Being a quilter is challenging. It is our hobby, we quilt for fun, relaxation, to express ourselves, to make beautiful things, and to be part of the community of quilters. Sometimes it is darn difficult to squeeze in all the goodness we want to!
I
asked my Facebook group, at instagram, and my Internet Group what is
their BIGGEST Quilting Roadblock. Not surprising, the top item I got
back was
TIME!
But what does that mean you don't have enough 'time”? Let's look at this a bit deeper...Not having enough time means various things... like
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My day job gets in the way
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I just need MORE time so I can quilt
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It is hard to balance my family time and get in enough quilting time
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When I do find time to quilt, the interruptions are endless
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The housework/chores of life suck up my free time
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I have no time even though I am retired (what the hey? You people with day jobs... retirement is NOT the solution...i have others for you..wink!)
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When time is finally 'available' I'm too tired from “insert your favorite flavor” (work, family, chores, friends, grandkids, husband interruptions, retirement....) to go quilt.
{some of my 400+ quilts}
First you must know that I am a teeny tiny bit obsessed with “time”. I like think about time, research it, talk about it.. and manage it. Yes... crazy... but it's the way I'm wired. I'm wired to think about TIME
We all know that we are each given the same 24 hours in a day. No exceptions.
But some people seem to do/get/accomplish MORE with their 24 hours than others do. Why is that and how do WE get some of that EXTRA time for ourselves.
{Tubs of my Green Fabric waiting to be used}
Let me throw out a few ideas, and YOU give me yours. Let's get a road map going of what we can do to capture more QUILTING time in our 24 hours.
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First you need to really look at how you spend your time. This is not easy but must be done to find out where your current 24 hours are used. I suggest for a week, yes a whole 7 days, you track where you spend your time and for how long. Such as
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get ready for work
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prepare stuff for family
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at work
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stops at grocery store, make dinner,
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family evening time
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watch my favorite TV show, do Internet, throw in laundry, clean the bathrooms, read a book
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Once you know where time is spent during a regular week, it lets you make decisions.
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Select 3 times during the week where you COULD have quilted. Maybe you watched 4 hours of TV one night.. it was GREAT right? no.. not so great? Would those 4 hours have been more fun quilting?
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Or you watched the kids play/pick up toys/fight... FUN? Some of it yes... Could you have been cutting out patchwork while you watched? Doing some hand sewing while you are with the kids? Maybe have your machine where they play so you can be part of it, but still sew?
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And let's talk about chores. Are you getting family to do their share.. touchy subject eh? Well it frees up time for you if you LET THEM vacuum, do laundry, grocery shop, mow the lawn. It may not be done like YOU would do it, but having time to quilt is worth it... delegate
{The Quilt on my bed the day I wrote this}
My biggest time issue for getting in more quilting is that my Business and my Hobby are the same. And since I'm a tiny 2 person company, I spend a lot of time NOT quilting .. just talking about it. Ha! So I have very definate goals to get in more sewing time …. starting NOW
Are you ready to Pinky Swear you are going to track where your time is spent? Good, I'm counting on you!
I'd love to hear your time 'woes' and 'successes'.
Do you have a fantastic tip for fitting in quilting while you watch the kids, yours, the neighbors, the grand babies? (A quilter on FB straps the grandbaby to her front to longarm!)
For part 1 I think this gives you a lot to work on. Let me know your thoughts in the comments BELOW.
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