Originally Posted by quiltswithdogs

I sewed little girls clothes, sundresses, pjs until my daughters were out of high school. Then I taught them how to mend and hem for themselves and learned how to quilt, for my own enjoyment. I don't remember how I fit in sewing time without scheduling time, around family needs, housework, and my job. 7 yrs ago Rheumatoid Arthritis was added to my medical problems. I haven't worked in over a year. Now my days are full of medical appts, therapies, long rest periods. Everything takes me longer so it takes days to pay bills, do simple errands, do the household tasks that I can manage... everything. I feel lucky to manage quilting at all so have learned to be very flexible. Some days I cannot do it, other days I last an hour or only 15min. I really love it and my family values my gifts so much it motivates me to do more. I gave my sister a wallhanging for Christmas and before she unfolded it to see the front, she broke out in tears... she never does that. So far, I've always managed to meet deadlines like Christmas or birthday, but now, I'm careful to save myself the worry and only start a quilt project with no deadline or one that is far away. That being said, I've been thinking of trying the Block of the Month club here. It looks like I will be able to finish it late if I had a hard month. That's not allowed in person at quilt shop clubs. Anyway, my recent years have showed me that as long as I quilt at all, every week, a project eventually gets done and can see proof that I actually had accomplished something creative and fun.