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OT: sort of whining...but it's a quilty whine

I am too darned busy. I don't work anymore -- on disability and there's a reason. I get fatigued very easily and then I just crash and burn. Whammo -- my poor DH is having to haul my fairly large backside off and tuck me into bed with a hot water bottle and the dog.

I'm trying to do an art quilt challenge with an online group. The deadline is after the first of the year, but it's still coming quickly enough that I need to have more done than just a constantly changing picture inmy head. And one goofy bird made and ready for applique. He demanded to be made.

I'm also making quilt tops for local c harity with a friend who is a dynamo. And I try to get to exercise twice a week. And another friend wants to sew together. And on top of that a dear friend is terminal....fading fast, I'm afraid. She needs care and she's all alone. I have been cooking and taking food over. Tomorrow I'm making lots of custards to take over, tonight I made soup for my family and took a big serving over.

The fact is, that with my family, my friends who need attention and my need for rest, I'm not getting any quilting done. I have two projects that are inches from completion, but it's hard to snatch more than a few minutes some days. And I'm slow. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I toldyou, a whine. I am not going to make a single Christmas present this year. That is iron clad. All quilty promises are off. I really need a couple weeks to block everybody out and sew, but if I do then I will be neglecting friends and family.

How do the rest of you handle this sort of thing? I'm thrilled to have such dear friends and my family is my joy. At the same time, I feel like I'll never finish another project.

So there, I'm done whining. Now back to your regular programming.

Thanks for listening.

Sunny

Reply to
Sunny
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I have a confession to make.

I haven't actually worked on a quilt in a year and a half. Part of me lurking is an attempt to get my muse jump started, but with the schedule I have, I tend to crash the second I get home from work.

Don't feel guilty. There's no reason for it. You do what you can.

Reply to
Mystified One

For a while I was taking care of sick family members and took zero time for me. I finally had to pick one day a week that was MY day to do only the things I wanted to do. On that day I always had the same thing for our main meal and it was a casserole, soup, or something equally as easy that took

15 minutes to put together and pop into the oven. After I started doing this, I was much easier to live with! Barbara in FL
Reply to
Bobbie Sews Moore

Wow, IMO you get a lot done! Makes me feel a bit tired just reading all you do. It probably just doesn't seem like as much compared to when you worked full time.

OTOH, I remember from my employed era that I was much more efficient. Things just got scheduled differently. But everybody can find some time to sew. So my 2 cents:

  1. Identify your current "full time job" -maybe your health issues? Your health has to come first. Schedule what you need to do for yourself -exercise, rest breaks, afternoon naps, etc. And schedule a quilt break too, even if it's only half an hour when somebody else will promise to answer the phone and not bother you.
  2. Your family will be happier if you delegate chores. Let somebody else do the heavy part so you can enjoy spending time with them.
  3. Be aware of how long things take. So instead of fretting about how little time you have, you can appreciate finishing a 5-minute task. If you have a place to leave your project out and ready, you can get a lot done in a little time. Roberta in D

"Sunny" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@v3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

Sunny, I know just what you mean. We've been having Big Events, obstacles, challenges and such for months now and were beginning to wonder if life would ever ease up so there would be some time for us or simple glorious nothing. Finally, things have slowed down and it is dismaying to find that there's not much of me left. I could/should be doing this or that but am not particularly interested. You've gotten such good advice here from our friends. Schedule some time for 'Me' even if it's only 30 minutes or the whole day if nobody will starve. Hug your sweet DH for me. How lovely that he's taking thoughtful care of you. Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

Hi Sunny,

No point in feeling guilty, it takes too much energy :) Or at least that is normally my excuse

Could you take some sewing/quilting with you when you are with friends/family? And maybe just make the stand of taking half an hour per day for YOU, will help with how tired you feel?

There was a long period in my life when I did not quilt a stitch.. my sister had to wait over 2 years before I got round to finishing her compass star cushion cover! I had split up with my husband, moved house with my son and just needed all energy I had to deal with living/existing/coping.. no room in my head (nor in my finances) for quilting! But it all passed and guess what.. the quilting muse came back too! So who knows how it will be in the future, just make sure you take care of YOU first, otherwise you can't take care of friends/family either!

Reply to
Gerda

I understand how you feel. I don't have the health issues, or other issues you have, but I do have my own stuff thrown in there instead.

DH works long hours and we have 2 sons, 4 and 6. This means I do most of the care of the kids, and pets and do all the house work on top of helping at preschool, running kids to soccer, etc. going to meetings at school, helping DH with our projects around the house, etc. All this leaves little time or energy for me to work on my projects, and I have many different ones going at any one time. As a result, I don't get a lot done on any one project, but that is OK. I just try to avoid projects with deadlines so there is no pressure, and when they get done they get done. It does help that I do try to steal a few minutes a day doing something for me that is hobby related. Too often is only reading the newsgroup, but sometimes it is looking at a magazine/book, planning new projects, and sometimes even actually working on a project.

Just make sure you get some time to rest, and work on the bits of quilting when you can - 5 min. here, 10 there can add up and it can also help you feel better since it would be time for you. For times when there deadlines, see if your DH could help out a bit, or let some of the other things slide that won't hurt any waiting. Hang in there. You'll get time. In the mean time don't feel guilty, we all have times like this.

Reply to
Charlotte

Thank you for all the good and wise advice. I appreciate it. I hear so many of us having similar situations in terms of trying to find time to do what we love. Maybe we all need to declare a national "Just for Quilting" day when somebody else takes care of ... everything. We even get our meals brought to our sewing machines. And lots of cups of hot tea or coffee and little chocolate breaks. We could have one of those a month. It would be fantastic. Think how appreciated we'd all feel.

For now, I'm going to go clear out a space in my sewing room because a teenage girl is going to come over sometime today and I'm going to help her sew a costume.

Big hugs to everybody.

Sunny

Reply to
Sunny

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