redmadder

Jingle, I could have written that post.

Say no a lot because everyone thinks they are entitled to your time. Set boundaries right away.

Socialize with other quilters whenever possible. They understand your priorities whereas that Sunday school group that wants you to join a book club don't.

Don't volunteer to become an officer in any clubs.

I could go on. Enjoy your retirement, you've earned it.

Gagigi

Congratulations on your retirement! I ask myself why did I work so long? Sewing room is orderly chaos. Pull from my stash whenever possible but still shop as well. Thought I would quilt more than I do. Since retirement have developed neck problems which limit me to sessions of about 2 hrs at a time. Working Bonnie Hunters mystery now and love that I have time to finish each weeks assigment. Life happens go with the flow and enjoy your free time!

GoBragh

In a nut shell ...
My sewing been so clean and organized.
I schedule my time to quilt each week. So I can still do lots of retired activities.
Using my stash up as much as I can. It feel great to make charity quilts too.
I've only been buying fabric for backs of quilts an batting. Not really buying to much fabric.
Taking lots of classes and sit and sew which I couldn't do while working.
hope this helps you out!!!
Happy Quilting.

pocoellie

Although I'm retired, about 5 years ago, I started working a part time/on call job, so sometimes I don't have time to sew, now for your questions. 1. Fairly clean and organized, depending on what I'm working on. 2. Yes, I get up early every day and after checking the "important" things on the computer, I go to my sewing room and work. 3. I try, but I can't say that I'm successful. 4. My stash doesn't bore me but the reason I've been adding to my stash, is that the shop I've been going to, for the last 3 years is closing, so everything is on sell. 5. No, but have gone through them and gotten rid of ones that I know I'll never use. 6. I haven't take any classes but have taught classes and yes I can go to sit and sews, IF there's any going on, but because of my location, there's not a lot of that. We're a minimum of 100 miles one way, from any "big" towns.

Fastpedal

I retired 20 years ago this month. I did have a small stash and large pieces I purchased from a local quilt store that went out of business. I am still working on using that up. Found that it is sometimes hard to find fabric to coordinate with it because colors change from year to year. That said I still need to purchase backing and solids to go with it. Also need to purchase special fabrics for special quilts for grandchildren and other children quilts I make.

I have disposed of most of my magazines that I had saved from before retirement. Most of the quilts I make now make use of the free patterns on the internet.

Also, quilting has changed since I started quilting in 1989 in ernest. So many beautiful quilts using jelly rolls, charm squares, etc. Much easier to get a scrappy quilt without purchasing multiple fabrics. Haven't purchased them because I am trying to use up my stash.

I have purchased four new sewing machines for various reasons; including a sit-down long arm which I love. I love quilting all my quilts.

I continued to quilt. However, I find that my life is busy and I have problems putting together the time to spend an afternoon or day quilting. I now live with my daughter and her family. Have been involved with them since I reired and would not trade the time with my family for anything.

How much quilting you do in retirement and how much money you spend on this "hobby" depends on you.

Pagzz

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement Crispy. Thanks for starting this thread it is very interesting.

I suddenly went from working long days to a busy retirement situation with foster kids. Two of the younger children have been adopted by a wonderful family and I now feel like I am really retired.

Cleaning and decluttering is progressing slowly.

On the question of will you be happy with stash - I think part depends on what type of quilts you make. I make scrap quilts so my stash is very helpful and occasionally I go to a quilt store and buy a fat quarter or two and I am satisfied with the small additions.

On productivity I find that if I sew for at least half an hour every morning it sets a nice tone to my day. I often do more sewing later in the day.

Also on productivity I joined a small sewing group last Feb and we meet twice a month. We now do one day a month at a local retreat center where we bring our machines and can sew from 9am to 9pm though no one seems to stay that long. The 2nd day we meet at someone's home and mostly do hand work. This has upped my productivity because I feel like I need to have something prepared to work on for the meetings.

I belong to Plano Guild. Plano and Dallas guilds are using http://bestlittleretreatcenterintexas.com/ for many of their workshops. You can go on the guilds websites or the retreat center and see what upcoming classes there are and how to sign up.

The center is where my small group meets for a sit and sew day. Yes you have to pay but we don't have a home to meet in where we can all bring sewing machines. I am not affiliated with the center. My group will be there again on Dec 18th and I will be there probably from 9 am until 6 or 7 pm. If you want to come sew with us you'd be welcome.

marymild

I did not start sewing until I retired. And I have made pretty fine use of it since then.

1. Can you keep your sewing area clean and organized after you retire? At first I was sewing in a quest room. And then I moved my sewing machine to a hallway that was never used. It became my sewing room. Now we have moved closer to the grandchildren, and I have a sewing room. Much better. It gets cleaned up from time to time. Right now with Christmas projects it is a little overwhelmed.

2. Can you put together Large blocks of time to quilt? Yes definitely. Your time is your own. The grandkids get their time too. But I often sew in the morning when the kiddies are in school. And I have found other things to do that interest me. I joined a book club and am attending a new church I enjoy. I was in a Guild before I moved, but have not joined a Guild in my new home. Maybe next year.

3. Do you actually use up your stash and happily keep from spending retirement funds? I use my stash and I happily spend my retirement money. I have time enough to do both. I didn't have a stash before I retired, but I have developed one in the last ten years, believe me.


4. Or, does your stash bore you and you keep right on shopping? See above.

5. Are the floor-to-ceiling stacks of magazines being utilized like you intended? I have them in book cases but I don't use them a lot. I did at first. I don't buy them much anymore. I did put together a notebook of quilt projects I hope to do someday. But there is always more hope to's than even I can find time to do.

6. Are you able to take the classes, or go to the Sit and Sews like you planned? I took a lot of classes when I retired, because I was a new quilter. Now I take one or two classes a year. This year I took a Tuffet class. We made stools with fabric strips. I have now made four. You can take a class if you want or you can You Tube your classes. You will have time for classes if you want.

I like retirement. I highly recommend to friends and relatives. The time fills up, but you will have time to enjoy many things including quilting.

EmiliasNana

You will love retirement!

1. Can you keep your sewing area clean and organized after you retire?
I've always been fairly organized, but you have to be disciplined enough to put things back after each project, even though you have a stack of future projects in your mind or on your desk.
2. Can you put together Large blocks of time to quilt?
I choose to quilt almost every day, but the key word is "choose". My DH and I both have hobbies, his is woodworking, so each of us are busy a good part of the day doing what we love and choose to do. We moved upon retirement so I was not in a hurry to "join" clubs or guilds and took my time deciding how I wanted to give back. I chose sewing for the local hospital, and donating quilts to our churches ministries.
3. Do you actually use up your stash and happily keep from spending retirement funds?
I will be the first to admit, I don't shop from my stash as often as I would like. I still shop for new fabric but don't spend nearly what I did before retirement. If I don't cut and organize my scraps by size and color, I would never shop from my stash as I hate pawing through the unknown LOL
4. Or, does your stash bore you and you keep right on shopping?
It doesn't bore me...............just don't always have the correct shade of color I need and don't tend to do scrappy.
5. Are the floor-to-ceiling stacks of magazines being utilized like you intended?
No, should unload most of them and hope to clean out a large portion this winter to the local art recycling center.
6. Are you able to take the classes, or go to the Sit and Sews like you planned?
I'm not a class taker. I have way too many projects I want to do without signing up to take someone else's project. I do go on a quilt retreat every month for 4-5 nights however and love it. We have the fortune of being able to buy an annual pass for $450 and can go as often as we want. It is a great place to share your love of quilting, gather new ideas both in patterns and fabric combinations, and learn new techniques.

Retirement is great, but be selective in what you really want to do the rest of your life. We are all different and have different priorities and life challenges whether it is money, grandchildren, health issues, etc. besides all the temptations of things to do with this new found free time. Take your time to decide your priorities and learn to say No to others if it doesn't fit with your vision.

SusieQOH

Crispy, I forgot to mention something:
I used to sew at night but these days I don't enjoy it. I like to do handwork while watching a movie or something good to listen to, like music or an audiobook. It works well for me because I can sew as much or as little as I want during the day.

Onebyone

I bought so many kits to get ready for retirement and I haven't used one of them. Some are so vintage or highly sought now that I sold most of them on Ebay for many times over what I paid. It's hard to keep my sewing room organized but I wake up every morning and do what I want to do that day. I love retirement.