I just get by with as little as possible. I just do the very necessary things. Then when I see the dust bunnies I get on the ball.

You've all made me so happy today. I thought I was the only one who would rather play. Now I know we are all cut from the same cloth.

I have a beautiful quilting room which opens with double doors onto our bedroom...so I am compelled to keep it pretty neat. I used to have a sewing room where a I could close the door - what a mess. I prefer having one where there is a view and I have to keep it neat and organized.

For the rest of the house, I try a little bit each day and then make sure I have company over every three to four weeks to ensure that I do a thorough cleaning job before they arrive. That way the house looks great at least once a month.

I use to be such a perfectionist but that has gone by the wayside. I think when my kids became teenagers I decided I couldn't keep up now I'm just to old. But I try.

The sign on my door reads
"If you are coming to see ME-Come Ahead!"
"If you are coming to see the house, Call Ahead!"

Really good mom......love it!

You make me laugh....but it is a great idea!

Where did you find a housekeeper for $40 - I wish!! I have decided that dust is ok. I work 12 hour days so I don't get much done during the week, try to do some housework on Saturdays and quilt on Sundays.

I think it is amazing that we all have to keep our houses a certain way in order for the "housework police" or "cobweb chasers" to give their approval when they visit once in a while. I don't care (any more) what they think. I keep it clean and vermin free but it's definitely rarely "neat as a pin" - that's too anal-retentive for me. Happy sewing everyone!

I live alone with my dog and still cannot mannage to keep upbut I do have a system scrub kitchen and bathroom every week before I got my shark steamer it was ever three weeks because I would be in bed all the next day. I try to cacumn every other day because I got this idea I needed a dog for company and she sheds, however most times I set in my office chair and vacumn the middle of the room, if I didnt do it that way it would be in bed again for a day or two. I do keep my dishes done but have to sit on a stool to do them I try to spend 10 minutes a day on other chores thought about hiring a cleaning lady but there would go my money for fabric and beads and other craft items. Looked for a neighborhood girl to hire for a while but none were interested so my house is not always company clean. Need to start looking for a man friend with benifits that would mean one that will clean the house

I try to "do" one room a day and just generally keep the place picked up. I reward myself for jobs done by sitting down at the machine. I console myself for jobs poorly done by sitting down at the machine. Oh hell, I clean around my machine time!

I just make it a rule to get my housework done before I sit down to quilt. I know once I get started quilted I am not going to be getting up for nothing...lol.

NO kids! Dust lets you know what go's in that spot. Just like any other outline

:lol:

Another thing I'm going to do is get rid of all the knick knacks I have around the house except for a few sentimental ones that I will keep. They have to be cleaned and I'm tired of cleaning them every time I dust. Going to have a huge yard sale as soon as the weather permits. Then will have some more cash for fabric!! I do try to keep my house picked up and the kitchen and bathrooms very clean, but the rest of the house does suffer from time to time. Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions. Housework, sometimes, Quilting, forever.

Since I've returned to quilting my house has taken a back seat which annoys my DH. He is fantastic around the house, always has been, and when I'm in my quilting mode he takes up the slack. On Saturdays I devote the entire day to house cleaning, we're talking heavy duty cleaning and then the week can be devoted to the more important things. I used to have a kitchen floor that you could eat off of, but then I got smart and realized that no one would eat off the floor in the first place.

I do cook every day, and that is in part due to my love of cooking so it really isn't that big a sacrifice.

I'm in the last part of my life and I intend to squeeze as much out of every day as I can. Quilting was a passion when I was in my thirties and I couldn't give time to it. Now I'm retired and it makes me happy. When I'm happy it spills into my husband's life and makes him happy.

So, keep your house as clean as you possibly can; but don't stop quilting to dust the furniture.

haha always clean for company! and I keep the laundry done. always do housework before noon. I take my daughter to school do what I put on the list, (the night before) and by noon all I have to do is quilt, sew and start dinner. works for me

Housework? What's that?

Have a good man that helps you with all that you dont do> They get tired of seeing it after a while and jump in to help, the biggest trick to this is to make them something and take a long time getting done. But Honey I wanted to finish your quilt so I dont have time to clean...lol

Some times cleaning interferes with quilting but I do keep it up. I just get it done so I'm not quilting and thinking clean, clean, clean. If a person keeps up the house it all works out.

DH always wanted a spotless home. I grew up in one. The whole family was compulsive about cleaning. Not me. My house is clean but NOT spotless. Rugs get vacummed, Dishes get washed and laundry gets done. Not in that order and not everyday.
What is important to DH is... happy wife happy life! DH tells me that is his mission. To make me happy. So I quilt! Oh how I love this man!! :lol:

my place is in good shape right now. my 13yo son got hisself in trouble again. so i am giving him way too much to do for him to even think of trouble again. lol

You know after a while it really doesn't matter. If it gets done it gets done, if someone doesn't like it then they are welcome to do it. When I am on a roll do not mess with me. The clean house police know better than to mess with me :lol:

Try to do my work in the morning and then sew, otherwise nothing would get done.

I used to be absolutely manic about housework..but these days I have eased off a bit, mainly because of my health but also because I am now a quilter. I try and break everything down into "micro jobs" and have a rest between. If I go crazy with cleaning I end up paying for it the next day...it's just not worth it. Think I'll check out the flylady website sounds pretty good and I really need my "quilting fix" daily.

My housework suffers but I went most of my life thinking a clean house was the most important thing then I found quilting....and the rest is history. "Don't sweat the small stuff and it is all small stuff."

I am a widow - I used to blame my husband for the mess around here but he's been gone for 3 years and nothing has changed. But I just keep sewing and don't let it bother me. When my friends come to sew/quilt every Thursday night, I tell them the dust bunnies are my friends - don't bother them.

Sounds like my house.

David,
where did you get someone to "CLEAN HOUSE" for 40 bucks!! It has gone up to $150 to start here. I can't afford it since I retired it's either a clean house or quilting. I want to downsize but a smaller house in a retirement village would cost more than our home. Guess I need to borrow your cleaner.

I dreamed my whole house was clean.

this is a recurring nightmare.

My husband says we don't have much longer to live so we need
to enjoy it and not worry about the house. So I don't worry unless
company is coming then I get busy at it.

Housework?? Whats that??? Only if I have to, otherwise the days are mine, if someone comes over, I ask, did you come to see me or the house?? If its the house then they can turn around and go back out the door. I clean as I go, use the potty, clean it. Use the dishes, wash them, otherwise use paper. Spill on the floor, clean it up and fast. Sew on and sew on, makes my life easier. I hope you find what works for you, if not don't sweat it, it will be there tomorrow.

We have a 3 BR 2&1/2 bath house with just the 2 of us here its not to bad. All hard wood floors. I sweep every nite before bed. Do dishes after every meal and Laundry Mon & Wed AM (usualy wake up extra early on those Days.Bathrooms cleaned Tues & Friday, General pickup as needed. If its not done by 11 Am it can waite tell the next planed day.The rest of the day is mine to quilt, read, nap or help DH. The doors to the unused bed rooms are kept closed. if company comes I can have the rooms ready in 10 min.Now my sewing and craft area is another story. Grand kids say don't move anything in Gramies rooms, she will never find if you do!(its TRUE) I have started to declutter. My trails throught the rooms are getting wider. Sm roomis 14x10 only has Long arm and some storage, Lg room 14x20 has everything else under the sun. My home is clean enough to be healthy but dirty enough to be comfortable.

Keep quilting, a hundred years from now people will be enjoying your quilts and no one will remember or know about your housekeeping. Only clean if the queen is coming.

Remember, people will see your quilts a long time after you are gone --Not your housework.

I just have to add-- when my two children were little, I decided, that keeping an extra clean house was for someone else, because the house cleaning would still need to be done long after my children were grown and gone, so I spent as much time with them and their activities as I possibly could, and the housework is still here. My theory is and I'm sticking with it-- when I'm gone someone else can clean this house, even though I do try to keep it picked up and sorta cleaned, but no one else in the family quilts or sews, so who will be here to do that, I love to quilt and hate to do housework , so there, I will make an effort and keep telling myself that next week----- I will take an hour each day to do this room or that room, well guess what next week rolls around and all doesn't get done, so there. I am still going to quilt, I keep laundry and kitchen done up, but dusting, etc, oh well it will be there when I'm gone, but so will my quilting. There are plenty of people that can clean house but not all can quilt. If anyone is coming to my house to see a spotless house, they had better go visit someone else. I have more important things to do like quilting.

We are empty nesters, so house doesn't get messy.
We clean as we go! The rest is on hold.

Since I'm still working, my major housework gets done on Saturday, along with laundry and shopping. Dusting happens when I walk past something and the light shines on it just right & it makes me think "How long has it been since I dusted?" I don't mind if company writes in the dust as long as they don't date it! My sewing is in the afternoon when my grand daughter is sleeping (not too often anymore) or on Sundays.

Have you ever gone to a funeral and heard someone say in the eulogy, "She kept a really clean house"? Doubtfully you
have, so why bother. Just don't let it get filthy. That's all that counts.

I am with you...my hubby always says we should have company every so often...that's when the house gets really clean!!!!!
BJ

Oh...that's easy. I don't put my glasses on UNTIL I sit down to sew. When I'm done sewing...then I take them back off....lol Unless it's bigger then a bread box.. I don't see it until I trip over it. .

Honestly, life is short... don't beat yourself up if your sewing brings you joy. I had to learn to strike a balance as I recently had to come out of retirement to go back to work due to finances. ALL I want to do is sew...and now I'm working. So.. I force myself to clean (full speed ahead with the timer set on the stove) for one hour a day...and eventually you make some progress. Then...when I sit down to sew I don't feel guilty.

My kids are grown so I don't have a young family tugging at me for "mom help"....so that is an advantage.

Be good to you... it's not like you're sitting there doing nothing. You're creating something awesome that will make someone very happy!
♥