Great questions! And here are some more things to ask before buying raw land... GENERAL LEGAL ISSUES 1) Is this a legal lot? If not, how do I make it legal? 2) Are there any existing liens against the property? 3) Does the Zoning on the property permit my project? 4) Are there any existing zoning violations on the lot? 5) Are there any cultural heritage sites on the property? 6) Does the deed also convey the mineral rights to me? (Don't be surprised if it doesn't b/c on almost all land, the mineral rights have been divided from the surface rights. But do find out what minerals are likely to be located in your area and who owns those rights. Consider the possibility that the owner of the mineral rights may decide to mine for them. Laws generally give mineral rights owners amazingly broad rights of access to the surface property as NEEDED in order for them to reach their underground minerals. You do NOT want someone deciding to drill an oil well or strip mine for copper in YOUR back yard. It might be worthwhile to find out who owns the mineral rights and whether they would be willing to sell those rights to you for a small fee.) NATURAL HAZARDS 7) Is the site subject to flooding? (Get a FEMA flood plain map and do NOT plan to build inside of or very near a 100 year flood plain. Even better, don't build in a 500 year flood plain!) 8) Is the area subject to any other natural (or semi-natural) hazards? (landslides, forest fires, earthquakes, faults, subsidence, liquifaction, etc. ACCESS ISSUES 9) Does the lot have legal access to a public road? (For example, if the only access to the public road system is via a private road over a neighboring property, will the buyer of the lot acquire a legal right to drive over that private road?) 10) Does the existing access roadway meet the fire department access requirements? If not adequate, what will it cost to improve the road? SEWER/SEPTIC 11) Is the lot served by a public sewer system? If so, what is the sewer connection fee and does the sewer district have the capacity to serve my lot? 12)If public sewer connection is not available, will I be able to install a septic system on the lot? If a perc test has already been done, what were the results? (IF NOT, AND YOUR ARE GOING TO NEED A SEPTIC SYSTEM, MAKE THE CONTRACT CONTINGENT ON PERC RESULTS THAT WILL ALLOW FOR AN ADEQUATELY SIZED SEPTIC SYSTEM!) WATER 13) Is the lot served by a public water system? If so, does the water purveyor have enough capacity to serve the lot? Do water lines already run to the edge of my property and if not, how far away are there and how much will it cost to get them to my property? How much is the water connection fee? How long does it take to get a water hookup? 14) If the lot is not served by a public water system, is it possible to drill a water well on my property? How much is drilling a well likely to cost? 15) Does the local fire department have water pressure requirements that I must meet before I can build? OTHER UTILITIES 16) Does the lot already have access to electricity, gas, telephone, cable, trash pick-up services, etc. If not, what is it going to cost to get these services to the lot? HOA 17) Does a Homeowners Association have jurisdiction over the lot? 18) Are there any Homeowner Association or Covenants, Conditions and Restrictions (CC&R�s) related to the development or use of the lot? 19) What deed restrictions exist on the lot? SURVEYING 20) Has the lot been recently surveyed? (Get a copy of the survey but also have your own survey done BEFORE you buy... and either be on site when the survey is being done or have the survey company mark the boundaries with very clear markers that YOU can see. You don't want to purchase land, start building and then discover that the land you actually purchased is the next one over from the one that you thought you purchased and started building on! BUILDING PERMITS 21) What building permits are required to build on the property and what do those permits cost?

I am very new to this site but I absolutly love it. Everyone seems so nice and open hearted. I have not started to really quilt as of yet but I will be starting shortly. When I was 13 (16 years ago, I am almost 30 now ) I decided I was going to hand sew fabric together for a quilt for my niece who at the time was 5. I did and to this day she sleeps with it every night, falling apart and the batting all at one end of it LOL. She is expecting her first child in October and she is calling me everyday for a handmade quilt for her baby. I can't say no. I can not think of a gift for her or the baby that would be more from the heart and soul as that. But I want to make my first real quilt right! And the second quilt I want to be an upgrade for my niece. My love and admiration for quilting came before that. From the time I was 2 I slept with a quilt from my great grandmother that was hand quilted and I wouldn't sleep without it. Even after coming home from the hospital after being in acoma for 3 weeks I was carrying that quilt in behind me because my mother faught the hospital on not letting " personal items" in ICU. I slept with that quilt until it was too raggy to keep in one piece. Anyway I think the love of quilting did come from my roots. My mothers family made quilts from only scraps and what ever they had availible and the quilts were either made heavy or light depending on the need. I have always admired them and even though I don't sew regularly or knit I am so motivated to finally dive in and learn this that I can't wait.

The required training class was $75 for two hours of individual instruction. That included a set of zipper leaders that you need to put your quilt on the machine. The leaders are reusable. After that the hourly rate is $20 and someone is always there to help you if there is a problem with the machine or to change a bobbin. I think after you have 20 hours of rental time, the rate goes down to $15.

I looked at the link. That is very impressive. How do you like it? I was thinking of something like that is kind of industrial or for very thick quilts. I have all the presser feet for my machine but not the walking foot. The walking foot which 120 dollars, and I can't really see buying that. I have the open tooth foot, the bulk foot, the circular quilting foot, and the daring foot, and even more. I don't know why I bought so many feet, but I did it on a binge years ago. I have a Bernina 1000 and the singer feather weight, and since my goal was to quilt with the feather weight, I don't think it has a walking foot. I did find the foot number 5, I think it was with a big thin piece of metal in the center useful for stitch in the ditch, but I am trying to use the featherweight and I have no special feet for it. The machine they had did look a bit bigger then mine, so maybe it has more ability to take a thicker quilt. Anyway, on sunday I am taking a class the store in san jose.