Making Time to Sew

A week or so ago I got to thinking about how I could work in more time to sew. Do I need lists? Should I set myself a schedule and plan out my days better? I spend a lot of time on the computer with my blogs, reading other people's blogs and crawling around the web to sites of interest. Sometimes the TV is turned to the news channel while I'm on-line. Lots of time I don't really pay attention to the TV, it's just background noise, but once in a while something comes on to catch my attention. When he's home, my dh is usually in control of the TV box changing channels often as he sits in his favorite chair nearby.

My time spent watching TV is almost always spent doing something else at the same time. If it is not about being on the computer it is about doing some sort of hand-work. A friend of mine, that I used to work with, prefers to machine sew. She always refers to 'hand-sewn' as two four-letter words - a big no-no in her book! LOL! I just love her sense of humor.

Here you see the important components needed for a relaxing evening in front of the computer or television watching a show: (1) a nice big iced tea drink, (2) a 45mm yo-yo maker, (3) pre-cut fabric circles, (4) needle, (5) thread, (6) TV or computer set to a good channel. Put your husband in charge of the remote control and you will not only be multi-tasking by watching TV and sewing, you'll be 'multi-multi-tasking' as you watch 2-3 channels simultaneously while you sew! LOL! Nearly everybody I know says their husbands are big channel surfers.

I don't mind doing some hand sewing at times. Usually those times are while watching TV. The background music tracks always give you a heads up on when to look up and take a peak anyway - when the mystery or the action is about to start. And I admit I'm one of those who asks, "What just happened?" if I missed something important to the story. My dh is usually a good sport and pretty good at filling me in when it's necessary for the story line. Often the plots are pretty predictable and there's not a lot to miss. By the way, if you're being assisted to 'multi-multi-task' while you sew it really is legit to ask what just happened when the story doesn't make sense or you missed the action sequence!

Anyway, I've been using my Clover brand yo-yo maker to hand sew these yo-yos for a future project. I've got a table runner in mind for these yo-yos based on one I saw at a quilt shop in Fargo once. It was an oval shaped table runner that had a pieced background and appliques with yo-yos sewn all around the perimeter. I've searched on-line for the pattern, but have not found it yet. If anyone knows the name of the pattern and its designer, please leave a comment so I can give credit. I will likely incorporate some machine embroidery on my table runner instead of the applique. Perhaps I'll choose an embroidered applique.

Here's the yo-yos dumped from their zippy bag and scattered at random for the photo shoot. Wait, I can't just leave them that way . . .

Okay, since I'm a somewhat-halfway type "A" personality here they are ordered in rows. Nope, they're not going together this way, but being all tossed at random really isn't my thing. I might not be an exact and precise "A" type personality. Maybe I'm more an 'orderly messy' personality. How would you describe that? Things aren't necessarily perfectly clean and pristine, more relaxed - casually messy, but neat, and lived-in around here.

Okay, enough for now . . . I'm off to sew!