New Locale

In May of this year, my partner and I purchased a house in Norfolk, MA. We had previously lived in a Boston apartment in an excellent neighborhood, but had grown pretty weary of city life with all the noise, cramped quarters, and lack of adequate outdoor space. Plus J's commute was killing him - about an hour, give or take, on an awful major highway. There was always terrible traffic.

We spend a lot of time at home. We are very social people, but most of our routines and hobbies center around the domestic life. We LOVE having dinner parties. Part of the draw of a new house was all the obvious upgrades in terms of being able to host, especially outdoors!

One of the biggest perks/selling points of the house we bought (aside from it's beautiful, quiet, wooded location and antique charm) is the 2 story barn/garage on the property. Mostly unfinished though very sturdy, the previous owners of the home invested quite a bit in re-siding, re-roofing, and running electrical to the barn.

The 2nd story has high, open ceilings and many big, bright windows. The space is a little over 500 sq ft (not bad!). Currently, I have relocated my studio to the barn and, despite a lack of climate control and abundance of small crawly things, have quite enjoyed it so far. Our long-term plan is to finish the space and outfit it as a 'Maker Space', specifically one that provides classes, workshops, and events. I'm hoping to hold sewing classes in it sooner than that, though I think I'll have to manage the bug population before having students up.

For now, we're focusing on getting settled in. We've already done some renovation work to the house, but little things always come up, especially when your house is old. I'm gearing up to launch Blueprints for Sewing, my line of sewing patterns. I've noticed quite a few indie patterns popping up. I'll have to hurry up and jump on the band wagon!