Material Witness

I hope you don't give up your dream entirely. Could you get a used camper and just go for a few months? If you don't do a little, you may always regret it. I was going to say that you eventually will need a place to live when your husband/you are too old to drive, so look for someone to keep your stash for you. Maybe you could rent an extra room cheap, knowing that you would never be living there.
Anyhoo, you should try it. It doesn't have to be permanent.

mamagrande

If it is your dream, go for it..sometimes we hang on to stuff/stash longer than we should. Life is to be enjoyed while we still have the energy for it. I am speaking because I am 73 and would love to do that..but my DH does not enjoy that traveling that way so I am envious of those that can.

I know a couple from Oregon that retired and sold their home bought an RV and come to to do volunteer work in California with Mennonite Central Committee. The agency give them a place to park their RV or sometimes schedules them to house sit. She is a quilter, so she volunteer to longarm quilting at the store and he volunteers at the thrift shop. They then travel to watch a camp when it is closed for the season and then spend between one - two months there. They seem to enjoy it, they have been doing this for over five years

Girlfriend

Have you thought about a plan for when you are unable to RV anymore? It will happen.

Am glad you have decided against this style of living. I think it will come a day, that you would have regretted it. JMHO.

Gerbie

I have never lived in an RV I don't like to travel that much. The cost fuel and places to park are something I wouldn't want to think about. I think I would go absolutely nuts being in such a confined place. Sorry, just my opinion, not trying to dampen your dreams. would definitely have a home base and store things for a while at least. I would really hesitate to sell everything, who knows you may not like this life after all.
One of the ladies in my quilting group lived in a 5th wheeler for several years, and apparently did this because they moved from camp site to camp site from what she said. She was constantly making beautiful quilts but I have no idea where she kept all of her stuff, or where she found the room to sew. I think they still had a home in Mich. I think or somewhere around that area, anyway they finally purchased a house here in town and they are still here.

Reba'squilts

We have a toy hauler fifth wheel. We live in it for 6 months a year. We move to a few different places in warm areas during the winter. Lots of room in the back for stash ( small) . Nice sewing room when the toys come out. We still have our house, so our situation is a little different then yours. If you are renting now....you could always go back to another apartment if you decide you don't want to do it for a long time. Really shop for the RV so that you get the best resale if you decide to return to an apartment or condo. I don't think I would like full time. Love our house too much! But sometimes I think that life would be much more simple on the road. Less housework, way less yard work! Good luck with you decision.

maryfrang

I had a friend that was a quilter also. She sold her house, all her furniture (did store some boxes in her son's basement) and went on the road with a fifth wheeler. She is a single woman in her late 50's at the time. Well she traveled in the south and spent the first winter in AZ. Came back to MO in the spring and spent the next winter in TX. Came back to MO and sold her trainer and truck because it did not feel like home. She had to replace everything and wished she has stored temporary some of her belongings. She did leave MO and has settled in FL, in a house. Why not store for a winter, then decide if you like the not having a home find what is good for you.

Lynn Street in MI

Dreaming I am a long-time RVer. We have had three motor homes over the past 25 years and traveled all over the US with our three kids, now grown and on their own. We just sold our 36-ft RV and ordered a 27 foot. On our last trip along the Pacific west coast we met an older couple recently retired. They were living in their fifth wheel. She was a quilter with a very elaborate Husqvarna embroidery machine. We stopped to chat with them. She was amazing. She had all her sewing supplies in plastic tubs in the storage bays on door side of fifth wheel. She set up a table outside under the awning and was using her embroidery machine. She just opened the bays and all her things were organized and easily reached. She was having a blast! So, take away for me was, you can do whatever you REALLY want to do with some creativity and good planning. If you do purchase a fifth wheel, really consider buying something used. The first few years of depreciation on new units is really outrageous, and EVERY RV will have lots of problems to be ironed out--they all do. Also, buying from a private owner can have benefits as well if you know what you are doing. Private owners usually take great pride in their units and take good care of them. Single owner units are sometimes much better maintained, cleaner and more reliable than units picked up off the lot. Join the IRV2 group and read all you can to be an educated consumer. This site is a treasure of outstanding info on all things RV! There is no reason you cannot continue to enjoy your hobby in the fifth wheel if you really want to! Just not with a long-arm machine, LOL! De-stash and only keep your favorites, or put together projects, and store or sell the rest. If you don't like it, you can always sell the unit in a year or two, and settle somewhere else for the next chapter of your life. Good luck! L

Carol34446

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.

Bubbie

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.

lclang

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!.