At the beginning of March my husband and I, along with our kitties, moved into a motel in a new city. We moved out of our two-story, three-bedroom with a garage rental house into this bold new adventure.

Here are some modifications I’ve made to our little room here that help me continue to make art.

* Space. I’ve created more space in this room by asking the motel staff to remove the second bed and bringing a desk here from our storage unit. We also now have a folding table stored under the bed… which means that I can set up my sewing machine AND computer.

*Handwork. As a quilter, most of the stuff I make uses some combination of machines… sewing machine, rotary cutter, iron, etc. When I knew (mid-February) that we weren’t moving in to a lake house, or master suite, or duplex… all solid plans that fell through last-minute… I got busy preparing handwork to bring. I’m working on a hexagon crumbs quilt by hand. Photos soon.

*Food. Real food. I thought that I would be just fine eating sandwiches, cereal, and fast food. Turns out that two weeks without vegetables is quite long enough. My body has been a lot happier with me since we bought an electric steamer, swapped for a larger refrigerator, and went to the grocery store.

*Sleep. This is a new place. It feels new, sounds new, even smells new. It’s exciting but also scary. Fluffy blankets from our storage unit, good pillows, and soft pillowcases borrowed from a friend help us sleep better. So does keeping the A/C fan running all night. That way we’re not awakened by every strange new sound. And at our pet-friendly downtown motel, there are many.

*A notebook. I’ve had more ideas for art I’d like to make in these past few weeks than in a very long time. Paring down to the very essentials makes me think of new uses for… well.. everything! A shampoo bottle could be cut and decoupaged into bangle bracelets. Soda tabs could be sewn together into a pretty tray. The cuff off a stretchy sweatshirt could be the base for a baby’s headband. What if I cut plastic grocery bags into strips and knit them into bags for beach toys? A notebook is useful for writing this stuff down.