Where do you find the time?

I can't help you with suggestions, but I sure can commiserate. I used to have two jobs, and a household of four to take care of. I never did learn to quilt, sew, or anything. I know people who would managed to steal an hour here and there for hobbies, but I never was one who could start anything unless I had a large block of uninterrupted time. Now my kids are gone, I got sick and had to quit work. Now all I have is time, way too much time and I've practically turned into a recluse. I've learned to sew, quilt, home canning, all the domestic things I never had time for. (But I don't recommend this method as a solution) :-)

Sherry

Just a very personal observation, Carolyn, that may not be helpful for anyone else. I am a maniac about keeping everything in its place and keeping my sewing area tidy. When I worked long hours and had heaps of family responsibility (and there were certainly decades of that), the minutes I had to sew were mighty precious. Spending any one of those minutes hunting took a bite out of my sewing time. Loosing one of those minutes clearing a spot to cut or press or stitch took another bite. Being a neat nut may sound like getting carried away with tidy efficiency but it really is absolutely happy laziness. If I need my 4 1/2" square or the red silk thread or the print with bouncy balls, I can just grab it and go. There were lots of years that I didn't have much time that was mine, all mine. I protected it by keeping my tools and work area ready to make every minute count. End of lecture. Rub the kitty whiskers for us. Polly

i also have to have my sleep and i am a newbie at handcraft so everything i do take longer and has to be redone a couple times for it to be 'right' with some exceptions.

what i do it keep a project bag with me all the time of things i can do by hand. if i am waiting at the dr., i work on something out of the bag; if work is incredibly slow and my hands are free, i work on something out of the bag; etc. it hasn't been nearly as much of a hassle as i thought it might be and it often starts lovely conversations.

Pillbug has a lot of therapy and they're in

45-minute, 1-hour, or 2-hour sessions. Just long enough that I cannot do anything real (like go back home or go to work). So, I bring along lots of handpiecing and work in the car with my favourite CD playing. It's great.

-- Anita --

well, that was barely readable, perhaps i should wait until after my first cup of coffee instead of posting just after i have awakened :P

No, no - it was fine! I understood every word. Maybe that's because I'm only just starting my first cup of tea (8:25 am here, and I was up until three and awake until gone 4 am... ).

Like Polly, I'm a bit of a tidy nut where the sewing/work is concerned... And I'm a five hours a night max sleeper!

I no longer work outside the home much. I sew for others part time, and teach occasionally. I *used* to teach full time, and during term time that meant working a 70 hour week on average, what with all the planning, preparation, marking, meetings, form filling... But I still sewed whenever I could. In those days I didn't have a sewing room, ans now I do, so some things are easier.

Keep stuff tidy! As Polly says, when you don't have time to look for stuff, knowing where it is saves precious moments. :)

Leave stuff out! I know this LOOKS like a contradiction, but if you have the space to leave the sewing machine up and ready and every part of the present project laid out and ready to roll, you can save more time that way! :) As when I teach, I lay everything out ready for the next day when I sew: I make sure it's all ready so I don't waste time looking for things next time.

And DO sleep! If you are well rested, you'll have the energy to make the best use of the time you DO have! :) Sometimes I don't sleep due to pain: this is NOT a good way to be an efficient stitcher!

I use the Flylady.net system, I couldn't cope without it. It's a way of organising your time and organising the things you have to do so that it's manageable rather than overwhelming. It isn't just "the obvious" and it certainly isn't about spending all your time cleaning. In facts it's how to spend less time cleaning (and on all the other chores and responsibilities you have) and still have a cleaner house (and get the chores and responsibilities done). I strongly recommend having a look.

Some quilting techniques lend themselves to working in 10-minute snatches. Any kind of handwork is better for picking up when you have a short snatch of time. Anything suited to a "takealong" project will fit in better with a hectic schedule. And do you ever find you are in a situation where you could pull out a takealong project? I spend quite a bit of time waiting for the kids to come out of ballet classes and so on, so I usually have a project of that type on the go (right now it's a knitted cardigan for my daughter, but often it's quilting). It's a good way to squeeze in a bit of handwork. It's also great for starting conversations and making friends.

There are a series of books titled something like "Projects for people who don't have time to quilt". I've never read them, but I think they must be good because 1) They seem to be in every quilt shop I go to, and

2) there a whole series of them. They might be worth a look, because they sound like they're aimed at people just like you.

this may seem weird but start by looking at when you usually have to do stuff. more often than not you will see a small moment in time when you are doing nothing much - waiting for your MSM for instance - the perfect time for a hand project - I made a GFG quilt while waiting for my sisters appointments. I have done the binding on a quilt while in the train - and piecing and beading - always good for some interesting conversations and makes the journey go faster.

then there is the time you *make* by saying the dishes/hovering/dusting can wait for half an hour and use that time to sew. and don't guilt trip about this - time for *you* is **more** important than a perfect house.

I am a single SAH mom of two small kids and design and make quilts for a magazine. I have a small table set to the side with my sewing machine set up and what ever project I have going out - sometimes even under the needle so all I have to do is turn on the sewing machine and sew. I sneak 10 mins here and 10 mins there during the day as the kids are playing. I also make time in the evenings to sew - the closer to the deadline the more time is spent sewing in the evening. I have a personal rule: no housekeeping after the kids are in bed. by making that rule I have time for me and that time is needed or I would have burnt out long ago

I found the best way to find time was to have a dedicated sewing area. It takes time to get everything out, and put it away again, so if you can leave your sewing machine and ironing area set up, when you have 10 minutes, you can sit and sew. Heck, most quilt seams are only a few inches long - how long does it take to sew that?

I made a baby quilt (all fussy cut pieces) between the time Spike and Giles were born in August '00 and that same Christmas. If I can do it, so can you!

I'm a stay at home mum of 2 kids under 4, I find that I can get hand sewing done because I can do that in short stretches of time. If I have to get my machine out then half my time is spent getting it ready and putting it away ( I don't have a separate sewing room.) I have a small basket in which I keep my scissors, thread, thimble, cut pieces and an empty baby food jar to keep snippets of thread and fabric. That way I have everything for a project ready to go.

I also say that i will do something for me for 1hour before bed whether its reading or sewing every night. I have also joined a quilting group which meets for 2 hours every week, in the early evening and that is also helping.

The other thing you could do is look at where your time goes when you are not working. Could you look at getting your groceries over the internet and delivered to your house or workplace. If you cook meals can you cook 2 or 3 times as much and freeze the rest so that you can have a home cooked meal much quicker? Do you have a housework routine, a little and often works well for me, although I never seem to be able to do anything for more than 10mins before somebody starts shouting!

Good Luck Sarah

a.m.--while I=20

Belive me, I *know* you are not whining! I work full time, and with a home and family, a yard and pets, there's not much time left over for the fun stuff.=20

One BIG thing that made a differerence for me is having the machine always set set up in a spot so that I could just leave it there, so it is always ready to go. Setting up/taking down is sometimes enough of a chore to make you not want to bother. If you can do this, then you can fit in even a minute here and there while you're making dinner! THese other hints may help:

Irene

-------------- You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.=20

--Mae West=20

--------------

On Thu, 21 Sep 2006 22:02:35 -0500, Carolyn McCarty wrote (in article ):

I know what you mean and I don't have the OT and have David to do the shopping and cooking. One thing that has helped enormously is my small quilting group. At least one evening a month, I get handwork in. I'll never win a record for getting a quilt done in a short amount of time but it will get done.

Another thing I did when I lived alone was to sew on the night of my favorite TV show. Maybe you could do that. (If I were you'd I'd even plan that to be take out night so you don't have to spend time in the kitchen.)

Maureen

You've had lots of good advice already about leaving your project out and machine set up so you can snatch a spare couple of minutes here and there. To this I would add a bit of a schedule if possible. Don't just wait for your minutes to magically appear. Also, you need to work on the project a bit every day so you don't forget where you left off. That would just waste your precious time.

When I was working, I would plan for a quarter hour at the SM every morning before leaving the house. Usually I could fit some time in during the evening, but if not, the day didn't feel wasted. Roberta in D

"Carolyn McCarty" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@news.supernews.com...

I've worked 70+ hours a week for years (the joy of owning your own business), so I know you can definitely find the time to quilt. :)

I get a lot of quilting done in 5 and 10 minute segments. Before work, I often have five minutes or so, so I can either sew or do housework. Same for time while cooking dinner. And if I'm good about turning off the TV in the evening, I can get a LOT done then! LOL

The key is to have your sewing organized. If you have to spend that five minutes figuring out the next step, you won't have time to sew. If everything is laid out (in piles, on a design wall, whatever), you can get a lot done. One morning I'll sew for five minutes (as in the machine is running non-stop), the next morning I might press for five minutes, another morning I might cut for five minutes. Just about every quilt I've made has been done that way.

Spending a little time here and there at it at least gets you that closer to being finished so if you can dedicate a space to keep from having to setup everything every time you want to sew, it makes a big difference. And organize it in a way that works for you.

Marie

That is my system too. Much as I would love a very tidy flat, I leave the ironing board set up so that I can snatch 5 minutes to press blocks. What I do is, when I have 5 or 10 minutes, I either press blocks that are waiting on the ironing board, or I sew blocks that I have pinned and left beside the sewing machine. Or I might pin together some scraps, because I leave my scrap box sitting on the couch, where I can always see it and not forget about it. Taking little bits of time to do little bits of work on projects does add up!

-- Jo in Scotland

Might try this book:

I am lucky to have more time to sew than most. We are getting ready to move and my sewing area is all stirred up and some stuff already to the other house. It may be like this for months so I am trying to reorganize to get things in a workable situation. Let us know how you do and what works for you Carolyn. Taria

Carolyn McCarty wrote:

Howdy!

"in a bit of a bind": well, if you like binding, stick with it!

I use *your* quilting time, Carolyn, so I get twice as many quilts Finished. (No, I'm not sending any to The Old Pueblo.)

Actually, I've always quilted or crocheted or done some other kind of craft, when I had 2 jobs outside the house, 1 outside job & 2 kids,

2 outside jobs & the same 2 kids, and when I worked at home full time. (ALL moms are working moms, and ALL women work, I've never met one who didn't!) Other things can be ignored, handled, worked around & shared. When I found that I was the only one working at home I taught the boys how to do their own laundry, cook, clean & sew. Why not? They're taking up space on this planet, they should take care of themselves. I don't sleep much, up early, up late. Anyway, I reckon we all figure out how to cope, how to do some of the things we really want to do. Right now Big Time Quilting isn't in your schedule. Things change. Hang in there, hang out here with us, and take along a bag of hand work wherever you go. I had my bag of yo-yos w/ fabric, thread, thimble, spare needles, that I took EVERYwhere with me for years; ended up selling yo-yos at the quilt shop when I worked there. Good for you for helping your mom. I wouldn't volunteer for this duty, and it would be "duty", eligible for combat pay, for anyone having to care for my mom. *snort* Btw, welcome back; it's good to see you & Red Green in the tag line again. *HUGS*

Ragmop/Sandy

Carolyn in The Old Pueblo

If it ain't broke, you're not trying. --Red Green If it ain't broke, it ain't mine. --Carolyn McCarty

If at first you don't succeed, switch to power tools. --Red Green If at first you don't succeed, get a bigger hammer. --Carolyn McCarty