When I was younger, I always thought, "If something is important, you just make time to do it." I was full of infinite wisdom in high school, can't you tell? Hahaha. Although I still believe that's true, things aren't as simple as I thought they would be. There are 12 hour work days, dinners that need cooked, laundry that needs folded...the list goes on and on (and I don't even have kids!). When I entered the 'real world', I had my first dose of learning how to decide what was most important. As I adjusted, I learned that you can't peruse Pinterest for a couple of hours and expect to get all those fun projects done the same evening, not with everything else that must be done! But I also learned that a support system is key to maximizing my time. So the question I pose to you is, how does your quilty support look? Are you battling to have a few minutes each day, or does your family know that you have an allotted time to sew? Do you have an in-person quilting group that you meet with? Or are your only quilting friends through blogging or Instagram? What are some tips or strategies you have that help you keep your quilty life balanced with the rest of your life?
This is an excellent discussion. My family supports my quilting but most of my quilting is done after 9pm after the kids are in bed and the kitchen is finally clean. I am a member of two guilds so I get to go to quilt meetings twice a month.
ReplyDeleteThanks Cheryl! How fun that you are in 2 guilds! I would love to have an in person group to meet with, but no luck so far with finding one. I had a crafting group in college that I would meet with a couple times a month. I loved it! :)
DeleteI agree--this is a great discussion! My main quilting is done after the kids are in bed, too.... or while my two big kids are at school and Finn is napping (a very short window since Max is only in preschool a few hours two days a week, so overlapping naps are not reliable). My family supports me and if there are a few days during which I don't get sewing time for one reason or another, my husband usually will take the kids on an adventure so that I can sew. I live in the middle of nowhere, so I don't have any in-person quilting friends unfortunately, but this online community is excellent! Instagram is the best for real-time opinions and tips. I use it often as my "help! how do I do this?", or "which fabric do you like better?" resource.
DeleteI think the key is being part of a guild or have quilty friends. I, too, don't have children, but between work, other personal commitments, housework, and volunteering, there's just not enough hours in the day. I belong to a quilt guild -- we have monthly meetings and a sew day each month. I also belong to a quilt bee (four of us) and we get together to sew from time to time.
ReplyDeleteHaving quilty friends makes all the difference I feel like! All of my quilty friends are through blogging, I can tell a vast difference in things before I started blogging and now. It's so fun to have things to share with people who actually care about the project!
DeleteI've got three little kids and I'm at home with them, I gotta just grab 30 mins to cut or see when I can. I have got to keep my mental health strong so crafting or sewing becomes important - more important than housework some days. My place can become really messy some days but I don't beat myself up!
ReplyDeleteI understand the need to sew for the sake of sanity ES! I've got dust bunnies running around my house right now, but going to bed with a smile because I got to do some sewing beats having spotless floors. :)
Delete*sew (not see)
ReplyDeleteMy husband is very, very supportive of my quilting and blogging. It makes a huge difference. I used to sew and sew for hours before my kiddos were born, but it's a lot different now. Going to Sew Ins with my MQG peeps and my Q-Squared peeps (Anja is one of them!) each month lets me get a lot done, but on a daily basis, sometimes it's just a few minutes. The house can always be cleaner, the meals more complicated, etc, but sewing makes me happy. So I cram it in... even if it's just organizing my studio or cutting a few pieces of binding before I go to bed.
ReplyDeleteI like getting to sew for extended periods, but it's amazing how relaxing a few minutes here and there can be. I really need to find a group to sew with, I've just not had luck so far! And I agree, my house could always be cleaner but like you said, sewing makes me happy. :)
DeleteBalance...something I've never been good at. I'm not a "dip-your-toe-kinda-girl" so whatever I'm doing, it's all or nothing. I have discovered thst I am happiest when I follow my whim. I've gotten very good at living in a messy house and cooking half-assed meals. I've learned that I can function on surprisingly little sleep when my brain is on fire...and the boys have learned it's best to just let me go when I'm like that. Usually when the fire fizzles out, I'll have some down time that I don't feel compelled to sew and then I get caught up with the rest of the mundane things that are so often happily neglected.
ReplyDeleteTime on this planet is short. I believe we need to do all we can to enjoy it...
Amen Val! Life is far too short to be miserable cleaning my house spotless every single evening. I tried it before and it made for an incredibly sad and empty quilter. I'm not quite balanced, but I am happier when I get time to play with fabric and thread. :)
DeleteGreat topic Jennifer. I'm very fortunate as I am now retired and can spend quite a bit of time quilting and doing my handwork. My husband is very supportive of my quilting as I'd probably go nuts without something to keep me busy. I think my only problem is I have several projects going at once. Okay, two problems. The other is fabric shopping and living full-time in an RV makes it hard to find a place to stash it. This year I'm determined to use up a lot of my stash and do my very best not to buy more. I do belong to a local quilt and really enjoy those weekly meetings. It is also a place where I can pin baste my quilts in prep for FMQing them. No room in our RV for that. I'm also trying not to spend so much time on the Internet (Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram), but to blog more. I just pretty much do what I want to do when I want. One of the privilegestress of being an empty nester and retired. WooHoo! !
ReplyDeleteI can imagine that living in an RV would be a challenge when it comes to sewing and crafting! But oh, what fun it must be! :) I try to keep my Facebook and Pinterest time to a minimum also, but sometimes it's so easy to sink into the couch and just waste time. Lol.
DeleteI do have those days when I spend a good part of my day on the computer playing.
DeleteHmm, I am a teacher so have very full work days (and often evenings too) but I make an effort to try to do at least half an hour each night either sewing or cutting or sorting or planning a project. Weekends and holidays are when I am able to be most productive, and with only a husband (who is often away playing lawn bowls) and a 14 year old teenage boy (who loves gaming and hanging out with friends) then I am able to sit for quite a few hours at a time to work on a project - but like most of us I would so love to be able to be sewing full-time, those are my most 'happy' holiday days!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gemini Jen! Working full time definitely cramps my sewing style! Lately I've been splitting my evenings between spending most or all my time with the hubs and spending a couple of hours at the machine sewing. I try to pin bindings and do my blogging wherever he is so we can talk. And I totally agree, to be sewing full time would be a dream! I doubt I would bring in any income, but it would be such fun. :)
DeleteThere's clearly a common theme among quilters - we have less than spotless homes! That's the only way I manage to fit sewing in. And the other tricky thing to fit in is blogging, sometimes it feels like there's a choice between sewing or blogging, but both just won't squeeze into the time available. Unless sleep gets squeezed out, which is another thing that sometimes happen!
ReplyDeleteIt's comforting to know I'm not the only one with some dust bunnies lurking around my house! And I agree, sometimes it seems I have to choose between sewing or getting a blog post together and posted. I've had more than a few late nights trying to finish a few more seams or get a new post typed up. I'm a zombie the next morning, but it's always worth it! :)
DeleteMy husband is very supportive of my quilting. However, when he's home, I try not to hide away yin my sewing room too much. I squeeze in my quilting during the kids' nap time, when my own exhaustion doesn't win out. There's not really an allotted time, but I'm not above allowing some chores to wait. I am a member of several guilds, but I've had to pick and choose these commitments due to being a stay at home mom. I don't actually have any groups that I do sewing at. We just meet and have guest speakers or member presentations. I have a couple friends with young kids who are members of the modern guild that I meet up with outside official meeting times. Though I actually keep up with them online as much as in person. I also have several blogs I follow and friends I've never met that I correspond with about quilting.
ReplyDeleteYou sound like you've got a solid game plan, Afton! It really is important to have your spouse's support I feel like, especially if kiddos are in the picture as well. The online quilting community is a wonderful thing! It's so nice to have a world full of quilty friends at the touch of a few keys. :)
DeleteI enjoyed reading your post and everyones comments. Our children are grown...but I find it very rare that I ever sew during the week. After a full day of teaching second grade, my daily walk, I'm ready to settle down and have hand stitching ready for week day evenings as we watch TV. I'm kinda lucky as my hubby works Sundays, so THAT is my sew day!! ALL DAY!! It's wonderful.
ReplyDeletePS: My quilting community is my virtual bloggin friends. I don't insta gram or facebook. I have a qwiulty friend who I get together with every month to 6 weeks or so.
DeleteOh, an all day sewing day sounds spectacular! I used to get those occasionally if one of my days off was while the hubs was working, but haven't had one for quite some time. I've been stealing an hour or so here and there to keep my sanity. :) And my entire quilting community is online. It's fun, but I've made so many quilty friends that I want to sew with in real life now! :)
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