How do you make time to quilt? Do you set aside a time during the day to quilt?

Making time to quilt is easy - it's trying to fit everything else in which is difficult! I like to get a couple of hours quilting in the afternoons, but I am lucky to be retired.

waving from Indiana, USA

I don;t get to quilt as much as I would like, have to fit it inbetween everything else.Sometimes I get one block a day.Sometimes I just sit down and quilt when I;m supposed to be doing other things.Oh well thats life

You would think that since I don't work I would be able to sew all day! Not so!!! Working on woodwork around the house, painting, rearranging closets, yardwork, plus all the daily stuff, etc. takes up a great amount of my time. So I have a back table that has all these projects that I've finally figured out and some material that I want to make projects out of sitting there patiently waiting!!! Next week my son will be on school vaca and I'll be recruiting him to assist me in some of this!!! He won't be happy, but since a lot of what has to happen before the middle of June is his fault (graduating from school) he's going to assist in this endeavor!! Once this stuff gets done, watch out!! I'm going into overdrive!!! I have at least 4 quilts I want done for x-mas and they will be done!!! :lol: :lol:

You mean you are supposed to make time? I have to make time for everything else: cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc. It helps to not have any kids at home and no job to intrupt the day with (by choice).

I have the time because I'm retired, but finding the motivation is sometimes difficult. Like this morning, I thought I'll sit down and sew for a couple hours before I go to my sewing group at 10... then I sat down and picked up my laptop and turned on a movie (While you were sleeping) that I taped and here I sit!! LOL The urge to sew can be really strong at times and not so much at other times. When it's strong, I can really accomplish a lot. But then it seems I get burned out and am just not in the mood to sew. I've had a quilt top finished for weeks now that I need to get pinned so I can start quilting it, but I just haven't had the gumption to find a back and get it done! Does this happen to anyone else???

I have the blessing of being retired so I have to take time away from quilting to do other unimportant things like grocery shopping (today UGH!!), laundry, cleaning, etc. I usually quilt after taking DD to school and throwing a load of laundry in.

Since I am disable I have the time to sew.I have to chose between housework that takes me forever to do or sewing.Sometimes I say the devil with everything and sew.It really helps me alot.

I just put every thing else on hold. "Lovin' Man" is lucky to get dinner if I am quilting or reading! lol I am disabled also, so I can pretty much pick my schedule. My "Lovin' Man" is very easy going and understanding. I am very lucky in that department.

My house suffers greatly. But the great thing is that it will still be there waiting for me when I finish quilting.

I have it sometimes but ........
It's not "burn out", that's what regular people have. We Quiltologists have "Creativity Exhaustion." That's when our bodies and minds have gone at full speed for so long that we've depleted our creative energy and have to step back for awhile to regenerate.
:lol: :thumbup: :lol:

My husband works 4-midnight (gets home about 1) so once the kids are all fast asleep in their nice warm beds I hit the sewing machine. I normally sew until he gets home and then watch tv for a few and then head to bed. Get up at 6am and start my day, once the kids are in bed(eightish) sewing resumes!

For the next couple of weeks I am going to be lost. We are (FINALLY) closing on our house Wednesday so my machines have to be boxed up along with all my fabric and projects and moved to the new house. I won't get any sewing done in the next couple of weeks :( but as soon as the last box is unpacked and he goes back to work I know where I will be!

Finding time to quilt is easy - it's finding time to do housework and other things that's hard. Every day I get up saying I'm not going into the sewing room until I do such and such, but such and such more often than not doesn't get done. I always figure it will still be there to get done some other day. Unfortunately, I don't have a good fairy to do it. Although I do have a great DH - he does all the cooking and grocery shopping, so at least we don't starve.

I've been retired for 5 years and am just now getting into quilting...as others have said making time for everything else is the difficult part.

I fall back on some of those skills I developed while in the work force...organizing my time.

I also have found lots of shortcuts to everything else that needs doing!

I will blatently ignore other chores/responsibilities.

Otherwise I'd never make it to the sewing room!

I only work three days a week ( 12 hour days ) so I get four days off. At least two of those are for quilting. Weekends and evenings are out because I pick up DGD at school and we are busy and she is home all weekend. So it's always two days during the week. And just til she gets home.

Since I work full time, I usually try to get in an hour between coming home and starting dinner. That is only on the nights I don't have to stop at the grocery store, dry cleaner, or other errands. At least once a month on Saturday or Sunday I usually take a day off from life and spend the whole day in the sewing room (referred to as the black hole by my family). I do lots of cutting then so the hour here and there can be spent sewing.

I've been on hiatus because my little guy was ready to go to bed when I was ready to quilt, but now that he's older I'm itching to get back to it. Just waiting on a frame and watch me goooooooooo!

I work full-time so my quilting time comes in around 8:00 at night after dinner and dishes. I can usually sew right up to 11:00-12:00 at night now, because my DH is sitting in front of the TV watching his favorite major league baseball team. Winter when there is no baseball is usually when DH whines for attention.

All the time!!! :?

I am not retired, but I don't work either, I am a domestic engineer :thumbup:

Primarily on weekends and when I take a day off of work but not usually at night. Sometimes not for a couple of weeks when things are really busy.

I HAVE to read everyday so I never miss spending some time reading every day, but sewing is not quite a high a need for me. I get done what I get done - I figure it's not a race.

I have a crazy work schedule...10-6:30. I'm up every day by 5:30 so I make sure I'm ready for work early enough to sew for an hour sometimes two before going to work.

Quilting IS therapy for me. Mom has Alz and lives with us so quilting relaxes me and forces me to think about something else for a while.

What did I ever do before quilting? Oh, right...cross stitch but quilting is more fun right now.

It happens to me all the time! I lose my "mojo" -- but luckily it always comes back. I like the comment that was made that we don't burn out, what was it she said? We have creative overload -- I think that's it. Sometimes I go great guns, and then sometimes I'm just not in the mood. And if I try to quilt when I'm not in the mood -- oh my, what a mess!!

I agree there is always time to quilt, The laundry and dust will be there tomorrow! As long as the family is fed they leave me alone!!

Well, let's see, I work full-time, am starting a Prayers & Squares ministry at my church, am starting a once a month "bring your own project to work on" at my church as well, am co-chair of the fellowship at church, have DS and 2 DGD's (ages 2 & 4) that live w/me...needless to say I'm really busy A LOT of the time. A couple of things I've done to carve out time for me to quilt are:

1. Dedicated sewing area...very important!
2. DH had me hire a teenager to come in twice a month to do the grunge housework...love it!
3. Do handwork while DH watches tv...he works out of town some weeks 3-4 nights so when he's home spending time w/him is extra important. I always try to have some handwork projects ready to work on.
4. When I can't sleep I sew
5. I try to schedule at least 15 minutes each day to doing something quilty...even if it's just straightening up or looking at a quilting website or magazine. By spending even a little time at what I love it keeps me wanting more!

great tips thanks for sharing!

I love the idea of 15 minutes a day! I might get some of these UFOs moved along!!!

All the time.... I call it 'Quilter's Block'. There should be a pharmaceutical remedy coming out soon.

you can get alot done in 10-15 minute incriments...when i am not busy doing something else i am quilting...there is no (idle-time) in my world...i design and trouble shoot in my sleep, i hand stitch bindings, or appliques or what ever hand work i have during watching tv time with hubby, i do prep work when ever i have a few minutes to kill...that way when i have sit and sew time at the machine every thing is prepared and sitting beside the machine ready for me...a little organization and pre-planning can give you lots of time to accomplish...its just a little time management and you have to disipline yourself to not just sit there 'staring at the tube' in the evening...be working on something...sitting at the dr office... be stitching...i have a travel project at all times...when we go somewhere (even if it's just across town) if hubby is driving i get to sew...or sketch, i've bound quilts in the car on the way to the party...as with anything else, if you want to do it you have to take the time to do it...everyone has the same 24 hours each day, what we do with it is up to each of us. some people have to 'watch my show' well, why cant you be stitching at the same time? oh, oops, i don't do hand work...ok well, dinner is cooking, the timer is set for 15 minutes...that means i can sit down to my machine and sew for at least 12 minutes...once you start using your idle moments productively you will find more and more time...

I work full-time plus have an Avon Business and a Bookkeeping/Income Tax Business. I try to do some quilting on weekends and a little bit in the evenings. It really does help that I have the whole basement as my sewing room and can just leave everything out. It also helps that even though I'm not retired, my husband is, so that relieves me of some of the cooking, cleaning, and laundry. Also, I like to do hand stitching while watching TV, but can't see what I'm working on with my glasses on, and can't see the TV with my glasses off!. But I figure I'm stocking up fabrics, patterns, and notions for when I retire in a few years - hope my eyesight and arthritis don't get worse!

oops

I really struggle with that, too. I have found crockpot meals really helpful, and leftovers that I "create" by cooking extra (when I do :-)). And then it is just sorting out what is most important and letting the rest go until "next time" whenever that is.

I have not been working, by choice, since August. I thought for sure I'd have more time to quilt - NOT!! My routine of work was so ingrained after 10 years of work that it was hard to get a new routine. Now I've found it and all is working for me now. I am up, lately, around 5:00 and do most of my computer work then. DH and DS's up by 7:00 and time with them... DH goes off to work aroun 8:30 and boys are into their school work (we homeschool). I do my chores and by 11:00 or so I can quilt. If the boys have questions or I need to help them with a particular project we do that as we go. They know they can always come to me with questions. I handquilt and make quilts for pay for others and that has to be a big part of my day when I have a project going - it's just like a job - I AM getting paid for it so...I sew!!:) Otherwise I always have hand work downstairs to just pick up at odd moments (like waiting for all the men in the house to get ready for church on Sunday mornings!! :) ) and during TV time at night. DH does not mind if I'm in my sewing room or with him - he's good about it!

Craftybear---I do not know how to make time to quilt. I don't work, have no kids at home anymore and still seem to have NO TIME!! Maybe I need to put myself on a schedule, a certain time for this, a certain time for that?

I used to tell myself that I had to get my chores done first. But now I do my chores in between quilting. By that I mean that when I sit down to sew, I give myself a goal to reach before I quit and do something else. "When I finish four more blocks, I'll go vacuum the living room." Then I go back to sewing after I finish that and set myself another goal. It makes for a good day. If I don't get to sew a little bit each day, I feel as if it hasn't been a good day.

I have been unemployed since January of 09. All the time I was working I couldn't wait until I had time to quilt. Between looking for a job and taking care of my family who now thinks I have all of the time in the world to do everything, I have to schedule my time to quilt. My budget is tight so I have to be very creative about getting fabric etc. but so far I have been lucky. I quilt for two hours at a time four days a week and shop for deals about two hours a week. It seemed as though I had more time when I was working --- ugh.

I remembered Nancy Ziemann and her "10-20-30 minutes to Sew" book. Only in my head it is "10-20-30 minutes to Quilt."

I find if I keep my sewing machine accessible and my cutting area uncluttered I can do a whole lot just using those minutes when they occur. Usually I do the cutting and laying out in the shorter sessions and then when I am ready to sew it doesn't take so long. I also love to chain piece because it keeps the pieces together til I am ready for the next step.

One hint from a very dear friend: if you really like the quilt pattern ... make 2 quilts with different color waves/fabric choices at the same time as it goes much quicker than doing 2 quilts separately.

I do take my sewing to a quilting group I belong to. We meet once a week for about 3 hours at a local church. We each do our own projects and enjoy the comraderie and lack of interruptions. We are charged $1 per session. Perhaps you might want to have your own quilting accountability group ... or at least an accountability partner.

Time to get back to quilting. I have a few minutes now.

I always thought I'd suffer from the empty nest syndrome when my sons moved out. Well, guess what? I made one of their bedrooms my sewing studio and I am in there as much as possible! I sew all day Sunday after church and into the evening. After work on weekdays I usually get 2 or 3 nights with my fabric.

I work a lot of hours and also have a husband and 2 kids (or is that really 3 kids? :-) so what I do is get up at 4:45, make coffee, feed dogs, change and feed bunny, drink coffee and then make my way down to my sewing room for about a half hour of quilting. I do the big stuff on weekends and the small stuff (like sewing long strips to cut into blocks, cutting and ironing binding, maybe even some applique) in the mornings. Once the quilt is together, I also reserve mornings for hand binding, hand quilting (I do the big stuff on the machine and embellish the blocks by hand). I find that I can keep up with my housework and the half hours of work really add up! I just finished a Greek Cross quilt for my mother in law and it only took me a week of mornings to do the hand quilting. Not bad.....