Anybody quilt in an RV?
 

My quilt room at home was huge. I had a koala cabinet and a 4 ft x7ft custom cutting table with tons of storage. I have an Ellisimo Gold 2 machine and my stash was stored in floor to ceiling shelves sorted by color.. and it was good. Then my DH retired and we took to life on the road. I tried bringing my machine but it was too big and in order to sew I had to set up outside, that didn't work so well. The table was shaky, the chair too short so I propped it up and every time I moved it fell off the props...sigh. I stored fabric and notions under the bed and that worked ok but there is just no room to lay anything out for cutting and quilting a finished quilt is the stuff of nightmares...We don't want to modify the RV by taking out furniture to make room so I need to try and make it work within the space I have. I bought a smaller machine to take with but that doesn't solve any other issues..has anybody figured out how to make it work? This year I am spending my time restoring vintage machines and learning how to repaint them and apply decals but I really want to be able to sew as well..any ideas appreciated.

following . . . I've experienced similar problems so I've stuck with small wallhangings and mug rugs. Reading and crocheting are much easier so my quilting takes a back seat when I traveled. But that's been reduced with health problems and a dog with anxieties.

I sew in the summer for 4 months when we leave the heat in AZ. We go the the white mountains where is much cooler in July thru Sept. June is still kind of hot. I try to cut everything I want to make at home. I just don't do quilts. I sell my goods at some craft shows but mostly on my own. I make aprons, table runners and purses and baby quilts. and place mats and jewelry draw string bags and lots more items. I bag every thing for like projects together. I take my Bernina with me and lots of notions and tread cutters and mats. I put my machine on the table in the RV but I to have problems with a chair. I bought a big office chair but gave to my daughter because it was just to big. I have a small ironing board that I put on the counter. Of course I come home in the fall so I don't think I could quilt anything but a baby quilt if I was a full time RV'er. I thought about outside but to much weather changes - wind and rain and hot and cold. I take all my sewing stuff in plastic totes and some times they stay outside in the table which is under the awing.

I don't know what the front of your Rv looks like, but my brother has a class A with swivel seats. He built a folding table that fits over the dashboard and has a leg to hold it up in the center between the chairs. He sets up his computers (he works online) and sits in the passenger seat. Maybe you could arrange a table like that to sew on. When not in use the table goes under the mattress.

I honestly don't know what to do about your sewing /cutting situation, but there are options for folding design walls. Sorry dear, that is all I have to offer. If you want to drive your rig up to the boonies of Ontario, we can offer electric hook up and I would be quite willing to share my sewing space. Love company.

Are you full timing RVing?

We are not full time RV'ers, but have spent months on the road while on trips. I pre-cut quilts to sew and bring along some of the leftover fabric in case of mistakes, or buy some of Jordan Fabrics pre-cut log cabins and work on those. I find the Judy Niemeyer patterns are very easy to pre-cut and take along on a trip. If you are full-timing it is going to be much harder. The way I worked it, I might have to take larger segments for borders, but everything else was pre-cut. There are lots of quilt shops that have a sew night and you can bring anything to sew on. I bet they would let you cut your fabric instead of sewing. For cutting, I had a 4 ft grey folding leg table that I would put outside on a non-windy day to cut fabric. I brought along my bed risers so that cutting didn't kill my back. I use a 24x36 mat. I am not good at cutting on a small table.

Have you thought about the quilt-as-you-go method for larger quilts. It allows you to work/quilt one block at a time instead of trying to maneuver the whole quilt under the machine. Then, when you got home you could put all the blocks together or as Barb suggested maybe you could take the blocks to a quilt shop "sew time" & attach them there instead of in the RV.

I’ve sewn and quilted in our 42’ fifth wheel since we sold our house and started full-timing several years ago. Have several full-timing friends who are also sewers and quilters. It is a challenge, and we all meet it in different ways.

Some of my friends have toy haulers and take over the “hauling room” as their sewing room. Others sew on their dining table, setting up and putting away their machine as necessary to use the table for actually dining. Some of us have sew-ezi tables...I would not give mine up for anything. My friend in a motor home sets hers up at the end of the dining table. We got rid of the sofa in our trailer and that’s my sewing space...sew-ezi table in middle with sterilite plastic drawer units on either side and a smaller one under the table. I use a small swivel chair; set up a large TV tray (wool mat on top) on my right as an ironing station. Most everyone likes the height of the kitchen counters for cutting, but I prefer the dining table.


I do not like sewing on the dining table..find it too high and awkward. In our previous trailer that had the usual full complement of living room furniture, I was able to scrunch my sewing table in behind one of the chairs.


The rv park where we stay for 6 months in the winter has a clubhouse with large tables which we use to cut and sandwich quilts. I don’t bother to take my machine up there, but several women do. I also belong to a quilt guild here that has sew days..many winter Texans also belong and they do their cutting and sandwiching there. We have one of those white folding tables with adjustable legs which I set up inside the trailer to cut, sandwich, etc., when we are in a place without a good, usable clubhouse. Many quilt shops have days when you can take your machine and sew in their classroom space or use their tables for cutting.


It sounds like you are full-timing. Do you stay in one place for several weeks or months at a time? What size/type rv do you have? If you want to share more specifics either here or in a pm, I’ll be glad to continue talking with you about this; friends who are in a unit similar to yours will also have suggestions, I know.

Margaret

without taking out furniture I don't have any ideas for you, I kicked my recliners to the curb because we never sat in them, and use that space with a real table and good chair. A good place to get a ton of answers would be the RV Quilters group on facebook. a really nice group with weekenders to lifetimers.

mem, love the tv tray with wool mat for pressing, good idea, thanks!