The #1 obstacle for all of us, myself included, is TIME. But there are ways to make time work for you.
‘We make time for the things that are important to us,’ Sylvia had remarked, and she listed several activities people typically participated in out of habit rather than necessity or enjoyment.
from The Master Quilter, Jennifer Chiaverini
Among the audio books I have been listening to recently while I quilt, is the Elm Creek Quilts series. And I loved this quote when I heard it the other day. It nearly perfectly addressed one of the main points I wanted to make in my discussion of this time issue.
Yes, life throws TONS of obstacles your way, and my way, that require a time commitment. The gallery below demonstrates a few of mine from this year. Planning a wedding, combining households & refinishing some of the furniture, pregnancies and subsequent miscarriages(yes, unfortunately, this is now plural), travel, work demands, covid, being part of the village for my sister’s kids….
But with all of this going on, my quilting is still part of me and I NEED to have time for it. So I asked myself 2 major questions and I want you to do the same.
What tradeoffs can I easily make?
Are there things you do each day out of habit, but that don’t REALLY contribute to your life? No, this doesn’t mean you can skip doing the dishes or laundry. I mean like sitting on the couch in the evening watching TV for a couple hours, or putzing around on your phone for an endless amount of time getting sucked into funny cat/baby/dog videos when you suddenly realize an hour has passed.
You may have other examples, but I know a lot of people for whom these are 2 of the biggest culprits. Mine was the phone.
What is my definition of “quilting time”?
Setting realistic expectations of what counts as quilting time can change your perspective on some of those busiest days during those crazy seasons. I just make myself do SOMETHING related to quilting each day. Some days that means 5 minutes of pressing. That’s it. But in a week of those 5 minute increments, maybe I finish pressing a whole stack of blocks.
Once you have the answers to these, it becomes easier to fit quilting into your busy days. The time I used to spend on my phone when I got home from work and collapsed onto the sofa? I now go to my studio for that time between arriving home and sitting down to dinner. I also have taken a closer look at where I can combine quilting with the other ‘mindless’ activities. For example, when I watch TV with my husband at the end of the evening, I have some kind of hand work that I work on – often finishing bindings.
Additional TIME Suggestions
- Set realistic expectations. A marathon is run 1 mile at a time.
- Break tasks down into more achievable steps. Instead of saying you are going to cut all the fabric at a given time, which may take much longer and seem overwhelming, break it up by color. The step becomes “Cut the blue fabric.”
- Talk honestly to your family. My husband became much more understanding of letting me have the time to quilt when I explained to him how important it is to me and that me needing to do it was nothing against spending time with him. I also make sure that at a set time each evening, I stop working in the studio and spend some time with him.
- Find ways to multitask. Like I said above about working on hand stitching while watching tv with my husband.
- Add a set time to the schedule…it could be 1 hour a day, 1 evening a week, 1 Saturday a month. Whatever works for you in the season your are in.
- Plan ahead. If you have a chunk of time, work on prepping a bunch of things in advance for when you have less time. I do this a lot with cutting. I can more easily piece in a few minutes here or there.
Does this always work? Of course not. Anyone who is participating in the Back to Quilting Challenge is well aware of my struggles recently while I traveled for work.
Oops, I’m human.
But it helps A LOT.
And that is the last big thing when it comes to the obstacles, and most especially time. Please have grace for yourself. You are doing your best quilty friend. If you are here, you are trying.
Please contribute to this any ways you have found to deal with the time issue…comment section below!
