Wednesday, November 18, 2009

productivity



Look what I got in the mail yesterday! my BEE!!! Thanks Shelly! I Love it!
ha! She appliqued my little Bee from my old logo, which I put on all my packages!


****

One commenter had many questions how I can get so much done... asked if I have a housekeeper, husband around etc...

here's my answer...
I work fast and in a particular, (scattered way!)

I sew during the day while my daughter is at school. Mondays are baking days, and I make many meals that can be eaten as leftovers. I do not have a nanny.

I do have a regular babysitter for Thursday eve's only,
so I can have a date night with my hubby. This event does does not have any affect on my sewing time...
My lovely husband is home every night for dinner. I pick up my daughter from school everyday, and we have family time til she goes to bed...
then I hand sew things as I watch my favorite shows on Tivo!

It's not perfect. Sometimes dinners are very simple because I can't tear myself away...
But we make it work.

Laundry is in, dishes are in the dishwasher...

I work fast to get the ideas out of my head and then I go back and
work on them when the time is right...

For instance the tile quilt. All the blocks were slightly tacked,fused so
that now I can work on a block during the evening while I watch my shows. The borders are cut, so once I have the blocks all appliqued, then I whip the borders on, and wallaa!



Or cutting up all those squares out of my scraps.
I did this for an hour last night after B went to bed...
I see another red quilt in my future!

My studio is right next to my daughters room, so I don't run the machine once she goes to bed.
So it is all about planning it out, and leaving things to work on in the eve or things I can take with me while B is at gymnastics for an hour, or take to the house on the weekends...

Part of this is the reason why I have so many projects going at once.
Sew sew sew all day, hand sew in the eve...

here's the pool table in our loft. It's taken over as my layout table...
These are: a stack of finished quilts, the alphabet "B" project , B's Buddha wall quilt, the ON POINT Quilt blocks, which will be on hold til I do my swaps with some of you! two quilts for binding, the scrappy happy quilt and the Black and gray windows Quilt, otherwise known as the BOB quilt, the Tile quilt blocks, Xmas log cabin blocks,
(ALL evening sewing work)
And the recently finished Parsley Patch quilt...
**

Also, I like to keep you guys on your toes... if I keep showing you the same project for a week you'd get bored and stop reading my blog! I find the blog to be as enjoyable as sewing. It's inspiring to me to put down my projects, and think about them in a different way. And I like the idea that I might inspire a few of you... I get inspiration from you all, so I like the idea of full circle moments...

Does that explain it? Others call it quilters A.D.D.... Take your pick! I don't mind!


21 comments:

shellysquilts said...

I'm glad you like your bee. He was fun to make. Happy sewing, my friend!

MichelleB said...

Your bee is darling!

So that's how you do it all. It explains it - but you still are just a bundle of energy!

Corn said...

I love the bee :)

What Comes Next? said...

your bee is very cute! You do work fast, and in what appears to be a very organized fashion, for all its "scatteredness"! Love how you have so many different projects on the go at once.

Cheryl Arkison said...

Love that Scrappy Happy Quilt. I never saw the original post so it was nice to go back to it and see your process. And you know I love that border fabric! (Did I tell you I went and bought the rest of teh bolt at the store - just in case? And I said I would never do that.

Doris said...

Great explanation! I always think about what I could accomplish without 1.5 jobs (I work a 40 hour a week job plus a parttime gig at a quilt shop and I clean a friend's house in exchange for some long-arm work from her!)....I need to simply max my time like you do!

Amy said...

my productivity these days is all virtual - and Q has pneumonia so we're all stifled!

Vesuviusmama said...

I, too, cut my scraps down into squares (although I'm not even close to having them all cut down). That is one of my evening activities as well, when the house is quiet and running the machine might bother someone.

Trudi said...

Love your Bee! We all manage to fit in what it is that creatively drives us! Love that you are so organised with it all!

craft-crazed said...

haha I think I have quilters ADD too :)

Anne at Film and Thread said...

Just imagine if you could run your machine any hour or the day or night without waking anyone! You might never sleep!

Barb said...

You're so funny - I sew any spare moment during day. I put an hour in every morning between 6-7a. Working fast is the other key! Love speed...
barb

YankeeQuilter said...

I'm digging through a whole pile of Christmas-y UFO that are the product of my own quilt-y ADD! You however can even may ADD sound organized!

stitchinpenny said...

Your bee is adorable and I personally am in awe of your productivity/

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

I call it creatively productive. You found what works. I'm getting better at it. I actually have two full weeks (at least) of hand sewing with me on this road trip (thanks in part to your inspiration).

QuiltingCyclist said...

Thanks for the wonderful and still amazing explanation. Please continue. You inspire and amaze us. Have a great Thanksgiving holiday.

Janet said...

I know I don't make the most of the time I have but I go at the pace that suits me. You have fitted in with family life and organised your sewing to fit in because it's important to you. I only do handwork in the evenings as well, I can't be too anti- social. You've explained it wonderfully.

KaarQuilter said...

I got up this morning, thinking I'd check in on your blog, wondering, what miracles you might have accomplished since I last looked. I'm a newbie here, so am in complete awe. Then, Lo an Behold, your topic of the day addressed my very question. You DO amaze me with your output volume, and although since I've been reading I've increased mine, I still have "miles to go before I sleep."

Rene' said...

I love your bee!! How cool that someone made that for you!! Thanks for the insight into your creative process. I enjoyed reading all about it.

P.S. I emailed you a picture of my waverunner. Having issues with my Mail so let me know if you did not get it.

Michelle said...

Love the bee! I enjoyed reading your blog. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

blessings,
Michelle

Solange said...

I Love the Bee..like some of the other commenters said.."I don't know how you it all!" Have a great weekend!

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