need only. It is assumed that when you travel you will be spending your tijme gong to places of interest and not sitting in your RV with your hobbies. It is expensive to park them unless you utilize free campgrounds and Walmart parking lots. Try it out first tobe sure this is what you want so you have a place to go back to if it isn't. We have been campers for 50 years but we don't live in ours and won't because my husband can't tow his garage!.

I hate to be doom and gloom, but we RV a lot, not full time, we kept our home. About a year ago we met a couple who decided to sell everything and go RVing full time. It did not work out, turns out husband was scared to death pulling something that weighs 16K pounds. They traded it in on a motor coach and he was ok driving the bus. Their mileage was 9 Mpg, they did not tow a vehicle so they were not able to do a lot of sight seeing unless they rented a car. They sold that, when we met them they were on vacation in a class C motorhome, it was a rental from Cruise America. We have a huge RV with 3 slides, lots of storage and lots of fun. I do take a small machine and projects I have cut out before hand. Full time, no way, as much as we love each other, imagine rain, snow, cold, etc., and being indoors in a small space 24/7. Yes, we are both still alive and so is the cat, we don't full time it and never will.

Wow! So much to consider. Everyone has so much good advice!

there are a variety of things you can do. First is have a cutting frenzy week (s). Cut all the parts, put them in large bags with patterns and thread and vacumn seal it. You would be absolutely amazed at how many can fit in a stack. When you get your fifth wheel, look for places to build. We raised the bed in our rv up 5" on a platform. No one really noticed and the quilt top covered it, but boy could I stash stuff in that big space - cutting mat, scrapbook containers full of sewing notions, etc. you may discover you don need all the kitchen places for kitchen items if you are only cooking for 2. It becomes a question of what is more important. The money you get from selling your 'extra' fabric you can use to purchase backing and batting as needed.

While my husband and I worked, we Had to live in a 5th Wheel because we traveled so much. I had my essential tools stashed under the bed, and when we were parked so that I could sew, I would find a quilt shop and get just what I needed for the project I was working on. Then I would leave the scraps at the quilt shop for someone to use or share. It was not ideal, but it worked for a lot of years.

We talked with a couple who were in the Rocky Mountains and her husband had a heart attack while driving...she had to get the rig under control and drive down the mountain.
Told my husband no and no and no.
Had retired military friends who were full time for many years. Last I heard their road equipment got more expensive and the military pay was reduced. They had to rent housing and default on rig and get jobs.
Talked to people who tried it and they agreed first two years was fine, then they wanted a place to light.

We are full-time in a 5th wheel, but we are now stationary. We found a nice park we wanted to stay at & I have a quilting shed with all my supplies and some of my stash. There are two bins and some bags & boxes in my half of the bedroom closet, a bin underneath and my machine is on a Gidget table inside or a large folding plastic table on our deck. We love it!! My husband has a regular shed for his hobbies outside & it's a good life! :-) DH made boxes for behind our recliners & I keep the little stuff in them and books on top. The storage here is wonderful!! At present my stash is 4-18 gallon tubs, 6 large dresser drawers, & "Mt. Quilts-A-Lot" stacked in a chair at the end of our bed. I also have 5 fat quarter bags filled and stacked in front of that chair & beside the bed. It's amazing how much you can fit in these campers with all the storage! You do have to be concerned with weight though while on the road.

I know a couple that traveled south each winter and just loved it. Finally they fixed their lower level and moved all their furniture down there and rented the upper part of their home to a nice couple. They took off in their Airstream and traveled all over the US for one year. They decided they liked it so much they put their house up for sale. She rented a small storage locker for things she absolutely could not part with and since they would come back occasionally to the city their daughter lived in, it worked out fine. They had a waterproof container put in the back of the truck for the fabric and extra supplies. I have been camping all my life and many times I think I would like to be a full timer but always love coming home. Also living in a small RV is not like having a much larger home. Good Luck.