lsb142

I am retiring at the end of 2013 and moving from PA to TN. Any suggestions as to how to pack and move my stash. I have quilting, cross stitch, knitting and embroidery machine stash + 5 machines and a quilting frame. I have been trying to organize and pack this past weekend but I am rapidly becoming overwhelmed. I have decided not to de-stash at this time because I have a sister and 3 sisters in law who are crafters and I want to share with them. I think it's going to take a separate truck just to move my stuff. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I bought all this stuff but I did buy it over a 35 year period. The last couple of years I have told my husband I was buying for retirement.

Linda

quilter1

We moved just last week and I must say that the process was very difficult. We packed everything and will get rid of the unwanted items as we unpack. The total in boxes was over 400! Plus furniture. I bought bins from Home Depot for my fabrics and quilting things, labeled them and kept note of what was in the bins in a book. I had about 40 bins of quilting supplies. My DH moved all my machines, Tin Lizzie, lamps and fragile things himself in our van. I didn't want the movers to move my machines. My sewing studio is painted a very soft yellow and is full of boxes- no clue when I will see my fabrics again! I miss sewing but the house needs to be unpacked first. Then I get to set up my new space.

tessagin

I do not envy you this journey at all. 1994 was the last time I moved from Indiana down here to Texas. It was similar to a "Beverly Hillbillies" move. I sold most of my furniture since it was falling apart (I'm sure that is not your case). Borrowed my dad's pickup (1987 Dodge) with an 8 foot bed. Had to decide what craft's to leave behind (none) that was part of my income. When DH and I move, I'm sure 90% will go with us. It's always hard to pack and will become overwhelming. was for me but I had little time and had to dive in.

Tartan

Think of your stash as environment friendly packing peanuts. It won't hurt it to wrap all your breakables and you can iron it if necessary later. A few ideas are fat quarters between your plates, bigger pieces wrapping picture frames, packed around your machines in their cases......

paulswalia

Do you like your current organization style? Will you keep it in the new house? I would consider how the stash is going to be stored when at your new home. Are they going on or in some piece of furniture? Are they going to be ruler folded or wrapped on boards? Then fold and wrap them now and put in boxes by color if that's how you organize. That way when you unpack the room is instantly organized. You have to touch them all now, so make that "touch" an effective one.

Gramie bj

I agree with quilter1 about your machines. I just had to move my mother out of her home, only had to use about 50 boxes. I labeled every box as to which room it came out of and where in the room it was originally found. Example: Dinning room, north wall, left of china hutch, under counter. or maybe you could number the boxes and keep a list of what is in each box, or a combination of all the above. I would recommend you label or number every side, so you can see the label no mater which way the boxes are stacked. You really don't want to know why I recommend this!! LOL

omacookie

I will pray for you..Hugs Moved last year !!!!!!!!!!UGH!!!!!!

QuiltswithConvicts

Funny you should ask that question. I just moved from Hobbs, New Mexico to San Antonio, Texas. We downsized & I lost my studio and the related spaces. I used all my stash that wasn't already neatly packed up - link in chest of drawers as packing materials for other things. I save all my batting trimmings, so I stuffed them and Poly-fill stuffing into plastic bags to wedge into irregular spaces. When I got here, I used some of my boxes to keep track of the abundance of small pieces. We found fabric cradling lamp shades - they are a PITA to pack up, but they had to be boxed. I used smaller pieces of fabric to layer between dishes. We also used those jumbo storage bins (or should I say containers) to pack most of the kitchen things like pots & pans & larger things that don't nicely fit in moving boxes.

When we arrived here, the next day, I started to unpack & sort fabric from other stuff. Very quickly it became evident just how much fabric I had!!! When it's neatly stored on floor to ceiling shelves, it doesn't look like so much. Then I ended up in the hospital with a fractured vertebrae. No unpacking for me for a while. Now everything is unpacked, but some is still not put away. I don't know where I want to put it. The whole house has become my studio!

Attached are some pics of what things used to look like & what they look like now - more or less. I bought 5 shelving units to put in the entry way & living room to house fabric. More fabric is in DH's office closet & the master bedroom.

Just a note - nothing was broken in the move!!! Fabric does double duty!

QuiltswithConvicts

I forgot to tell you that I, too, put my machine in the car with the 2 dogs & me. DH's truck had everything we would need the first night in our new house with the movers bringing everything the next day. This is the first move that our furniture arrived right after we did!

All the stuff in the window seats has just about found a new home somewhere in the house. Now, to get help hanging the quilts in our new gallery!

selm

For you ladies that have used fabric to pack other things(dishes, etc) did you find it got dirty at all? Didn't the fabric make the boxes heavier than if you had used newspaper to pack?

We will be moving next spring after 22 years in this house. There is lots to do before we will be ready. I don't think I have a large stash but recently started really organizing it and found the stash a lot bigger than I thought it was. Lots to move!