Decisions, decisions
Now I know. . . .
Last night Wes and I met with our housebuilder to discuss adding a large multi-purpose room to one side of our front yard. It would be attached to the office/library section of our house and open to the backyard. It would balance with the garage on the left side of the house and be the side wall for a front yard courtyard that I would like to have. And, it would be my studio space.
Well, in my dreams . . . . .
At roughly $150,000 I would have to pony up to the winner's circle a whole lot more than I am currently winning. While Blue Ribbons are pretty, they don't pay much! The Sewing Academy is fizzling daily. Apparently people have other priorities than learning to sew. So, it would involve a big withdrawal from the savings account to accomplish that goal.
The alternative, which I could have by the end of the summer, would be to convert our walkup attic into a studio space. We would have to add 2-3 dormer windows, rearrange some framework and finish out the space. It's the area where I currently have my mini store of supplies; where it took my crew a week to schlep all that stuff up the stairs and get it set up. Everything would have to come down to the garage, I guess, during the construction.
Or, I can limp along like I have been for years making the best use of the available space--but that was before the mid-arm and 6 thread embroidery machine arrived. They are both space hogs.
Part of me wants to just say, "Oh, forget it!" I just don't have the energy or really the desire to schlep all that stuff back down. I'm just too lazy for that kind of project. And, I don't really want to withdraw even the lesser amount of money out of the saving account. Maybe I feel that spending something around $30,000 will make me really obligated to sew and quilt--like that is an issue (but you know how the mind works).
I just don't know. I really wanted the room in the front of the house with the view of what's going on in the neighborhood. I don't want to look at my neighbor's roof out of dormer windows. But I don't want to miss the window of opportunity with our builder. He's a busy and in demand man & I know construction prices are not getting any lower each year. I envision another good 10-15 years of quilting before I pack it all up and donate it to Goodwill.
and then, maybe that's what I should do now--get out and exercise more, play some golf, tone down the intensity of what I do with quilts and read some more books. . . .
It's all frustrating & it's all sitting on my shoulders---the choice is mine to make. The money's there but is the desire really there for a new studio?

