My New Schedule

So I Get To Work On My Own Projects…

Another row added to Farmers Wife Sampler

I feel like I have a weight lifted from my shoulders. After a very packed July and beginning of August, I get to spend time on my own quilts. They are calling to me from the bookcase of dreams. “Please work on me!!!!! Just take me out of this box!!!! I’m almost done just spend a little more time on me!!!!! You know you want to, so come over, just reach in and pull out my box.”

The center of Sacred Geometry

I am hopeless when I hear those plaintive voices. Sacred Geometry here I come. Farmers Wife Sampler you have hooked my heart and I will answer your siren calls. But to reach you both I have to walk down a hallway littered with unvacuumed floors and undusted furniture. When I look out of my dirty windows, I see the weeds that need pulling in my garden and the raised beds that need to be attended to if my family is to have freshly grown vegetables to eat this autumn.

So I have some decisions to make. With finite time and energy what am I to do? Houses need to be cleaned and gardens need to be attended to. But most of all my creative soul must be fed and watered by my quilting and embroidery. I am not a happy camper if I neglect that side of myself. So the 15 minute rule will be applied.

This means that 15 minutes will be devoted to house cleaning and 15 minutes will be devoted to pulling weeds, then I will permit myself to work in the sewing room on my quilt projects, 15 minutes to design a layout for my Sacred Geometry quilt, 15 minutes to sew some blocks together for the Farmers Wife Sampler, and another 15 minutes to develop a sample for a future hand piecing class. This precious time will be worked into my day along with the regular cooking, cleaning, errand running, and socializing needed to keep my life from imploding. Also, I think I have imposed enough on the good nature of the partner regarding dinner preparation so I need to step up in that area. We are both sick of take out dinners plus they are breaking the bank with all the money spent on them lately.

Okay, I also hear the inner voice saying “you do not have enough discipline to keep to this ridged schedule”. Yes, that may be a factor and that has been the case many a time in the past, but I can only try and if I adhere to the 15 minute rule for only a couple of days, I will make a dent in the work ahead. Maybe the old saying about taking it one day at a time can help out here. If I skip a day and decide to just work in the sewing room all day, or spend the afternoon watching Netflix or even, heaven forbid, read a book, that’s what I need for that day and the next day can be spent pulling weeds and cleaning before I allow myself to step into the sewing room for some much needed sewing.

A hand piecing spectacular

Long term planning must also apply. My guild, the San Francisco Quilters Guild, has a show coming up in March, 2025. So, I am determined not to get caught without a new quilt to show and my hopes for a ribbon are high. Could I get Sacred Geometry done in time? It’s on the small side so it’s a possibility.

My Kantha project is seeing the light of day after to long in a box.

In the meantime enjoyment is the order of the day. I am going to participate in the Joy of Handwork in the coming months even if it kills me. That means some Kantha stitching is going to be interspersed with quilting because I still love doing miles of running stitch.