I don't have kids and I don't care much about house work. Sewing is my therapy and I will always make time.

Having a dedicated sewing space is the best way to maximize sewing time. If you can leave your sewing machine set up somewhere whenever you have a few spare minutes you can just sit down and get something done. If I had to get the machine out and set it up every time I wanted to sew I would never get anything done.

Friends laughed at me when I said I had more time to sew/quilt and do gardening when my children were under the age of 5 than when they started school up to college graduation. I worked full time and all too often put in unpaid overtime - but my daughters were only going to be young once and I didn't want to miss it. So when we did the dance lessons, volleyball and basketball tournaments, etc. I carried hand work with me. Be it crochet or needlepoint or applique, it traveled easily and my home time I would use to the grand finale.

Housework could wait - some how it always does. My gardens turned ugly - but the memories with my daughters more than make up for any time pulling weeds. 35 years later I finally have hired a cleaning lady - she does the heavy work and that takes a lot off my shoulders. I still prefer to be with my daughters than mop a floor. My husband refuses to hire a yard man - so I leave that up to him.

You will find what works for you. Time is no ones friend but I promise the time spent with your family is not wasted.

Like you, I had two boys which I followed to all kinds of activities and I worked full time, spent Saturdays cleaning and cooking for the coming week. I found time to quilt and sew (I made all the boys' shirts and my husband's shirts until they got old enough to want to wear T shirts all the time) by getting up earier than the "men" in the house. I got up early enough to exercise, get myself ready for work, and fixed their lunches, then woke them up. While they got ready for the day I would sew, then drop them off at school and work on my way to work. 15 to 20 minutes every day got a lot done.

Glad I'm not the only one trying to squeeze time in!! :) after thanksgiving company is gone my machine will be set up full time in the guest room. Bet I can get a lot done then! Kids want to sew too, so maybe on weekends we can all sew together while DH is at work! Great way to bond & make memories with kids. Sports are now done so I finally have my weekends back!!!

I grab time whenever I can; sometimes it's late at night, sometimes early in the morning. It's almost never the middle of the day!

I second the idea about having your machine set up in a dedicated sewing space. If you don't have to keep putting all of your bits and pieces away each time (hard to keep all the block parts organized) it saves a ton of time. Other than that, I have found that for me a deadline makes a huge difference - otherwise something else always weasels onto the schedule!

Goodluck!

Alison

I am older, kids grown along time ago. I have three cats, a bird and a dog. I sew in the evenings, a couple hours. On weekends while doing laundry and housework. I make most quilts in two weeks. I am making my 16th quilt for the year.
When the kids were home I stayed home, a clean house was so important, not so much now. I didn't have a lot of time. As time goes by you will have more time to sew.

I'm finding the same thing happening to me Stitchnripper. Now that I have potentially all the time in the world, seems like the less sewing I'm doing. Do you notice that everything you do seems to take twice as long also?

I agree that having a dedicated sewing space makes it easier. Since my eldest son moved out 2 years ago and I now have his room as my sewing space, it is so much easier to go in there and sew for a few minutes. When I was working, I also set aside 1 evening per week as my sewing time. My husband did the supper cleanup and I could do whatever I wanted. Now I am home most days and get to sew every day if I want. Lucky me.