Quilting & Moving

Since I last wrote just a few days ago, I've been in a whirlwind. I am moving my home and studio within the next month down to Fortuna, 15 miles south of Eureka. Leaving this house, which I rent, is something I've essentially been on the verge of for years. Everytime my financial situation changed, moving has been an option. Every other time before, however, something worked itself out so that I didn't have to move.

But now I have to. I'm out of money, deeply in debt, and my income has been virtually non-existent for the last six months.

It's all good, though. After a false start in this direction last June, now I am really psychically ready to do this. In the past few days I have gotten rid of so much stuff, I can hardly believe it. Fortunately my spiritual community is having its annual rummage sale in about 10 days, and basically all my castoffs are going there. I've already donated four large carloads.

Between rooting around my house for stuff to give away, I've been working on my art quilt group project plus this week's 10x10" piece. Both are ready to quilt now.

What my new situation looks like is that I will be living with my partner Scotty, in his small mobile home, and I'll have my studio in a small apartment located on the grounds of the mobile home park we'll live in. It's very unlikely that I'll have room for my loom, meaning I'll be storing it for a while. Which is fine by me right now. I have a stack of handwovens to surface design, and I'm mostly quilting these days, anyhow. I am planning to have space in the new studio for wetwork as well as a big studio table for everything else, and hopefully room for another smaller sewing table. The cool thing is that Scotty has been essentially rebuilding the apartment, so it'll be brand spanking new for me. Thank You my love!

I have to say that it is incredibly refreshing to be going through every single thing I own and letting go of so many things. Including a lot of beautiful things I made over the years. I've had my use out of them or just enjoyed having them, and now it's time to pass them along. Not long ago I never imagined I'd be able to let go of so much. I'm glad I've finally gotten to that place where I no longer need things to define myself. And in terms of things that I've created, for a very long time I've seen myself as one who is constantly creating art of one sort or another and letting it go out into the world. I've always been generous with things I make, whether I get paid for it or not. I just have to be making things and I hope that never stops.