How do you know when to quit sewing for the day?????
 

I had taken a break from sewing and now am setting up a sewing/quilting area in lower level of our home. My machine, ironing center and rolling chest of drawers is on one end of the family room. So far, I have a 6 foot folding banquet table in the adjacent former bedroom. The table is up on bed risers so I have a sturdy work surface without bending.

One of my ------ UFO's has been pulled out of storage. I've been working on it for three consecutive days, when I have had the time and energy. This has been very enjoyable.

So far, I have straightened things up when I feel my creative juice drying up. Then, I go upstairs to prepare a meal or do something else. What are your signs to quit for the day before you become frustrated?

Tonight, the patches on a quilt had been sewn together. All of the math for the inner and outer borders has been done. I need to do some touch up pressing, but otherwise the center is done. :)

What really got to me was that the material I had planned to use for the outer border is not appropriate. I don't want to spend any more money and planned to piece the backing with a remnant and some leftover fat quarters. I just feel deflated!!!!

Is this when you walk away and wait for a fresh perspective? Should I have noticed something earlier so that I didn't become discouraged?

Thanks for letting me rattle on......

I have learned to stop when I get tired. Once I was making all of my nieces bunnies in dresses for Easter, was so tired, but had to make 8 in 1 week. I ended up making 16 because I kept making right sides, so couldn't just waste those, ended up selling the rest at craft sale. Rabbits really do multiply!:D

Yes I'd say it was time to take a break! When the joy becomes frustration I set mine aside to let my subconscious think about it and either go to bed or do something else. I usually have several things going at once. I crochet, quilt,knit and if I'm really aggravated I make bread. Pounding the bread dough makes me feel better and I have adifferent perspective when I go back to it.

Yes, this is often when I walk away from the project - for lack of the perfect fabric. Sometimes it's just something I want to think about (do I want a pink or a yellow border) and I'll lay it on my cutting table where I see it every time I pass the room.

I've got two at the moment hanging on my design wall. One hung for a while (few weeks) until I decided what color border I wanted and I just haven't gotten it yet. The other has been pieced for several weeks and now I'm mulling over quilting ideas - I like this one enough that I want the quilting to be just right - with luck, I want this to be my first show quilt. So I hung it up and looked at it for long time while I pieced another project (the other one on the wall), the whole time it's in the back of my mind and I think I finally found the quilting motif's I want to use for it, so now I'm practicing those quilting techniques.

I seldom get discouraged when I hit a "writers blank" so to speak. I just move on to something else for a short while and always keep that other project visible as a reminder cause you never know when an idea is going to hit you.

As for your immediate problem that the fabric you planned on using is now not what you want - but you don't want to spend more money on new fabric .... why don't you offer the fabric you have up for a trade for a like amount of fabric here on the QB. Post a picture of what you have - and the quilt top as it is now as folks on here often have great ideas that you may not have considered!! Ask everyone here to trade your fabric for something of theirs that will work (ask for pictures of their fabric of course!).

I've learned the hard way to quit when I get tired...it's very possible that I will chain stitch several blocks incorrectly if I don't!

I quit when I start making the same mistake , or dumb mistakes , more frequently then my usual.

Time to quit?? Oh I really should have done that half an hour earlier last night, because this morning, I spent 2 hours piecing and then realized that I had miscalculated and had added an extra row on the WRONG side. Oh well, my ripper needed the exercise. After ripping, and recutting (yeah my math was off too) and putting it all back together I am thrilled with the outcome. So, a bit of frustration, a lot of head-smacking-what-was-I-thinking!! but a good outcome.

Oh, and Cindypierce--I love to make bread the old fashioned way. Helps my arthritis and the repetitive motion really does seem to focus the mind!

If I start to get tired I quit! just turn everything off and leave the room. If I make a mistake and am tired I don't even rip it out that can waite untill tomarrow too. I learned the hard way not to rip out when tired. I have ripped out wrong seams only to discover the next day, they weren't wrong I just looked at them wrong!! Boy was that a mess to sort out! LOL

When I make my 1st really stupid mistake and then immediately do it again when I try to correct it. LOL.

Well, I sure do feel much better after having read your posts. Thank you for taking the time and effort to reply! ;-) Yup, I did get another SD card for my camera so taking a picture is a possibility when I reach the quilter's mental block.

I should have just left earlier and not stayed long enough to "stew" over my situation. By putting the border on the back burner and doing something else that I enjoy, I could have left the sewing area with wings of happiness.......
Sometimes, I can't see the trees for the forest -- or is it the other way around?!

After dinner, I did knit on a preemie hat for the grass roots program to prevent shaken baby syndrome. I am fortunate to have the time to do things for charity and spend some time with my DH.

Blessings to each of you this day and always,
Kay Carlson

I would leave it, think about it while I should be sleeping and sometimes come up with an inspiration. Don't take the joy out of it by pushing the issue.

For me the time to quit is before I get tired...if I start thinking "just a little more " I"ll quit, or I'll end up redoing everything anyway.

If I didn't learn anything else in my home economics class I learned that when things aren't going well - take a break. It's amazing how much better things go when you walk away from a project for a little bit and then go back with a fresh set of eyes. Hang in there.

When I am tired... when I find myself making "stupid mistakes". Like hand stitching two squares together just to realise at the end that one was backward. Errrrg!

When I know Im really tired or I start making mistakes. Then I turn everything off and go sit in my chair and embroider or do some kind of hand stitching. Never could just sit and stare at the TV.

I quit when I start seeing double! or, when my DH's stomach can be heard rumbling from across the room! Usually the DH thing. Actually, I quit when the light goes. I can't find a light bright enough to quilt by, so, my south facing bedroom is my sewing room and the sunlight streaming in on most days (I'm in Texas, not too many cloudy days) is great!

When quilting becomes a chore i know it's time to quit for the day.

The DH has said he will one day come in the sewing room, grab the back of my chair, wheel me into the bedroom and tip me into the bed. I'm still waitiing for that to happen. LOL

Love your 'multipying rabbits' story!

Agreed. DH is usually the one lets me know when I need to stop. All he has to do is say "This is supposed to be fun."

I quit sewing for the day when my arms hurt or I can't stay awake from lack of sleep. :D

I stop when I make more mistakes than progress!

I couldn't wait to get back to the board tonight to read your comments. Thanks for sharing and I, too, love the multiplying rabbits story.

After physical therapy and some errands I asked DH to go to the sewing area and give me his opinion. The two fabrics choices I had viewed yesterday were nixed. He agreed to accompany me to the fabric shop tomorrow to help me select something we both like. (note: he detests dark, dreary colors)

Taking advice from the board I rummaged around my stash and found the "perfect" solution in a medium gold/brown Thimbleberries print I had purchased a few years ago for a backing. Not only do I have enough for the front borders, entire backing and bias binding ---- drum roll ---but also got the "that's perfect" and "I like that" comments from DH.

So, I quickly placed the perfect piece aside, folded the other options neatly and left the area with a song in my heart!!

With snowy weather conditions, people traveling to warmer climates, and busy lifestyles our small quilting group will not meet tomorrow. I can handle that because each of you supported me. Thanks!

When I start getting too frustrated or tired and ache that is usually a sign

I quit when I need a change. No matter what happened to warrant the change; children, mistakes, stomach growling, squinting while sewing, dh...., listening to family laugh at funny videos on tv...

In the past I also quit a wip when the recipients looked at it (not knowing it was to be for them) and said "Ewe, whose this for?"

The sun sets.......and i would have to turn on lights to continue

When it's not fun anymore, it's time to quit. Quilting is a hobby (for most of us), so it should be fun. Walking away, doing something else will give you perspective. I don't know how many times, I've had a great idea or solution to a problem right when I wake up in the morning.

I stop when either I get tired of what I am working on or I start to hurt. I have this one spot on my left shoulder/neck area that starts and if I don't stop I will be out for days. and taking meds I don't like. I took yesterday off because my little fuzzy face was sick and wanted me near so I spent the day reading instead of sewing. I guess I needed the break to since I did miss the machine one bit.

As far as the fabric look at maybe piecing your border, sometimes cut up in smaller pieces it looks better. or as Doghousemom suggested trade with someone.

One time I was sewing very late...and was very tired. I had decided to JUST square up one edge of my project and call it quits for the night. I hit it with my rotary cutter...and as I completed the swipe I realized I had cut down the wrong side of the ruler (because I walked up to the off side of the cutting table). I promptly CUT THE TOP 1/3 off of a finished quilt (it was to be a crib sized quilt). I ABOUT C-R-O-A-K-E-D.

Another time as a novice quilter (sewing very late again) I was having a very hard time matching seams/intersections on a very busy quilt...etc. I perservered and got it done. I had used tons of pins to hold/match things and normally my blocks are proper size and things go together with few headaches. HELLO? BIG RED FLAG?! I sewed the mess together and then put it up on my design wall. As I backed up I realized I had sewed the entire row on UPSIDE DOWN...and it was a visual disaster. I had to pick it alllllllllll out the next day.

Moral to the story? DO NOT SEW TIRED... when you feel pushed and exhausted... STOP (working)...DROP (your rotary cutter) AND ROLL (into bed)....lol

When my back and arms ache, the stitching does what I tell it to do instead of what I want it to do, my frustration begins, and I get crabby! Best thing to do, in any weather, for me is to go outside. Just hike a bit, stop to enjoy the beauty of nature - although now its frozen - and relax. Then back to the sewing room, put on some pretty music, thank God for all your blessings and begin again.

I take a break when my eyes cross lol. If I have to unsew, when I'm done I take a break. If it's getting late in the evening, I quit if my bobbin runs out. Sometimes I quit if the phone rings, or the dog needs out, or a fav tv show comes on, or my coffee mug is empty. There always seems to be a handy excuse when it's time for a break.

I quit after the 1st mistake cause I know it will only go downhill from there!

So so familiar. Time to tidy up or come on this forum or have a cuppa etc.
Annie

When I get tired nothing looks right so I have to do something else. Yesterday it was sorting the scrap tub. It was a nice change and nothing had to match.

When fatigued or frustrated, walk away. Time spent stitching under duress generally proves counterproductive for me. I always have things to straighten or organize if I am not ready to leave the sewing room or else, I cut the light off and do something else. Sometimes you just need to mentally digest things to work them through. By giving yourself time and space to do so, you can return to the project with a fresh perspective and new found energy. After all, when it ceases to be enjoyable, why do it?

I know when it's time to stop, when I can't seem to get my seams to match. I am afraid I will get too frustrated

I've learned to stop when I start feeling rushed or that I need to hurry to finish. Sure sign I'm getting tired and it's not feeling like so much fun anymore. If I don't stop when I feel that way I'm sure to make a mistake that has to be ripped out!

I too just quit when I'm tired. Since I'm retired now I can just continue the next day.

When to quit? well that is an individual thing-usually I quit when I mess up !! LOL Then I leave it for a day or so then go back to it -even if the fabric seems wrong at that moment or if it truly is wrong -that goes into a box for future use and then I pull out something else to match it hopefully if not then future usage of that material.
My eyes are the first to tell me when to quit .. LOL they say enough is enough, walk away .. LOL