Sew Every Day - Feel More Quilty - Not Guilty

I have used my Accuquilt Go Cutter quite a bit over the last several months. It really has been a quick way to work through my scrap pile. I've already started sewing these rectangle pieces together. They will soon become my new Brick Quilt. By staggering the placement of each rectangle I do not have to match up any seams. Right now all the rectangles are sewn together into long strips. Once I get the seams pressed I will start sewing the strips together. That's all there is to this Brick Quilt. Then it just needs to be quilted together. It is that easy. It's super simple.

I've been trying to sew every day. Or trying to get at least a little bit of sewing time in every day. It is one of the ways I am working to get more accomplished with my sewing. I want to make time to sew even if some of those times are short times. How do you make more time to sew? I've found it works to have my machines set up and ready to go. I am fortunate to have established a dedicated area of our home for sewing. My area is in the basement. In fact, that area has expanded to encompass the main area of the basement. I used to have my sewing stuff spread out into several different rooms. With my recent re-organization and de-cluttering I have managed to fit it to one room in an organized and work-friendly way. Granted there are still some things I feel need a bit more tweaking. But overall, I have arranged everything to create a good flow from one work area to another. I even have room for friends to come into my studio with plenty of room to sew together, chat and enjoy an afternoon. It is truly a blessing to have a 'room of my own' to practive my creative sewing endeavors.

I read recently about using a timer as an aid to help in getting more accomplished. The idea is to set the timer to 15 minute intervals. Decide to dedicate the next fifteen minutes to the task at hand, then work on the task till the timer goes off. At that point you can continue with the task, or move on to another task you want to accomplish, setting the timer again for another fifteen minutes. This is supposed to help you stay focused on the one task you are doing instead of being distracted with the many other things you need to get done during the day. I am trying this timer technique with chores like washing dishes and cleaning and straightening up around our home. I can concentrate on one thing for a fifteen minute timeframe, trying to get as much of the task done in as quick an amount of time possible. I've found I cannot always get some things done in the fifteen minutes. But knowing I can allow another fifteen minutes to the task or move on to something else frees me from feeling guilty that I 'should' be doing something else, and distracting me, when I'm in the middle of another thing.

It also helps me focus and get specific things done in a timely matter when I can categorize and prioritize the things that need to be done. I'll keep you posted on how this is working for me. I like the idea of not thinking about, "Gee, I've got to get the dishes washed" while I'm trying to enjoy myself sewing. Or thinking, "Man, I would rather be sewing right now" when I'm in the middle of washing dishes (or some equally boring chore). What do you think? Does this timer technique seem like it is something that would work for you?

Afterall, the goal is that I want to feel more 'quilty' and not so guilty about unfinished chores. And I get some sewing therapy and enjoyment out of every day.

Cutting Scrap Fabric for Quilts

I love making scrap quilts! I've been cutting up my scrap fabric pieces throughout the summer. Most of what you see here in this post was already cut prior to getting my AccuQuilt Cutter. But now that I have it I have been adding to the pile of five inch charm square blocks. Plus I've started a new pile of tumbler blocks. Years ago when I was in my 20s I made a tumbler quilt. I cannot say what's become of it after all these many years. It's gone now. But I remember tracing around a tumbler shaped template and hand cutting all those tumbler shapes for that quilt. The sewing went much faster than the cutting in those days. That was before rotary cutters existed! Now with this new cutting equipment the cutting goes a lot faster than the sewing. It's fun to have these handy tools! I'm enjoying this one. My sewing friend was here today for our weekly Sew-In. Guess what we did? That's right - cut fabric!

I know my first quilt using these five inch charm squares will be the Disappearing Nine Patch. Ever since I read about, and saw samples, of this quilt I knew what I would be doing with my charm squares. I need to do some research into seeing how many five inch squares are needed for a lap-sized and a full-sized quilt. I have a feeling there's quite a few quilts sitting right here in this pile of 5" squares. I think I'll get my little assembly line started on these this week and see how fast those quilts go together.

This summer I was cutting fabric squares in a variety of different sizes - just to get them cut and organized. My thinking was that regardless of the size, I would use them up eventually. I tried cutting the largest size strips and squares first. Then made use of smaller scraps to cut the smaller 2 1/2" squares. That's the smallest size in this range of quilt squares. I will eventually use them all - it seems better to me to cut up all my smaller fabric scraps rather than have them taking up space on my shelves and bins. There was just so much fabric, smaller than a fat quarter, that seemed like so much clutter using up space in my sewing studio. Now it's getting more organized and ready to use. Makes me happy to be organized and know they are there, ready to be put to use.

I ended up with two bins of 2 1/2" fabric strips for jelly roll quilts, a huge overflowing bin of 5" charm squares, and two bins of assorted squares ranging from 2 1/2", 3", 3 1/2", 4" and 4 1/2". Perhaps I'll sew up a bunch of table toppers with these odd-ball variety of squares just to be done with them. I decided I want to just collect the 2 1/2" strips, charm squares, 2 1/2", 3 1/2" and 4 1/2" size squares. It seems to me these would be the most often used sizes to make 12 1/2" quilt blocks - handy to have around for quick-to-make gift projects.

Disappearing Nine-Patch Quilt

I was following blog links while crawling the web and came across this post through a link that Dena posted. Dena and Sam, thanks for posting! The quilt as shown on Sam's site, MissyMack, is called the Disappearing Nine-Patch. This is a new quilt I have not seen before. Now I know what I'll be doing with all those 5" blocks I've been cutting from my fabric scraps. I think I'll have to do a search for the Disappearing Nine Patch to see if there's more on this interesting looking quilt.

I've been cutting up my scrap fabric for some time. I wanted to clear out some of the excess fabric scraps I've accumulated. These are generally the short pieces left over from ends of bolts or previous projects. Some were given to me by quilting friends who have accumulated way too many scraps. Knowing I like scrappy quilts, I've been the recipient of these odds and ends from friends for quite a while now. Thus the exercise of cutting them up into either 2 1/2" strips for jelly-roll quilts or 5" blocks for charm quilts. Up to this point I've been busily cutting scraps - not quite knowing what they'll be when finally utilized. This Disappearing Nine Patch sounds like a really cool kind of quilt. And it's a fun quilt to look at as Sam's quilt, with the block pictured above, can attest. Thanks to all those generous bloggers out there for sharing. I've got another quilt project lined up. Now I just need to keep sewing so I can get caught up with all my new plans.

It's all a matter of finding time to sew, and making time to sew. That said, I need to make a more concerted effort to decrease some time on the computer and increase some time in my Sewing Studio. Part of the issue is I have such a wide range of interests. That's a good thing, too. Having so many interests means there's never a dull moment. There's always something fun to do waiting in the wings. Making time to take part in so many interests is key to being able to do all the things I really, really want to do. So far I haven't done as much to limit time on the computer. I get so into doing what I'm doing I find the time just speeds by as I'm in the zone. It works that way for me a lot - that being in the zone concept. Next thing I know, a couple hours have gone by while I'm focused on my project.

Pin Cushion Collections

I realized the other day I have unwittingly started a haphazard collection of pin cushions. As I have been going through my sewing studio to organize and straighten up the place I've found lots of pin cushions. I recently went out and purchased a new box of pins since some of the old ones have become dull through use and bent out of shape. Upon clearing some of the clutter I found I must have had the idea of replacing my pins awhile ago. I ran into another new box of pins. Now I'm happy to report I'm well stocked in new pins.

Replacing pins is something one does not think about replacing often, but it is one of those little things that can be frustrating when sewing. If it's been awhile since you've purchased new pins, it may be time to do so. Just like your sewing machine needles get dull with use, your pins do as well. Approximately 8-10 hours use is the maximum for machine needles in order to maintain quality work. If you let them go much longer they are dull and end up tearing the fiber of your fabric and abraiding it rather than piercing neatly through it. You will end up seeing frayed edges along your stitch line once the garment or article you are sewing is washed. How disappointing that would be when you go to all the trouble to do a nice sewing job only to wash the item and see a row of frayed and worn fabric at the seam lines.

To celebrate the new, cleaner state of my studio I treated myself to Heather Bailey's pin cushion pattern. I've had my eye on this one for some time, but wasn't prepared to purchase it at the time. Now I want to sew up a few more pin cushions and will likely discard some of the old ones that have seen better days. I love visiting Heather's blog! She has such a fresh, colorful look and lively tales to tell. So, this will be something new I'll be working on in the next week. I purchased some of Heather's fabrics some time ago. That'll be the perfect fabric to use of course. And the felt for the leaves on the fruit is in my stash as well. Pictures to come . . .

A Couple Weeks to Heal & Refresh

I'm on the road to recovery and ready to take on more activities. In fact I got the go-ahead from my doctor the other day to do so. I've been given the nod to be able to go up and down stairs again. That means I have no excuse not to get back into the sewing studio downstairs. I'm looking forward to it.

The past two weeks of recovery I've spent a lot of time sleeping and resting while reading or watching television. In the meantime I've been noticing all kinds of things around the house that need to be taken care of. Things like spring cleaning, sorting and purging stuff (lots of clutter) as well as revamping my sewing and studio areas. I've been catching up with various sewing room blogs with ideas to get more organized and get rid of stuff that hasn't been used for a long time.

Currently there's piles of fabric I started to sort and pre-cut into usable strips and squares. I have a good size stack of 5" squares to make charm quilts. My supply of 2 1/2" strips has dwindled down to nothing thanks to the near completion of my Strippy Squares Quilt. I plan on cutting more strips to have on had for these quick and easy strip quilts. One of my goals is to cut more of both the strips and charms from lots more of my fabrics.

I also have lots of old magazines that I have already started going through -- tearing out articles and recipes I want to keep for future use. That is something not too taxing to do while recuperating from my recent surgery. There are still plenty of magazines to go through. I need to get a handle on all those past issues I've files away. They've grown beyond my storage capacity. Right now it's all about simplifying and reducing clutter for me.

This new blog is being adorned with some background embellishments I've recently discovered through a couple websites that have come to my attention. I had been noticing more and more blogs showing up with fancier, more decorative appearance to them. There are a few quick blog designer tools at Delightful Dots and also The Cutest Blog on the Block. I'm sure there are probably other websites that offer this kind of easy access blog template service. These are two that I've run across recently.

Playing with these new templates has increased my desire to get back into my web designing and web programming studies. I've been away from the books for about a year. I haven't lost it all, but I know some of the details have become fuzzy over that time. Getting back to my HTML and CSS books is another thing I want to invest some time into. There is a lot to learn, and to remember. Looking at some of the coding from these sites has helped inspire me to want to develop more of my own personalized pages for my website. I spent some time this past week getting back into some coding for my soon-to-be future website. It still needs lots of work.

So the pull right now is to spend time cleaning up, organizing, getting back into the sewing studio with some new work, and also hitting the books and revamping my website with some web programming. That covers multiple directions to direct my attention. I need a plan -- a schedule -- and some lists.