WOW - You are definitely givng up a lot by giving up that sewing room. I hope you come back safe and sound from Saudi, although my SIL and BIL lived there for a few years and apparently her husband made some good money there. Still, no matter where you go, moving is always difficult. I wish you well in your new home, and that you can find some quilting buddies there to ease the transition.

It looks like you have your own quilt shop!

That is not a stash it is a quilting store! OMG

Best to you on your move and may the quilting angles follow you.

That's a sewing room ??? It looks more like a quilt shop. I wouldn't want to leave it.

all i can say is WOW and good luck

I don't call that a stash, I call that a fabric shop. So sorry that you have to give up that beautiful room and even yet move to that part of the world. Please stay safe.

Thanks everyone for looking and the wonderful comments!

I promise, I didn't start out thinking I would have this large of a stash! In our last house, DH had closed in 1/4 of the garage as a sewing room for me. After the kids left home & I got into quilting, I sort of spread out into their bedrooms too. I had fabric all over the house. Ended up that too often, it was just easier to buy what I needed than it was to find what I had. Sometimes I just forgot that I already had some pieces. I had a few surprises when I was packing to move to this house!

We have always planned to retire away from the humidity of the upper Texas Gulf Coast so are taking this opportunity to sell our house. The plan is for DH to retire shortly after we return.

In the 2 years we'll be in KSA, we'll be able to earn/save as much as we could have in 5 or 6 years. That's not to mention what affect it will have for his retirement. He is eligible & ready to retire now but can't afford it. All in all, this is an opportunity we can't pass up. It just works better for our long-term plans.

DH has already told me that in the house we build when we get back, the 2 car garage will be my sewing room! It will be very similar to what I have now. The shelving is stand alone, so it will move with us. I will just have room for more friends to sew together! I'm sure I'll have to make room for a large closet to store Christmas decorations, maybe add a powder room or enlarge the pantry or utility room, but I'll be looking for a floorplan that makes those adjustments minimal.

I won't be replacing my quilter because I've discovered that I enjoy the piecing process much more than I do the quilting process. I have several friends who have quilters & are very skilled with them. I've set aside the money I got from selling my quilter & will draw from it to pay for their quilting services.

My retreat friends & I consider ourselves sisters of choice. In our years together, we've shared a lot. We all met on the internet (except for my birth sister). We share messages every day. Moving won't cause me to lose them. They are family.

This move is something DH & I are both excited about. We're looking forward to doing some traveling in that part of the world. Shoot, Greece will be a trip for a long weekend while we're there! Sure can't do that here!

We'll be living in a western style compound that has shopping, food markets, restaurants, beauty salons, a library & a gym. There may be other things, but that's all I know about right now.

I'm hoping that I'll have the opportunity to teach some of the other expatriates the joys of quilting, or at least sewing during our stay.

The company won't allow us to drive, but we're very ok with that! A driver will pick us up & take us wherever we want to go. Translation: we will have an escort to keep us out of unsafe areas! We don't have to learn their driving rules.
We don't have to try to read a map & figure out where we are & how do we get to where we want to be! I don't see this as anything but a win-win! Wish I would have had this option when DH was working in Sicily!

The worst part of this whole thing is how much we will miss our family. Our grandson will grow so much in this time. But when we get back, he'll be at a good age for us to spend lots of retirement time with him! If we're able to Skype, we'll still be able to see each other, and of course, we'll visit home a couple of times.

Thanks again for all your nice comments & your concerns. We'll be fine & I'll still be online here most days. I'll post pictures so I can share my adventures.

I do love my husband, but I think I would "visit" Saudi and keep the house. I have lived overseas and it is such a culture shock that I really would have a very hard time giving up a room like that to move to another country again. You have an amazing space.

Wow your sewing room looks like a well stocked quilting shop.

I feel sew bad for you :cry: :cry: :cry:

What a stash!

WOW! WOW! WOW! allthe space and fabric WOW

Why don't you have someone come in and live in/babysit your wonderful home until you come back? Seems like a great alternative to selling and re-building later.

We want to live in a different part of the state when we come back/retire. We also want at least one more bedroom than we have now.

We did think about leasing the house out, but REALLY don't want to be absentee landlords. Most of the people that we know are either retired, or close to it. The others don't want to live so far out in the country so don't know of anyone we know who would be willing to stay here.

This is a wonderful house & we've put a lot of work into it, but I'm sure we'll enjoy the next one at least as much.

Thanks for your suggestion!

ok, where is it you live? I'll buy your house, just leave everything as is, fabric, shelves, machines, tables...lol

Wow! What a fabulous sewing space!

WHile I envy your going to Saudi Arabia, it cleary would be traumatic to leave your lovely sewing room. Gods Speed.

Wow, that is one fantastic room, I am sure it is bigger than our LQS. Safe trip and return

See if you can get your quilting buddies to help you to cut, do inventory, etc. They also may have good suggestions on your kits. You might want to have someone who could send you things you may need later. good luck and hope you enjoy your stay.

I'm sure you will keep in contact with your buddies.
I hope you enjoy the new adventure in your life. How long will you all be in SA.

I hope you are storing all that beautiful stash.

Beautiful room! Just remember it's only temporary and you'll have another room just as beautiful as this one is or maybe even better.

I understand about moving. My DH retired from the Army and in 21 years only lived one place for 3 yrs the rest of the time it was about 18 months and out of the 21 years 14 were overseas. Make the most of this opportunity and you will look back and see how blessed you were.

Holy Mily Olie!!!! That is some sewing room! I just told my husband, I want those shelves on MY walls. What a beautiful stash you have, and I bet it is so much fun coming to your house to sew. Invite me, I might come!

Holy Hannah!!!! It looks like a quilt shop! WOW!
Great quilt room! :)

I know this is tuff, hope when u return u have a room twice as

nice as this one! :P

Wow...what an adventure you have ahead of you...and I am sew envious of your room and stash...I can't wait to show it to dh...he thinks I must have the biggest stash in the world but now I can show him I don't and he will have me buying more...heheheheh....are you going to have to sell all of it or can you take it with you..seems like alot to take and Iwouldn't think you can store it for 2 years....heheh...I have space if you would like me to tend to it for you...heheheh...God Bless and be safe...blessings

OMG How can you walk away from that ?
How long will you be gone?
Good luck.

Oh my. We just moved from Portland, Oregon to Kansas and my husband was getting somewhat upset with all the containers and boxes that I marked 'sewing room'. He said I used up 1/3 of the U-Haul. LOL Oh well, It is all moved now.