Packing Up To Move
 

Oh my. After 22 years we are moving.I have gotten rid of so much stuff. Everything has to be in storage for about a year. It was so hard to start packing my studio. 55 tubs of fabric. I am so shocked. Than there are 3 tubs of thread and two tubs holding rulers, stencils and design items. Can't forget 6 new rolls of batting. Oh my, than there are the books I want to keep. It is worse than I thought. I will start piecing my backings from now on. Have TONS AND TONS of fabric that needs to be used up. The only thing I could say to DH was "Pretty good 401K huh?"

It can be a shock when it's all in one place!!! ESPECIALLY when the significant others look at it, too!

I can't even imagine what it would be like - I know that down the line I will have to do that also and not looking forward to it! Bet you are glad that you are almost (?) done

The boys and their families will be here this weekend and most all our stuff will be headed for the 720 miles move on Monday morning. I will just keep what I need for next two weeks till we sign the papers and leave for good. Will still have things to pack. It has been a long 9 days of packing. So Glad that I retired on June 3rd. Could never have gotten this much done if I was still working.

I am also moving next month, after living in my house for 26 years. I was also shocked at the number of totes of fabric. It's been spread out in various drawers and under beds so I really had no idea. I am grateful it doesn't have to go into storage or be scrutinized by anyone but me! Blessings on your relocation.

Best wishes on your move. I certainly don't envy you. We've only moved once - 30 years ago - but I hope never to move again!

M. Elizabeth,
Be careful what you say or, in Mama's words, "Don't put your mouth on it!" I swore in 1989 that the NEXT time I moved, it would be in a pine box. That was just a mere 3 moves ago!

I know we will be moving in the next year for sure. I've already started sending things out and donating (placing things on the curb and gone in 30 minutes). Started pitching a lot also. Each night I ask DH if it can go to the curb. If we haven't used it because it doesn't work in the past year or so, it goes. Can't look back because it won't be there any way.

wow, and i thought I had a lot!

The part of this story that makes me sad.. is all your sewing stuff has to be in storage for a whole year. Please tell us you will have an opportunity to do some sewing during this time.

I made a move 10 months ago after living in my home of 29 years and I am STILL waiting for the rest of my fabrics to get out of storage. It certainly will be a process of really analyzing your stash if there are some fabric you will NEVER use and to either sell them or donate them to a charitable group. I am letting go of my old collection of calicos. Good Luck !!

Best of luck on your move. Fortunately I think we're going to stay here. So I don't have to worry about downsizing for a while anyway.

I hate moving, mine is soon to a house and I am still in denial about packing up my apartment within the next month

All my sewing items are the last things to be put into storage. DH said that if need be he will put up a temp. studio for me to sew in this winter. We will turn it into a guest house when I am done with it. We are really hoping to have the new house done before winter but one never knows so to be on the safe side I am planning a year :0)

Just curious. What part of the country are you moving to? Good luck with the move.

We are moving from Central Idaho Wilderness area to Sundance, Wyoming. Over 3000 ft. difference in altitude. Tired of winter, winter, two weeks summer, 1 month fall and than winter again.

Welcome to our area! I'm from Rapid City SD so not too far from you. Hopefully you will find a fund group to sew with! Sundance is a nice little community. Won't you have fun when you get to unpack your stash and rediscover what you have.

Personally, I think MOVING is a four letter word. If I had to get all of my fabric together and start packing....not a pretty picture.

Mustang...good luck on your move! I don't envy you. I know I'll be moving in 10 years or so (retirement) and I am already dreading it!

The moving bug must be hitting alot of us ! We are moving in a few weeks as well, though just a local move, so nothing too horrible, but I WILL be getting a larger sewing room, so yay me ! My sewing room is always in a state of " packed " as I keep most of my fabric in clear totes on shelves ( we have cats that LOVE fabric ). So hopefully that will make things easier , though I have a feeling that Hubs has no clue just how many totes of fabric I actually have LOL.

I just told my husband yesterday that I have a lot of fabric and need to use it up. I will be 70 so being realistic how many more years do I have to use it up so I have decided not to buy any more fabric I would love to get someone in my family interested in quilting but really don't see that happening.

I see that you're moving from Idaho. We did too, to North Carolina 3 years ago. We moved from the Boise area...Best Wishes on a successful move!

mustang, be careful on choosing a storage place. We had things in storage for a couple of years and we had one break-in and one winter that the snow melt got into the unit and a lot of things were damaged. I'd rather sell stuff than go through that again. It sounds like you are doing what we did..... retire.... relocate..... relax. We now have a winter place and a summer place... I get to sorta move every six months. I've got it down to a system now..... but as I get older it's still work. Good luck with your move.

We are moving also. It just sorta happened that the dominos started to fall. We have about six weeks before we close on the new house. I will have a new, bright, lovely sewing space. I have been in a rather cramped space for quite a while now. Oh, by the way, the rest of the house is also lovely. My husband will have a space for his model railroad and it won't be in my sewing room!

Embrace the adventure!! Good luck to you on the move.

That's a wake up call! I wish you the best on your move. My sister moved 3 times and lost many totes of fabric and sewing stuff each time due to mildew or other damage from storage. I just helped her downsize and move again. She's taking it like a trooper, better than I think I would!

We moved from TX to WA state five years ago. I had a storage building full of sewing stuff to move, but a moving company handled it all. My husband retired the first of March, so now we will be moving back to TX (hopefully the Hill Country or Central TX), when our house sells. I haven't started packing anything up yet. I have a large sewing area and gigantic storage closet that's as big as a room. In the past five years I've accumulated a lot of sewing machines as well as tons of fabric and other paraphernalia, so I really dread packing it all up. Once we sell, if we don't find what we want right away, we will have to rent for awhile, which might mean placing a lot of stuff in storage until we do. I dread that because I'll spend all my time running back and forth digging through bins. I sure hope this is the last move!

We're planning to put our house on the market (hopefully) by the end of the year, and then buying a slightly smaller place with some acreage. In the meantime, we're getting rid of unwanted household stuff left and right, and are planning a massive yard sale at the end of this month, including LOTS of fabric that I'm downsizing.

I had NO IDEA I had so much fabric. We're talking: pickup truckloads. Plural. It's UNBELIEVABLE! :shock: It's a wonder our house hasn't sunk into the ground. Our move will just be a local one, but it's going to be a chore moving all of it.

Funny thing is, 10 years ago, I had no real stash to speak of. Apparently fabric reproduces like bunnies! :D

We have been in our house since December. Previously to that we were renting for two years, previously to that we were in south Georgia for 6 weeks, after moving from Texas with 3, horses, 1 miniature cow, 11 dogs, 9 cats, 6 birds, 3 goats, and the hardest of all to travel with...2 teenagers!
(If you haven't guessed, I have a farm)

So good luck on your move and don't stress too much! I hope you enjoy your new house. I know I do.

Just as a precaution, the fabrics you have in plastic totes I would also put them into a plastic bag too. I had my sewing room in storage for 4 years by what I thought was a good company and when my stuff arrived, most of my plastic totes were cracked, bowed out of shape, etc. All was supposed to be in an A/C storage unit but when I noticed some of my small appliances and even one sewing machine that had been white when it went into storage was now yellowed which makes me think it got hot inside the unit. Anyway, I was fortunate that my fabrics or machines were not damaged due to the totes being destroyed.

I know what you are going through, it's tough. We had to move from a 3 bedroom home with finished basement, 1/4 of which was my sewing area, in addition to the smaller bedroom upstairs (I used this in winter so we wouldn't have to heat my sewing room ); to a 2-bedroom apartment, after living there for 33 years. Fortunately, I had friends who helped me sort through my "stash", which also included the stash from my sister when she passed away. It was difficult, but I tried to keep the necessities: Fabric I wanted to keep (which wound up being about half my stash), threads, applique materials, rulers, plus magazines and books, etc. When I recovered from the move, which was very emotional, but then I started sorting through my magazines and books, then gave them to a friend who sorted through them and passed on what she didn't want to keep. As much as I miss my fabric shopping, it's a good feeling to "shop at home". I made a full size quilt for my DGD completely from my stash. I know it's difficult, but I have "discovered" fabric I didn't remember buying, sort of like a treasure hunt.

And, this moving and downsizing thing has been on my mind for several months now. What I am trying to do is just deal with it, and not do any more shopping or looking. As a matter of fact, I have a lady coming over today to look at a sewing machine that I have finally given up on. It is the HV that I spoke of in this forum a long time ago, and took two lessons on it to no avail, so I am saying "so long, it's been fun but it is all over now" and the money will go back into my savings that got wiped out a couple of months ago when I bought the new Elna.....

We built a new house last year and I knew moving was going to be an ordeal because my DH is a packrat. Since we designed the house and the spare bedroom was also going to be my sewing room I made sure it has lots of storage (walk-in closet plus access to understairs alcove) It's not completely organized yet but at least all my tubs are in one place and I know what is in which tub. I hope this is the last move for a LOOOOOOOG time! At least DH realized his stuff is out of control and since HE is paying for the $100 storage unit, I think he wants to rethink what he wants to keep when he gets our shop built.

Mustang, I was sharing with DH how many totes you have of fabric. His comment was that I cannot compete with you. :D:D He is not upset with my stash since he helped/encouraged, etc. me to buy a lot of it. Moving is a big deal in a person's life. May you find blessings everywhere you turn throughout this adventure.

LOVE your "401K" comment, I'll have to try that next time my DH sees ALL my fabric packed up (it's coming soon that I thought it would). The last time DH was looking over my shoulder (with his mouth open and eyes bugged out - over another sewing machine). I said "But you don't understand just how much money I saved you, it was such a good deal it was almost FREE". Then I told him about how much fabric is going up. LOL the things we say, even if we don't have too. Good luck with your move.

I agree...a year?? Are you putting it climate controlled storage? I am contemplating a move as well if I can sell my house this year for a reasonable price to cut down on a 2 hr commute I have each day to work and back. I am worried if my house sells I wont be able to find a replacement that will work and the alternative is to rent for a while which means all goes into storage...I know how much fabric I have because I personally moved it all here 8 yrs ago and the 300+ books as well...so I just hate the thought...

Welcome to the area! I live an hour away and Sundance is such a pretty little area. I hope you can get back to quilting soon.

If you haven 't already done so take pictures of every thing & try to actually inventory as much as you can.We just moved&a lots of things from my quilting room were lost& it is difficult to remember exactly what is gone let alone prove the value.

All the best wishes to everyone who is moving or even considering doing so. It's got to be heart wrenching (even if you are happy with the change) if you've been in the same home for lots of years.

I've told my children just to plow in the house over me when I'm gone....:shock:. I've been here since 1980. My daughter would throw out everything; my son would keep it all because it was mine. Somewhere there has to be a happy medium. I've added the quilters Last Will and Testament to my papers so hopefully can avoid the above. Every time I open a box or a closet I'm coming up with more and more stuff. It's got to go; I'll never live long enough to use it all. Joyce in Delaware

To all of you who are moving, I hope things go well and you are up and sewing soon. I moved from a four room apartment to two rooms. I had things stored away in the closet where I couldn't see them. Last year I took them out and now I can see my fabric so I can use my stash as a starting point when beginning a new project.