Having heard the horrors of military moves, I always elected the do-it-yourself moves when we were active duty. It can be hard work, especially when one is not able to work full steam ahead.

For many of the reasons stated, movers can't ship owner packed items. Here are ideas which may help. Rather than tubs, pack in plastic bags or plastic wrap. Zip Lock has those huge bags, which measure about 13X16. (available at WM.) They are excellent for packing individual projects. Burp the bags as much possible. Tie or tape the bags together in bundles of 5's and 10's. Get a large roll of cling wrap from Sams, Cosco, or a restaurant supply. Bundle your fabric groups just the way you want them, and wrap with the cling. Label as desired. Put everything back on the shelves or in drawers. Go back with a permanent marker and sequentially number everything. Keep the sizes of the bundles manageable, for your well being, and the convenience of the movers.

On packing day, the movers will grab packages of different sizes to fill the spaces in their boxes. Their inventory sheets will bare the numbers you assigned to the packages. On the other end, the bundles go in the drawers or shelves, but in no particular order. However, because each home has different lay-outs, you may want different arrangements anyway. Still, you can then easily put the things in the sequential order that they are now, and use only one arm.

Roll the tools, such as scissors, rotary cutters, craft knives, etc. in hand towels and wash cloths and tie tightly, then put into baggies. Tie books in small bundles also. For the sake of weight and space, the packers may put a tied bundle of books, and several bundles of fabric, and a measuring cup set from the kitchen. It may not look logical, but the boxes need to be filled tightly so that they'll support the weight of the boxes which get stacked on top of them. If one of your baggies pop because it wasn't burped adequately, things may begin collapsing.

If you have little utility drawers with snaps, machine needles, seam tape, and other what-nots. Stiff the draws full with sheets of bubble wrap or paper towels to keep the contents stationery. Wrap with the cling to keep the drawers closed. You could use tape, but then you'll need the goo-gone to remove the adhesive.

Take it easy on yourself, but give yourself peace of mind too. By wrapping in small bundles, you'll be doing a lot of lifting, but not heavy lifting.

Why don't you spend one day while your husband is gone doing some "pre-packing" - putting your soon to be made quilts into plastic boxes, putting your fabric in plastic boxes, and labeling how everything else should be packed. Then, when the professional packers come in, keep a close eye on them. Also, I would NEVER, EVER let my sewing machines go in a moving van. Those would go right in the car with me where I know they are safe and sound!!

How nice to have movers do it all for you!! HOWEVER, your personal belongings and quilty things are the most important part of you and you have the perfect right to pack them as you please. I have no idea why your DH won't let you do this! My opinion is to get it done however you can while he's gone , since he seems to have no understanding of your need. Sorry about your arm!

Um, what is the "there is other stuff that we need to accomplish" hes talking about?? Seems if he is away from home from 4AM to 10PM he isnt there to help with anything. If the pros will be there to pack, let them "accomplish" the "other stuff". If you have any friends close by, have them help you, you can say and point what and where you want your things. Mark all your boxes w/ notes on the outside for whats inside, and put a code on it, number letter, star whatever so when the guys get to your new home, tell them "all the boxes w/ circled A take right to upstairs rm first on the left" or whatever. Then you wont have to sort thru boxes and move things all over the place.
We had a "professional" move from NY to SC and even though nothing was broken, when we got here hubs went right to work 9-5 the day we pulled into the drive, and I spent the better part of 2 months moving furniture around all the rms and unpacking huge cartons. Believe me, what you "need to accomplish" is better accomplished if you take control of the cartons from the getgo. share t

I'm with everyone else, I would have to pack my stuff, movers are not as careful as they lead you to believe, its my stuff and its expensive, i don't care if its insured you will never get back the same thing. But with your arm you do need to be careful. I'm all for the friends idea, or if need be hubby (but they don't get it either) Good luck with whatever you decide.

When we had professionals move us they assurred us that our electronics would be safe and they knew how to do it better. I walked into our condo and saw 2 of our computers bouncing down the stairs. The company said they would replace anything that was broken. Fortuately no problems. Pack anything you need to feel better. In our next move, we will be packing our electonics and my sewing machines and taking them with us. Good luck!

I would NOT want sombody else packing my stuff.

I think insisting on packing your "room" shows where you heart is...it is where you feel the control is and I for one would be packing my sewing room MYSELF. Hold the presses...no professional male or female moving employee is going to touch one piece of my stash! lol

Anna

I would have already had it packed. A little at a time, after alll your DH is gone 4 days a week. You would be surprised how much you could get done in that time. Besides if he sees you are serious he might offer to help with the heavy items. Those packers have their own way of doing things and they are not going to pay too much attention to a one-armed woman.

No, I do not think you are being unreasonable. And, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Who is packing his fishing gear, golf clubs, or TV remote? I know some will disagree with me, but you asked me what I thought.

I was once told that professional movers will not insure any boxes packed by the homeowners. You might inquire about that before you make your packing decision.

Take care of yourself first. Anything else can be replaced. They will insure your stuff and what can happen to fabric in a box? As long as it makes it dry from point A to point B, it doesn't really matter which box i is in, or which goes first. Your health is more important. You need to relax and let them do their job. If you are concern about your machine, take it with you, but everything else will be just fine.

Oh my gosh that brought back memories! my husband is retired navy he was on subs. I always hated the moves and it seemed that every time things got broken and we had to wait forever for the claims, some thing were not able to be replaced as they belonged to my great grandmother. Finally started packing myself and nothing else was ever broken. But the work involved was a nightmear! Also never liked having to change the kids schools, and learn my way around new towns. Was so happy when the 20 years was up.

Yes, prepack in rubbermaids or something else and they can pack/box that. Also sticker everything with numbers/codes so you can put it together quickly if they sepperate it.

I would also want to pack my sewing room. When we moved back to Fl from NC my family helped pack and I did not find things for months. I appreciated the help but, I am systematic when I pack so I will know where things are. Just do a little at a time.

I would not want someone else packing my stuff. i liked the idea of packing fabric in the plastic bags before hand. the movers can see what's in the bags and pack accordingly. I would supervise what i was able to and pack machines and electronics myself in original boxes if possible. Good luck with your move and your arm.

In 23 years as a Navy Wife, I always had a few things I wanted to pack myself. It usually took 2 days for our pack out, so the movers would leave several boxes made up and ready to pack when they left the first day. I packed, but did not seal them. The mover would check them, and sometimes put a few more things in and seal. That way they were still insured. I was fortunate not to have much damage in all those years, including 2 overseas moves. But, I didn't have very many precious things then! Raising 3 kids on a Navy salary in the 60's and 70's didn't allow for much extra. I was not a quilter then so only had 1 machine which was in use all the time making clothes!

I would be concerned that it might invalidate the insurance if you packed. Just stay in the room and supervise. Have them mark the boxes specifically (not just "sewing room"). Be sure to tell them the value of the sewing machine(s) and that it should be listed on the valuable item/fragile list.

I would supervise the movers. I'm sure since you are "paying" them, they wouldn't mind taking some direction as to how you want it done.

Jane, those items are important to you and it is another way of maybe purging some items. Welcome to Maryland. I live in Fallston, Harford County. We have The Flying Geese Quilt Guild in Bel Air. Look us up on the web and if you are interested in attending one of our meetings, please let me know. I am "golfer" better known as Barbara.

So between 4a Monday and Thursday evening you are free to do anything you like!! I totally understand. I find with some of my 'stuff' it defines me...for good or ill. And that stuff can't be handled just any ol way by just any ol person. It's mine, it's me, and only I can handle it right. Do what you need to for you while husband is away, or have a trusted friend (who doesn't mind following explicit directions ;-) ) help

Watch the movers! In the Navy we heard all kinds of stories. Full bags of garbage packed for the move, ashtrays still full of butts carefully wrapped and all the baby stuff just missing.

PRE-PACKING SMALL BUNDLES IN PLASTIC BAGS OR PLASTIC WRAP- what a GREAT idea! You can put small packages together the way you want AND the movers can see what's in the bundle before putting them into large boxes. Having a friend help out will help make the task go more smoothly. There are SO many wonderful suggestions here. Take care of yourself!

Only professional move we did they took the salt & pepper shakers off the dining room table and didn't put tape or anything over the holes...then packed them in the same box with the stereo equipment!

I would take my machine/machines in the trunk of my car and I like the sorting/bagging suggestions for ahead of time. BUT don't re-injure yourself. Do it in stages, do the most important stuff (to you) first, then do the others in rank of importance, so if energy/time get in the way you're covered somewhat.

Also you might want to check about getting the extra insurance. In days or yore, when dinosauers still roamed the earth, the standard moving insurance was by the pound and not very much. I would talk to both the movers and your own insurance co.about a rider for fabric, etc or really anything valuable. Good idea on the jewelry, that should also go with you.

We also had problems on the unload end with them putting boxes in wrong room. I wanted to unpack at my leisure, which you may not want/choose not to do. Depends on how much stuff you have, I guess.

Anyway, good luck...and try not to stress out too much, you have a lot on your plate right now.

Every time my DH got transferred we had to do the packing. I have a girlfriend who has packed professionally. She showed me some of the tricks of the trade. They do label things very well. I would go ahead and let them do it. It would make life so much easier for you. Many things would be packed better than we could do it ourselves. The next three things you want to do, pack yourself and put in the car with you. Then you'll know where they are.

Every time my DH got transferred we had to do the packing. I have a girlfriend who has packed professionally. She showed me some of the tricks of the trade. They do label things very well. I would go ahead and let them do it. It would make life so much easier for you. Many things would be packed better than we could do it ourselves. The next three things you want to do, pack yourself and put in the car with you along with one sewing machine. Then you'll know where they are.
Possibly you could ask for one of the packers to be a woman. They usually pay better attention to details.

Just pack your stuff that's important in bins and have them stacked in your room. They aren't going to repack it, they will label it Packed By Owner. I'm with you. I would not want to have someone else going through my stash who doesn't respect it. They can pack all of my underwear they want.

The last time the military moved us, decades ago, the packers came in and packed everything in sight. I unwrapped coke bottle lids that were loose in a silverware drawer. LOL. Every item was wrapped in paper. Each spoon, each dish, everything. It took me forever to unpack, they packed and moved but didn't unpack and didn't mark the boxes. I cried for days sitting in the middle of piles of boxes. I didn't get along all that great being a military wife.

I haven't read all the messages in this thread, but here's a thought or two. If you can't get a friend/friends together to help you pack, call a local high school. Many high schools require community service of their upperclassmen, and perhaps there would be a student or two who would be able to satisfy their community service hours helping out. Also, candidates for confirmation in Catholic churches also often have to fulfill service requirements. Call your local parish to see if anyone needs some hours.

I know how you feel as I moved around in my job many times as well. The rule here was, that if I packed it myself, I had to buy my own insurance, so after a while I just allowed them to do it because I could always replace anything with something new with the insurance money. The only thing that happened in all the moves was that one removalist stole a portfolio of my drawings...as I haven't reached Picasso's status yet, they are of little use to him. Now, I know it is easier said than done, but these things are only things and if we put it into perspective and relax a little bit, the moves become less traumatic. I also got used to it as I moved 10 times before I was 20 and then every 2 to 5 years after that with my job.Now that I am retired, it is the longest time I have ever been in a place and that is 6 years - probably get carted off to the old age place next.

We worked for a moving company for a very short period of time. When we got to our destination city we would go to employment places and hire 2-4 men and women to go into the homes and do the packing, we seldom was able to get any with any experience. When we got to our destination we would hire people to unload. again no training. Granted we were hired to do commercial jobs but wer called up on sometimes to do household. This is one of the reasons we went back to hauling general goods I hated being responsable for peoples prized possissions, especially when packed by whom ever you could find to hire, if you have 2-4 people packing you cant watch everything going on

I agree with the suggestion of packing things the way you want them in rubbermaid containers then letting the movers pack the containers in their boxes. Things are packed the way you want them, and the movers want them, and still covered by insurance like you hubby wants. Can you get someone to help you pack it into the containers? If you live in the DFW area, I would be glad to help

We worked for a moving company for a very short period of time. When we got to our destination city we would go to employment places and hire 2-4 men and women to go into the homes and do the packing, we seldom was able to get any with any experience. When we got to our destination we would hire people to unload. again no training. Granted we were hired to do commercial jobs but wer called up on sometimes to do household. This is one of the reasons we went back to hauling general goods I hated being responsable for peoples prized possissions, especially when packed by whom ever you could find to hire, if you have 2-4 people packing you cant watch everything going on

Moving is very hard. If my husband wanted to kill me, all he would have to say is that we are moving from here!

You are not crazy. I can very much relate to your problem... have been there, too. Stand your ground and pack up what you want, and let the chips fall where they may.

Have you done this before?? They will do whatever you want them to do as long as your in the room with the packers. I would have them label the machines REALLY GOOD. or put them in your car. We've do a few company moves and most the time the packers will listen to owner. It is YOUR stuff and you (company) are paying them
Take care Your fabric will be fine.

then why dont you stand there and tell them how you want it packed and watch as they do it , i would

Maybe you and a friend could pack the most important things and ship them to you at the new address? In care of General Delivery?

Ask the people to pack if you can supervise. Then you can be the deligator. I am a doer also and it will be very hard for you. Just tell them what you want done and why. I hop it works for you. Hope you do have a friend to help you.