How I Find Time To Sew

There has been an opinion expressed, occasionally, from friends that they don't know where I find the time to make things. I will give you an example of how easy it can be some days - like today for example.

First, have your alarm go off at 6am. Not by choice but because himself needed to get up and head off to southern regions and work. Lie there and quickly realise that you are not going to get back to sleep. Reach for the iPad and catch up with your blog reading before the day has really begun for all intents and purposes.

When you get out of bed open the curtains. Take in the blustery winds and copious amounts of clouds and quickly come to the decision that it would be in your best interests not to strip the beds and wash all the bedding today as it just might rain.

When you come downstairs, open the fridge and do a quick check. Leftover chicken - check. Leftover stuffing - check. Leftover sweetcorn - check. Consider dinner all but sorted.

You can see where I am going with this. The quick elimination of other tasks quickly opens a huge window of time that can be filled with sewing. And maybe even a nap. How good could a day get? So, shall I show you what I got up to in this recently created time?

Oh please!! You don't think it was as easy as all that, do you? Nah! John called soon after I returned from the school run/shops trip. He then proceeded to have me sign onto the company computer and talk me through Quick Books, invoice writing, finding the power lead to the scanner (Scanner? I didn't even know we had a scanner!), blah, blah, blah. That was the best part of an hour gone. I don't begrudge him the time as this was something that needed doing, but it was less sewing time.

To recover from that trauma I had to sit and have a drink (not alcoholic, silly), and a snack. Just got into the groove again and cut out the bondage bondaweb stuff to iron on to my applique pieces. The phone rang. Helen wasn't feeling too well and could I come and get her. Of course I could! No problem. Poor darling. I even sat and cuddled her through a recorded episode of Dr Who. It was well into the afternoon by then.

But I got my sticky, gluey stuff ironed onto the backs of the applique bits and then ironed the fence bits onto the quilt. Promptly stood back, had a look and kicked myself metaphorically as I was not pleased with exactly where I put the slats on the fence. One was too low and the other was wonky. I quickly found out that it is possible to peal those buggers off.

Attempt number two was slightly more pleasing. Next step was to FMQ (free motion quilt) my wood effect. I am very glad that wood grain does not run in a straight line because either does my FMQ.

I squared everything off and then added the borders and mitred the corners - another first for me. This whole mini quilt is just one big learning curve for me.

With just minutes left before having to go get Emily from school I whacked on those birds with minimal thought or planning. It seems to me that this gives me better results at times. When I think too much it all can go horribly wrong.

You may (or you may not) notice that the previously orange bird has morphed into a purple one instead. The orange just seemed to in  your face compared to his friends and it didn't work for me.

With Emily home from school I thought I would get more done but Emily announced she was going to do a disappearing nine patch mini quilt for a friend and dove head first into my fabric hoard. After my heart palpitations faded I assisted her in her choices. For assisted you should read I steered her away from my favourites and talked her into ones I had lots of or knew that I no longer had a great deal of need for. She is now taking over my sewing room (aka the dining room) and I don't stand a chance.

I managed a brief moment to have a go at sewing one of the birds and then I admitted defeat and retreated to my tiny office to talk to all of you instead.

Here is what the singing bird looks like. I am not sure if I got it just right but it is what it is.

Yes, she will get an eye - eventually.

And that is how I get things made in my days. You?

Susan