Change

I've heard the only thing constant in life is change. Well, there are big changes in the works around here! The thing I was hinting at in the last post, is that we are looking into building an addition onto our house! If all goes well with securing financing, building will start in October. The addition will be a master suite, nothing fancy, but it will be on the main floor, on the opposite side of the house from the rest of the bedrooms. It would be lovely to have a private retreat area for DH and I, away from the noise of the house.

If an addition sounds like big news, I've got even bigger news than that! DD#1 and her family are moving to the USA from South Africa!!! DD#1 and their three kids are US citizens, so it's just a matter of getting here for them, but for her husband, who is a South African citizen, it's a lot more complicated. There will be visas to secure, work permits, and a separation they aren't looking forward to.

I am hoping that the Unites States offers them some great opportunities. Until they are settled here, they'll be moving in with us. Once they are all here, we'll have 10 people living in our house, 5 of them age 7 and under! We've been talking about building that addition for years, doesn't this seem like a great time to go for it? DD#1 and the kids will be arriving in...October, so we'll have a houseful along with construction.

I am so excited that they will be moving here! I've never even seen two of DD#1's kids in person! She is great at sending me videos and photos, so I will recognize them, and even know their voices, but still, to have them here will be great!

Fitting in so many extra people, even temporarily, means a lot of changes, and one of those is that I will lose a sewing room completely. I've been sewing in my bedroom for a while now, so that won't change much, but where to store all my sewing supplies, that's the problem! To top that off, with the addition going up, we will be losing the outside shed, as well as a storage room on the back of the house!

I have been looking around the house with new eyes, searching for spots I could store things. My big fabric cabinets will remain where they are, but everything sewing related besides the sewing cabinet in my bedroom will be moving. I'm going to be selling my two machine cabinet.

If you live in Southern AZ and are interested in it, let me know.

I've got a rough idea where most of the things will go, but I'm sure I'm going to run out of space. I've been purging massive amounts of stuff all year, but I've got my quilting stuff down to what I really want to keep.

I still have a couple areas of the house I haven't purged yet, but even that is complicated, because my daughter will be moving to the USA with only what will fit in their suitcases, so they will need everything! I had a few kitchen things I was going to pass on, but now I think I'll hold on to them, so when they get their own place, I can give it to them. Still, I think there are other things I can still donate to charity, and none of us will miss it.

I'm not sure how often I'll be blogging in the next few months. I just spent the last three days cutting out all the projects I want to finish in 2016.

I knew if I had everything cut out, I'll have a better chance of getting the projects done in 30 minutes here, an hour there. I did finish getting the stars for my granddaughter's quilt, and now I won't have to mail it to South Africa! I'll be able to give it to her in person, how cool is that?

Since I'll be storing things in odd locations, I really had to think of what I'd like to sew next year, so I can keep those things I'll need more accessible. Of course, once the addition is finished, I'll be moving a bunch of stuff yet again, but just knowing where what I will need is will be half the battle.

I do have one wedding quilt to make for next summer, and I've already designed it. I'd like to make the children of the bride and groom quilts too, but we'll see what happens with that. I know that sewing time will be hard to come by with five grandkids in the house. 

I've decided to keep my UFO's, strings, and strips handy, and pack everything else wherever it needs to go. Strings are a great project for when I'm stressed or tired, and my strips are really taking over, so working on projects that put a huge dent in those will be helpful. The cabinets with my yardage aren't moving, so backings won't be a problem. Finishing quilts and getting my batting supply whittled down will be very helpful with storage issues.

I've got tons to do, and still have quilts to finish this year. I also have a baby shower to throw for DD#2, in October of course ;-) I'll be helping DD#2 move in a few weeks, they are buying a house before baby arrives. I'll be gone a couple weeks helping with the move, come home, DD#1 will arrive with her three kids, get them settled, throw DD#2 a baby shower, throw a party when DS the Elder and his new bride come visit in November, be available to go when the new grandbaby is born, and do the holidays, be around when DS the Younger and his wife come visit in December... It's going to be a busy end to 2016! Lots of changes coming, lots of blessings, lots of fun!