There are twenty-four hours in a day and seven days in a
week.
That’s 1,440 minutes….and 86,400 seconds.
So…how many of those can you spend quilting?
It varies from person to person. Most of my quilting friends are retired. I envy the amount of time they can spend
piecing and quilting. But realistically
most of us do work about an 8-hour day somewhere else and then have to come
home to laundry and dishes and housework.
Once upon a time, I had to throw the mix of school in for both my kids
and myself. That cut even more into the
time I had to work on my quilts. I can
be quite honest and say at that point in my life I did not have
more than a couple of quilts going at one time.
While everyone may have the same amount of time in a
week, how that time can be structured to make it available to quilt can
vary. I can offer some suggestions…some
of which I’ve used myself and some that my friends have proffered.
The first thing that I’ve learned to do is keep all my
quilting supplies for a project together in a project box. Office Depo sells these really neat clear,
plastic boxes with lids. They vary in
size, some deeper than others, but they are wonderful to keep projects in. Quilt
shops also sell these, but they are less expensive at an office supply store.
I put fabric, pattern, thread, stabilizer…everything that I’m using with that
project in one box and label the box.
That way when I do have a few minutes to sit at my machine, everything
is all together and ready to rock and roll without having to play hide and seek
with all my quilting supplies.
The second idea that I always have utilized is to keep my
hand sewing projects out separately and in sewing basket together. I purchased a large sewing basket from one of
the big box fabric stores. It has a tray
in the top that I can keep all my hand applique supplies in and the bottom is large
enough to keep two or three hand applique blocks tucked away. If I had a day where I knew I would be
running kids from Scouts to dance to tee ball practice, I could put the basket
in the car and work on a block or two while waiting on the kiddos to get out of
whatever meeting they were in.
As they out grew Mom’s Taxi Service, and I was able to
join additional sewing groups, I found that this still worked for me. I rarely bother to take a sewing machine to a
bee or sewing night. As a matter of
fact, I really don’t like to break down any of my machines to take out of the
house unless I’m using it for most of the day wherever I’m at or it’s a
class. Presently I have three quilt
projects I’m working on that involves handwork.
I can simply grab this sewing basket on the way out the door and have my
choice of projects to work on at whatever bee I’m at. This is also handy when I go out of town on
vacation. I can simply put the basket in
the back of the car with my luggage and have it to work on at nights away.
Something else that works for me personally is getting
up early to piece and quilt on the machine.
I’m definitely a morning person, and found pretty quickly rising as
little as a half an hour early was really productive for me – especially after
I had kids. That time was uninterrupted
and quiet. It is amazing how much work I
can get done in a quiet half an hour.
While Meg and Matt have long since moved away from home, I still like to
get up a little early to work on an especially complicated pattern. A fresh mind and a hot pot of coffee can work
wonders!
Another motivating factor for me is a class. To be sure, like most of the quilting-obsessed,
I have a list of quilts I want to make before I’m called away to that Great
Guild Meeting in the Sky. But if I can
find a class that offers instruction in that quilt…it does tend to move that
pattern off my wish list and onto the long arm.
To be honest, at this point, I may not need the instruction from the
teacher to make the quilt, but that teacher
usually gives homework and I’m still way to much of a school nerd not to do my
homework. And if I do all my homework, then the quilt will be completed
(or mostly completed) by the time the class is through. Plus it offers a great time of fellowship with
other quilters.
Some other suggestions include:
Clean and organize your quilting area after each quilt –
that way you know where your supplies are.
Clean your machine and change your needle regularly.
When you get down to your last sewing machine needle, go
ahead and purchase the next pack. You
know you’re going to eventually have to replace that last needle and buying the
new pack now will save you a trip to the store later. Or having to wait until the
store opens, since needles invariably break at 11 p.m.
Try to purchase all your supplies before starting a
quilting project. I can kind of agree
with that…to a degree. I often put off
buying the backing, batting, and sometimes even the outer border fabric because
I can’t find something I like when I’m purchasing everything else. I do purchase as much as I can, but sometimes
waiting just a little while can afford finding the perfect backing or border fabric you were looking for.
Always have an extra rotary blade….see the suggestion
about sewing machine needles.
The fact is that what works for me, may not work for
you. Getting up a half an hour early may
not be something you want to ever contemplate, but staying up a half an hour
after everyone in your house has gone to bed may work just fine and dandy. You may not like hand sewing at all, so you
have to be more creative on the time you
have at your machine. It may mean being
very judicious about what quilt projects you choose.
We make time for what is important to us. Quilting is no different.
Love and Stitches,
Sherri
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