How much time each day do you spend quilting (all at once)
 

I have several projects going at once.....like cutting out one project, putting together another project on the wallboard, piecing and sewing, sandwiching, sewing on binding, hand-quilting. I know that sounds like a lot, but I find I get bored easily working on one thing for long lengths of time (probably ADHA that was never diagnosed! LOL) I have a friend's mother who quilts and tells me that is not the way to do things. She says I should never start something until I have finished the first thing. So, with all that being said how many hours a day do you spend in one sitting just doing 1 thing?

To start with there are no quilt police and I don't like other people telling me how things should be done unless I ask. That being said I have three things going in different stages. Sometimes I run out of something needed to finish it and sometimes I just want to give my mind a break and work on a new thing. I have vowed not to start a fourth until these are done so we'll see how it goes. If I like what I'm doing I can work on one thing until finished. I usually work at least 4 hours at a stretch. Take a break of an hour or more and maybe 3 or 4 more. Depends on the day.

none. :) I always have a dozen or so projects in various stages of completion- just like as a child in school needing to work on Math, English, Science, art, gym....I was taught at a young age to juggle many activities. through out my day I spend time doing a vast array of things- never just one thing. even cooking dinner- I may have food on the stove, be unloading the dish washer- putting clothes from the washer to the dryer, going through the mail, stitching blocks...you never know. if I had to do one thing at a time I don't think I would ever get anything done.!

First, how rude. I agree with CKCOWL. No specific amount. Juggling various things throughout the day, and one thing might also be a nap! On weekends I usually will do 3 or 4 hours at a stretch. And I have many piles of projects in various stages. When I retired I honestly thought I would spend at least 4 or 6 hours a day quilting. I guess I need more discipline!

Pfft. Your friend's mother would lose her mind in my studio. I have one quilt that I'm binding (downstairs while I watch tv with my husband), a BOM or two I'm working on when I feel like it, a quilt that's in the quilting stages, a project I'm cutting out, a project on my design wall that I'm auditioning sashing for, a bunch of old Joann's BOM kits I found recently that I'm piecing, two projects I'm collecting fabrics for, and three others I'm trying to decide which fabrics to use ... and that's just RIGHT NOW. Sometimes there's more going on, sometimes, though rarely, less.

Since I work outside the home, I tend to make the most of the time I have for quilting. I have been known to piece blocks by hand or hand sew binding during conference calls or while waiting for doctor's appointments. I like to have something to keep my hands busy when I spend time watching tv with my husband. I try to do something at least every day at my machine, even if it's just one block in the evening after work. It isn't necessarily that I'm bored with what I'm doing, it's more that I'm working quilting in around the rest of my life. :-)

I wonder if I only worked on one project at a time I might accomplish more. But I take advantage of the opportunity to learn something new or share my passion. Therefor I have multiple items going at the same time. And I easily get board that plays a part also.........calla in Mi

I am retired and I have to say I go into my sewing room everyday we are at home...some days I just play and rearrange fabrics and notions...some day I sew 2-3 hours. I usually the the hand hand work in our family room, I have a favorite chair. I do work between projects ie. BOM, project of the month, mysteries and quilts for gifts. What ever I am working on I enjoy every minute :)

Judy in Phx, AZ

Well, I only work on one project at a time, but that is just me and I would never tell anyone else they should sew the same way I do. I can't, however, spend a great deal of time at it. I find that about an hour and a half is all I can sew in a row, maybe two hours if I "just have to finish" a block or something.

We are all just different, and that is what makes it fun! :)

Dina

I think that friend's mom's "advice" needs to be put under the "you're not the boss of me" heading. Everybody has their favorite way to work...and i think it probably varies depending on the task. I have spent all day long working on a quilt - and spend most evenings hand sewing something - but then again - i do it as "therapy" - it keeps me sane.:p

I like to work on several different projects...usually have 4 or 5 " active" ones going at a time. (There are several also in time out...or ripening). I hand quilt in the evening while DH watches the tube,piece and quilt several hours a day. Every now and then,I just sit down and finish something so I can make room for more. I'm retired now and have been advised to " do what makes me happy".

I am with the majority here. I tend to have several projects going at the same time in various levels of completion. I go into my sewing room every day. I work on a project for a while, ride the exercise bike for a while, and go back to sewing or quilting. I usually sew or take a nap in the afternoon. Some days we walk at the mall and eat lunch out. Essentially I just do what I want everyday. I love retirement!

I, too have several projects going at the same time. I spend at least a few hours every day in my sewing room - sometimes I just sit there and admire my fabric and contemplate a new project. Right now I am quilting up a storm - I have 3 projects in progress and my long arm is tied up with quilts. I started counting all the quilt tops I have that I need to finish - oh my - I think I gave up around 20 - so I have many things to keep me busy - but I always want to start something new.

don't listen to your friend. she sounds like a boring person. I do have diagnosed ADHD. it's no joke to have this. I've got stuff in stages all over. they eventually get done,
sometimes i'm in the mood to cut, or stitch or quilt or design. I do what pleases me. if I had to follow someone else's rules, i'd be in the military. quilting is for fun, not for rules.

Same here with multiple projects in different stages. Might not all be sewing/quilting related either! Whether it stems from boredom or lack of attention, we'll never know. I have been trying to clean the upstairs of my house all bloody day! Started at 9:30 this AM. It's now almost 3:30PM. I have had so many interruptions - most not of my own making (except to eat lunch and this one!) that I don't even know that I'll get it done today. And there are only 4 rooms plus a small laundry. Geez.

pyffer3, do whatever fits you best! No one is inside your head and your heart but you. You know yourself best. That said...I don't have a time limit. Sometimes I grab a few minutes and sometimes it goes for a couple of hours. I can't sit or stand for any long length of time so I try to mix it up. Sit and sew a while, then walk to the other end of the house to do some pressing. Or cut for a while and then do some sort of boring thing such as folding clothes, etc.:confused: As of right now, I'm hung on a quilt that is almost ready for the sandwiching but I've kinda lost my spark about it, so I set it aside to cut blocks for something else. (Perhaps that's why finishing a project takes so long. But I'm in no hurry -- I don't have a clock to punch anymore.) Good luck in your projects -- all of them -- and just swallow your friend's mom's remarks with a grain of salt!

I'm like you. I usually work on several things during a day. On the few times that I worked on one thing until I finished it, I was easily bored.

Yea, yea, yea, she sounds like my sister that gets many one project a year done. I do it on my time, my way and get tons done. I get bored easy so work on at least 10 - 12 things at a time. Some days cutting, some sewing, and some quilting. It's supposed to be fun so enjoy what you like, when you like. I spend anywhere from 15 mins. to several hours each day.

I have MANY different projects on the go...I do this so I can avoid repetitive type stuff...so I don't injure my shoulder even more...or my back at the Longarm machine...handwork needs to be done in segments in my case as I can't wear a thimble so when I get a hole in my middle finger it's time to stop and go on to another task...if I don't want to make noise I don't use the machine for example...if I want to do some appliqué I have a little something ready....it's variety and more productive for me....

It totally depends. If I need to get something done, I can sew for hours on the same project. Do I only work on one project at a time.... never. The last few days I quilted 4 lap size quilts, machine sewed binding on 3 of them. Worked on hand sewing part of binding on two others and started a twin size quilt that will be making its way to Romania. When I set up the machine for quilting I will sometimes work on several. Same with set up for binding with the walking foot. There are days I spend 5 -6 hours on one project and others where I spend 30 min each on several or no time at all on any.

"In one sitting"????

Well I really don't sit all the time. Lots of time I sit to sew and stand to iron and walk to the other stations. Then when I'm longarming quilts, I stand almost exclusively...except for breaks.

I've been known to quilt for 3-4 hours without a break.

Whether I'm sewing or longarm quilting, I'm working on one project each day.

Nan - NW Indiana

It depends upon what I am doing. If I am piecing I will usually stay at it 2-4 hours each day till it is done. But if quilting ( i do it on a regular sit down machine) one hour is as long as I can go without at least an hour ot two break since it is just physically harder work. I can sit in front of the TV and hand stitch binding for hours!

Let's see...I have 3 tops that I need to back, bind and quilt, BOM to finish, a quilt challenge to complete...oh look a squirrel! ADHD??? Also busy thinking of the next project I want to start. More coffee/caffeine needed here? Seriously, I too get bored easily and I can't seem to just have one project going at a time. I have to have the stimulation of lots of different fabrics, patterns, etc., to keep me interested. ADHD? Perhaps or more likely I have too many "great" projects to do in the years I have left, so I have to do numerous projects at a time.

Anita

P.S. Your friend's mother was just plain rude! There are no quilt police (as stated earlier) except for the officers who live in the deep recesses of your own mind. (Scary thought! We are our toughest critics, after all. We are our own quilt police).

I also have several projects going at the same time. This is my therapy, and am enjoying it! :)

I currently have have 3 projects going...2 are what some would call UFOs since I started them last year and have seen completed several "new" quilts and 3 other UFOs. Since I work now about 60 hours a week, my quilting is usually left for the weekends for about 8 hours. During the week, I get up at 4am and spend about 1/2 hour on ironing strips or sewing 1-2 blocks on several mornings. I must say it has been quite an adjustment now that I am working and no longer in between jobs:)

I find it varies on the day, sometimes I go into my sewing room and start doing something "small" and look out at the clock and find that 2 or 3 hours have passed

I have a few projects in different stages, and then I like to take a little playtime to work on new ideas. I'm still working, so I may spend a few hours an evening or two a week quilting - but then my weekends can become sewing marathons. If I get in what my husband calls "driven mode", I might work on one project all day long - don't take time to eat, stay up too late. I've been quilting for about a year and a half, and spend a ridiculous amount of time reading, researching and planning new projects. Just today I started thinking about flying geese quilts, and before I even took my coat off when I got home from work I was dragging out fabric to make some samples - now it's 10 o'clock and I have to make myself stop and start thinking about going to bed. I'm like this about every hobby I've ever had:)

If it works for you, do it! I can't work on someone else's schedule. That's why I've never finished a BOM or quilt along quilt, or a mystery. Just not my style to sit and wait for the next step. I lose interest, mojo, and get just down right frustrated at the waiting. I sew everyday, about an hour at a time sitting. Any longer than that and my body starts telling me it's time to move or else. Currently I've 2 quilts on the design wall, one at the sewing machine, one on the cutting table, one on the frame and hand work in the living room. Your friends mother has a whole set of issues of her own...one being she's a control freak, and two she can't live in the moment. Now who's got issues you or her? Did you tell her how to live her life or make her quilts. I'd love to be able to stay on one project, when I first started quilting I did. Now that I'm older my body just can't take stay in one position for long periods of time. Heck I don't even sleep for longer than 2 hours at a time. Yep up and down all night, sleep a couple hours, up for a couple....every night.

I love that phrase 'in time out' I have a few uncooperative projects of my own.

Aww, Bless her heart.

I have 3 baby quilts on long arm waiting their turn, 2 BOM's cut and in line at my regular machine and a stack of onesies ready to be hooped for embroidery machine, and a hand project in each car in case I forget my "something to do bag" while waiting on anything. Project ADHD, maybe but it's how I work, and I work well like this. Everyone is an individual and has their own way of groovin thru their day and that is how it should be or it would be a boring, boring place to be. Just enjoy how you work and smile and wave at the rest of the world :-)

T

Sometimes you (I) have to step away from a project for various reasons...bored with it, working on a design dilemma, challenging technique, another project captures my attention, and just because! I would bet that mother eats her food one item at a time. I work my way all over the plate in no particular order! Good grief.

Sandy

Yesterday I sat for a couple of hours joining 2 patchs to make up some 4 patchs. Then sorted some scraps that needed to be cut into squares. Then read for a while. Had lunch. Sorted out some UFO'S. Took a nap. Some days I spend more time, some days don't even go in the sewing room. I bet your friend's mother has a boring life:D.

I am usually trying to complete a quilt for one of my grandchildren's wedding or the birth of a great-grand, so I tend to HAVE to work on one at time. Just to meet the deadline.

I am at my machine from say 8 or 8:30 until about noon, take a break to eat then its an hour or so more sewing and that's it. I am pooped out. I then go take a nap :) and then watch some tv. go to the sewing table to fix something for tomorrow.. cutting is not done on sewing days I hate it by then! so I might cut a bit .. and start dinner which means washing any dishes which means.. I guess I just GO. I love sewing. I love cooking. I need to nap. I do all three with zero guilt what so ever. It works perfectly for me :)

She has her way, you have yours. She is not in charge of you - tell her so in a nice way!
I always have lots of irons in the fire. Keeps things fresh.

I can't stand UFO's, and try to finish something before starting something else, and can't understand how anyone else can stand the chaos caused by multiple UFO's, but that's me and I realize we're all different. When thinking about you crazy ufo-collecting people (LOL :), I console myself with the fact that I don't have to live in your sewing room, and I'm so very thankful that you don't live in mine! Signed, your OCD quilting friend!

For me I only work on one at a time but its your enjoyment so do what makes you happy. That's what its all about. I enjoy it so much I can sometimes spend hours in my sewing room.

Whatever works for both of you.

Some people can t stand to have an unfinished pdoject around.

I've never wanted to listen to anyone telling me how I should quilt! I love having several projects going at the same time! With that said, I do finish my projects when they need to be finished! Since I've retired, time is not as much as an issue as when I worked. Just work on what you want, when you want to! that's my motto!

If it wasn't for the fact that I will be older, I wish that retirement would hurry up and get here. I'm envious of those of you who can plan their days however they want.