I notice that everyone here seems to have more time to sew than I do. I was just wondering if anyone else works a full time job as I do. If you do, how do you get everything done so that you have time to sew? I have not been able to touch my sewing machine for a very long time now.
:(

I work fulltime and commute 50 minutes each way. My job is salaried rather than hourly so a lot of days I put in well over 8 hours. I'm brain-dead when I get home and have found that's not a good combination with the precision of quilting, especially accurate cutting! So I get online and spend time here looking at what everyone else is doing, and think, "some day, I'll be able to do things like that!" My sewing is limited to some weekend time when I can work it in. So I don't produce much, but I love all things quilted.

Right now I have the luxury of being retired and therefore my time is my own to use as I wish. I may have to go back to some sort of part-time employment in the future but for now I can sew to my heart's content

I work at home....bout 12 hours a day! But I love it! Nobody tells me what to do and I can work in my jammers all day if I want to. :lol:

I work full time too. Monday-Thursday are 9 hr days, work Fridays are 8 hrs, every other Friday off. I don't have kids at home, but my FIL lives with us. I do not have a sewing room. I either work on the dining table or crammed in between my bed and the closet. I don't get much time to sew during the week. I'm with you on the being tired afraid to screw up. If I sew during the week, it's the no brainer stuff like chain piecing pieces I've already cut. I save the cutting and any complicated piecing for my days off. It's less frustrating that way! :)

I am a stay at home mom and I also wonder how it is that so many are able to do the sewing that they do. I am lucky if I get to touch the machine every other weekend when my DH is off or maybe once or twice a week for a few minutes at a time. I am on week 3 of trying to sandwich a small quilt. maybe i will get it done today, yeah right I'm dreaming.

I work flexi-pool, they call when they need me. Which hasn't been a lot lately, just about 2-3 days a month. That is partly because I take care of my MIL who has advanced Parkinson's and lives with us. My sewing room is downstairs next to MIL's living space, so I can work and keep an eye on her. My girls are grown and on their own, so no kiddies at home.

I am retired now and sew approximately 6 hours a day. I do babysit my GGS who is 16 mos old, but he has a very large play pen and is very good at entertaining himself. He also takes long naps.

I worked full time from the time my youngest was in kindergarten, over 30 years ago. I wasn't quilting then but made most of my clothes and my 2 daughters clothes. I sewed after dinner and on Saturdays most of the time. Sewing has never been work for me, it was my way of relaxing.

I teach and the past five summers were tied up with graduate school so I've not as much time as I've wanted. I tend to be very good at starting (especially at quilt classes) and not finishing. I'm trying my hardest to leave this summer free other than packing up a child for college. Am starting to think of putting my unfinished projects into kits so that everything will be ready to work on.

I work full time and commute an hour each way. Sewing helps keep my sanity and I fit it in wherever I can.

I work 5 (sometimes 6) days a week.
I don't even touch my fabrics and WIPs, etc till I have a day off. I've stopped making REALLY dumb mistakes that way and lowered my "unsewing" by half...lol.
Although it takes me months or even a year to finish things, depending on how large and/or complicated they are.
I'll be thrilled if I ever get to retire someday and can sew as much as I want!

Me too :thumbup: :thumbup:
Best of all worlds!!
Except being retired would be a lot better :D :D :D

I work from home full time, and also have a part time job. I try to work in atleast 15 to 20 mins a day to sew. You will be amazed at how much you can get done by the end of the week.

i also have a full-time job outside the home.

who says you have to get everything else done? if you are imposing that requirement upon yourself, rethink that concept. if somebody else in the house is imposing the requirement upon you, review the division of labor to make sure it's fair. (and stick to your guns. it takes longer to unspoil a family used to 24/7 maid service, but it can be done. ;-) )

when my dustbunnies pick up a broom, i'll have a clean house. until then, i live with the mess and work on my quilts when i please.

Before I retired, for the most part was unable to find the time. Now I can sew to my hearts content for hours and wonder what happened to the day! :-)

HINT: Used to commute to work on Tri-Met daily for 1.5 hrs each way. Made yo-yo's in 5-7 min! No wonder I have a stash of those little guys!

Teacup, I'm with you. It doesn't take a lot of energy to read all the posts, and I don't make expensive mistakes that way. I am looking forward to the summer, when I will be able to sew more, and next year, when I can retire and sew when I want :-D In the meantime, my wish list just grows and grows!

I don't work but I do makes quilts for Project Linus, hand quilt for friends, go to guilds and bees and take classes and go to retreats....so still have to find time to work on my own quilts. I have lots of tops finished, sandwiches already put together (batting, backing, top), UFO's and WIP's. Must be a conundrum for workers or non-workers. I have to take days for myself and feel wonderful and ready to work on eveyone else's again.

I took an early retirement. Figured it was easier to live on less income than it was to keep working for that place! Got married the same year, too, and he retired. Now I work a lotta crafts.....my excuse is that I'll make income (selling at bazaars)...and the truth is, I LOVE to do crafts!

I work full time and my commute is about an hour each way. :hunf:

If I am not too tired when I get home I may quilt an hour but if it has been a typical day I stay away from the sewing machine - I learned my lesson the hard way.

On the weekends I do my chores first then I have the rest of the weekend to work on my quilts to my hearts content.

i work full time at home(daycare). so i can sometimes sew during naptime. otherwise i just do a little at night when i put my daughter to bed. then on the weekends i just quilt as i please. we had a maid that came on the weekends to clean for us but she has since quite so i need to find another one!! in the meantime--some of the housework goes by the wayside during the weekends and i play catchup during the week!!

I work from home. I take care of my GD who has special needs (and soon a 2nd GC). There is much to do w/her during the day (physical therapy and other stuff... you be surprised how much time is taken up w/a child especially when you schedule for their activities).

Most nights & weekends I LA professionally. Needless to say I don't get much done for myself. I get soooo jealous when I see you all pump'n out the quilts.

And who said what about house work? That's way to far down on the list of things to do lol The house if reasonably presentable... some may think I'm not the neatest/cleanest person in the world, but oh well!

So let's sum it up: I don't make much $$$, my days are full & I never seem to have any spare time... HOWEVER, I love what I do! I love being able to be such a huge part of my GD life & I absolutely love getting to share in the quilting adventures of my customers. I'll get a quilt made eventually lolol

I work full-time and share the house with my 95 y/o mother. She is amazingly self-sufficient but really shouldn't be living alone. So I'm fortunate that every other weekend, when I'm not with my grandkids, I can sew 24/7. Fortunately, we pay my SIL to do the major house cleaning every two weeks, so the house stays clean, otherwise, sewing would take priority over toilets and dust bunnies. Some evenings when I'm home I get in an hours worth of sewing but depends on how stressful the day at work was.

I own a hair salon and work part time for a condo association so my free time is limited. I decided to purchase a "salon machine" so I can get a little quilting done during down time at the salon. Of course usually when I sit down to sew that's when the walk-ins come. So I feel it's a win-win either I get quilt time or I get business

I also work full time and I try to sew early in the mornings.Some mornings I get up at 5:30 so that I can sew for an hour before getting ready for work.That works good for me .I,m also one of these people that has to be in the mood to sew,but once my new room gets finished it will have so many windows I will enjoy it more.

I consider myself a Domestic Goddess. My last job, as an office manager for my brother's Auto Repair shop, ended in 2000 when I became disabled by a rare autoimmune disease. In the years since my only daughter got married and moved a little over an hour away. My grandchildren from my husband's first marriage have gotten to old to need my occasional babysitting. I have regained enough health to volunteer one day a week at our local Senior Center, quilting of course. I do get to two differnt guild meetings a month and attend a little Bee twice a month where we bring handwork, gab and go out to lunch. I work on Linus quilts and projects of my own whenever the mood strucks me. I am currently embroidering the names of each of the families in my church congregation on fabric to be added to house blocks in a 250th anniversary quilt for the church. While the embroidery machine is running I work on Linus Quilts. Right now I don't have a bed size quilt to handquilt on. Once the Anniversary one is put together I will be handquilting it. I generally divide my time between, reading, watching TV and doing quilt related things. Because of my disability I have someone who comes in every three weeks and does the heavy housework. I do cook and keep up with the laundry. I also do the food shopping. If I just happen to go near a quilt shop, so be it.

I took early retirement so I could be the "nanny" for my DD's 2 little boys while she attends med school. My one GS is special needs-autistic, so much time is spent on therapy and Dr. appts. I sew on the weekends when they visit their father. It sure is stressful and hectic at times, but I am so lucky to be able to help out my daughter in this way. Quilting is my time to relax!

I have 2 kids, a husband that works nights, full-time job and volunteer work. The key to quilting for me is to choose smaller projects that I can pickup and put down easily after the kids go to bed.

Wall hangings, tablerunners, and lap quilts are projects that I can tackle and not feel too overwhelmed. Some day I will have time to make a full size quilt. For now, I just enjoy seeing others' work and storing away all these great ideas!

I LOVE your reply! :D


I'm on maternity leave right now, until next January, but before getting pregnant I was working 40 hours a week full time, plus another job part time at around 15 hours a week.
However, I did NOT do all the cooking and cleaning. Sasha likes to cook, and he's the clean freak, so I'll slack off on passing the broom for a couple of days and if he's not happy, then he can do it himself. He was going to school a couple of days a week but working less than half the hours I was.
That's all going to change now with the new baby. He just finished his bachelors, going to start working full time. I'm going back to work full time next January after my maternity leave, but probably not to my part time job too...

I work full time between 9-10 hours a day 5 days a week. Leave the house at 7AM arrive home between 6PM and 7PM. I find quilting is my therapy, it takes my mind off work and lets my creative side take over. It also gives me something to look forward to during the day.

I'm currently working full time, commute 1 hour each way and have three small children. I am fortunate to have great help/support so my kids are pretty much done with everything when I get home. By time I get house cleaned up and ready for next day, it's usually about 9/930 and I try to sew for an hour or so. It relaxes me. The prob is that I often dont stop and then I'm exhausted the next day. The kids are with their dad a few hours during the week and one weekend day so I have that time to myself (like today - yay!!).... I find myself jotting down designs to future quilts during boring meetings and take quilting books to work to get inspired over lunch. When I dont sew at night I'm generally on ebay buying fabric or on etsy looking at all the awesome completed quilts folks are selling (now I'll just come here :)).... Oh, I will add, one reason it may be easy for me at night is that I do super simple stuff and buy pieces pre-cut (jelly rolls/charm packs).. If I had to do all my own rotary cutting I'd probably throw in the towel and wait til weekend. Good luck!

Leigh

I work 50 hours a week with a minimal commute and dont have kids. Im lucky enough that I have a housekeeper that comes in twice a month to clean the house so I only have to "pick up".

Since my hubby works Saturdays, I usually quilt all day (10-12 hours) Saturday or Sunday and one or two evenings a week for a few hours while I watch TV. I do have a dedicated sewing room that I will post a pic of one day after I finish the quilt I am working on.

I work 48 hours a week in 5 days (as does hubby)...I'm lucky that I have a hubby that is super supportive of my hobbies! He is often in the kitchen cooking or cleaning while I'm sewing, and he's not above grabbing a broom, mop, or toliet scrubber!

When I was working Full time didn't get much done, especially during the winter . My two sons are grown , so I don't have to worry about them. if I "had" to get things done I would stay up late and work on the weekends more than I wanted to :roll: As others said Don't bother trying when you are tired :oops: LOL

Now that I have lost my job I have more time.... its a catch 22 more time , but less money :wink:

I am lucky that I was able to retire early. For the last two years I've been able to sew to my heart's content. Before that, I was working a 40 hr week and I sewed in the evenings and on weekends, not every night or every weekend, but enough to keep me satisfied. We had a large loft in our condo and my hubby's office was at one end and my sewing room at the other. He always spends a lot of time in his office on his computer, so I would head upstairs to sew and we'd turn the radio on and we'd both be content! But being retired is sooo much better! I love being able to sew when I want, even though I have to spend some time on the house we are refurbishing. Like now, I WANT to sew and I have to go paint the bathroom. grrrrr

It helps having a sewing room with a door that closes! I found working full time that I could piece or cut 15-20 minutes before I left for work. I learned the hard way NOT to cut fabric at 9 pm after a long day at work.

Remember, not everyone here gets tons of quilts done. It just seems that way LOL It's not a race, but a journey.

I work around 20-30 hours a week. Depends on our patient census. I don't have to go to an office but sometimes I have to drive an hour just to a patient's home. I love my job though.
I try to do a little sewing in the evening but if it has been a long day I just don't have any motivation. On the weekends I try to get some done but spend a lot of time on grocery shopping, laundry, etc.
It is a good thing all my kids are grown! And I am sure it would sure help to get up before noon on the weekends! lol

I used to work full time and always took care of the children and animals and house. Now I am disabled and all the kids are married and away from home. I still keep my house which is hard some days, but usually do not have a lot to do. I can sew when I want, when my back lets me. Some days I get to sew for a few hours. Some days none. DH is a jewel. If I am having a good day and am sewing he will either cook or pick up supper for us. He is very supportive. We are in the process of redoing our house so I have not been able to do a lot, but I have been playing with my new embroidery machine my DH got for me. I love it. I watch a GD two mornings a week. Do all the shopping. I have all my commitments for church and then my time is mine. I am truly blessed.

I work, though usually only part time. But because I work for an Accountant, the last couple of months I put in alot of hours. Way too tired to do much quilting when I get home. Normal hours are 3 days a week, about 19 hours.

I teach kdg and there are times of the year when I just simply do not have much time to sew due to added school responsibilities. For example, this next month (May) is always a busy time so I will only worry about getting my BOM finished. I try to sew an hour, or two, every evening. It is easier for me because I have no children at home and my DH is gone at least a couple evenings a week. I, too, am often amazed at the amount of projects some people are able to 'turn out'!

It's all a big balance, isn't it? I highly recommend buying two weeks of underwear for everyone. And wouldn't your family be better off if you get to goof off in your sewing area? You know it's good for everyone! Get sewing if it relaxes you. It's better than yoga!