If the background of my photos the last three months looked like I was in a hotel, there's a good reason for that! Due to a nursing shortage, DH was sent to Yuma, AZ, and I went with him. During the three months we were there, we only came home one weekend That was a crazy weekend filled with a late Easter celebration, plus I had to baste, quilt, and bind the Amerivespa quilt.
At this point I have sewed in a lot of hotel rooms. When I can, I bring a portable sewing table and a padded folding chair. The desks and chairs in hotel rooms are bad ergonomically for sewing.
I always bring extra lighting, I've never stayed at a hotel with adequate lighting for sewing. I also bring a power strip so I can plug in my machine and extra lighting, no matter where the plug in the room is.
Since I knew I'd be living in hotel for three solid months, I bought a larger folding cutting mat, and an extra wool pressing mat to keep with my travel stuff. I also bought a couple of folding rulers, because the last time I was sewing in a hotel I was lamenting the fact I didn't have any larger rulers.
The hotel we stayed in this time had two desk type areas. One of those DH was using, but this was my area. I used it for counting units, sorting squares, and cutting. I don't know who designed this hotel, but they won't be getting my vote for good design. That countertop desk area, had a height of 34". To put that in perspective, most kitchen counters are 36" high, a kitchen table is usually 30" high, and my personal desk is 29" high. Basically, their design gave you something that is too high to sit at, and too short to stand at. I stood to cut, but it did bother my back to do so. I think that's a large part of why I stuck with the 2" squares so long, all those squares were already cut, as well as the 3.5" squares I was using with the four patches. I only had to cut background fabrics for some of the quilts.
If you wondered why I kept using the same background fabrics, maybe now you can guess. I only brought a few pieces of yardage with me, and although I did check out the local quilt shops and buy some fat quarters, I did not want to purchase solids in Yuma when I had plenty at home. Since I knew I was mostly going to be busting scraps, I opted to bring six yards lengths of a red (always good with scrap quilts), a darker gray (grey), an odd shade of blue that didn't match much, and some dark teal, which I find is a great contrast to most scraps and adds a more modern look. I also brought a length of cream with me, but I had a specific quilt in mind for that, and I didn't get to it. I used all six yards of the gray and the blue, and I have less than a yard of red left. The teal I bought was smaller, and it's gone. There were several times I would have chosen a different fabric had I been at home, but making do with what you have is a good skill to have.
I didn't take a photo of my sewing table set up, because there was only one place in the room that my sewing table would fit, directly in front of a full length mirror. I tried taking a photo, but the mirror was directly across from the window, so there was a lot of glare. FYI, don't sew in front of a mirror if you don't have to, it caused a lot of eye strain because of the weird things it did to the light. I was adjusting the shades on the window constantly during the day to try to get some natural light but not be blinded.
Every time I sew in a hotel, I think about what works and what doesn't. I'm really glad I bought the folding rulers and the larger folding cutting mat. Those were definitely worth the cost. The lighting I bought early on in my sewing in hotels days is indispensable, as is the power strip.
What wasn't working for me? Well, I decided this is the last trip my Bernina 440 is going on, aside from the service shop when it needs it. There's nothing wrong with my Aurora, but after thinking about it, bringing my favorite machine with me isn't actually a great idea. On a trip you have to worry about it getting stolen, or knocks it may get from a fast stop, or hopefully not, an accident. My Bernina is over 12 years old, so it's no spring chicken, and travelling with it just isn't a great idea. I've often traveled with a Singer 301, but since I wasn't sure if I'd need to quilt the Amerivespa quilt at the hotel, I wanted something that would FMQ well, and be able to do the binding without a problem. Normally I wouldn't even consider FMQ or binding in a hotel, and thankfully, I didn't have to this time either, since I got it all done the one weekend we came home.
I have had times when I brought the Singer 301 that I wished I had more options than a straight stitch, usually when I had to repair something. DH and I talked it over, and we decided it was time to buy a travel machine. I've already downsized four machines this year, so getting a new one wasn't too crazy. It arrived yesterday, but you'll have to wait until next week to see what I decided on. It's not set up yet. My criteria for a travel machine was sub $400, LED lighting, a needle threader and an extension table. I was also considering the weight of the machine, since we aren't getting any younger. Could I have just gone to a big box store and bought a super basic machine? Sure, but I would have hated it. I've never had a sewing machine stolen, nor had one damaged when traveling. So although those concerns had me not wanting a high end machine, I felt it was worth risking a bit to get one I'd actually enjoy sewing on. I hope I chose well. If something does happen to it, I'll be disappointed but not devastated.
The other thing I'd really like to get for travel sewing is a larger Tutto case. I think I only have the medium case, maybe the large, but I'd really like an XL or even an XXL case. If we were only going away for a long weekend, and DH was bringing his scooter, I'd really like to be able to fit a sewing project in my Tutto case instead of always having to bring another tote with my project. Being able to pack everything for a few days into one case would be a great benefit. Tuttos are expensive, so I'll be watching for sales. This one I bought on a Black Friday sale, so maybe in November I'll get lucky on a larger version.
I am very glad I brought all those two inch squares for my three month hotel stint. It gave me a huge variety of fabrics to play with, for not that much space. I had planned on switching projects that weekend I was home, but decided to only bring a couple extra projects to use as leaders/enders instead of swapping projects. I brought home all the finished quilt tops that same weekend, so I wasn't just adding to the stuff in the hotel room.
One other thing I had to grab that weekend? Piecing thread!
These are my empty spools from the three months of hotel sewing! I used over five miles of thread just piecing! Turns out I can get a lot of sewing done when I have no housework to do 😉
Now that I'm home I'm already enjoying all the things I was missing while I was at the hotel. We had two granddaughters spend a couple nights, a big family dinner, swimming with four of the grandkids, lunch and shopping with my sister, and even silly little things like my block design boards.
It's GOOD to be HOME!
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