Hmmmm...something new. New technique? New hobby? New what? Actually, I'm trying out a new routine.
I love quilting, maybe too much at times. No matter what else needs to be done, I'd usually rather be quilting. Now, I'm not talking about neglecting cooking or running the house, though to be honest my floors and windows could use more attention paid to them, but I'm talking about other things I want to do, but rarely make a priority to get done. Making the bowl cozies I've been asked for, making DH new scrub tops, making the grandkids new pillowcases, stuff like that. I want to make those things, but I like quilting more, so I keep putting them off. The thing is, when I actually get around to making those things, they never take as long to make as I thought they would. I am so used to working on a quilting project for weeks or months, that I over-estimate how long a non-quilting sewing project will take.
Take the bowl cozies. Once I uncovered the Studio cutter and got out the die, I cut this stack of batting and fabric.
Cutting is one thing, how about actually sewing them up? After all, I have a huge pile of burp rags I cut out months ago and still haven't sewn up. That's where my new routine will hopefully help.
DH switched to working in a clinic last November, and it took quite a while to get used to his new schedule. In the ER he worked evening shift, he got home very late at night, and we rarely got to bed before midnight. In the clinic, his day starts early, like "the alarm goes off at 4:20 AM early!" Just adjusting to the time schedule was hard. Then there was the days he works. In the ER he had no set schedule, and alternated between 3 twelve hour shifts one week and 4 twelve hour shifts the other weeks. Now he works 4 ten hour shifts a week, and has every weekend off unlike his ER schedule which always changed.
His schedule change meant a lot of changes for me, some good, some not so much. I am NOT a morning person, but I get up with DH anyway, because I don't want to be on a completely different schedule than him. He's home for dinner now, and for years he was only home for dinner about half the time. That means I'm cooking a lot more, because just grabbing a sandwich or eating cheese and crackers for dinner doesn't seem right if he's home. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy him being home for dinner, it's just different, and means a big change to my schedule.
His days off used to be random, so if my arm was bothering me, I knew he'd likely have a day off where I wouldn't get much or any sewing done, and my arm would have a break. Now I'm having to be a lot more mindful of how long I do anything, because he works four days in a row, and I can really overdo it in four consecutive days.
Added to all that, DH also runs a local scooter club, and publishes a scooter magazine, so some of his days off are booked, and sometimes he wants to spend quality time with me, but I don't always know ahead of time which days are which. We also have family stuff, errands, and all the stuff everyone else has taking our time.
Basically, I've learned I need to be flexible on his days off. Days like last Monday, we took a long drive and spent the day together. I didn't get anything done that was sewing related. On Sunday he had a club ride and I was alone most of the day.
A lot of family stuff gets planned for weekends too, so I have to be super flexible on weekends. The thing is, on a day like Sunday, when I'm home alone, I have lots of time to get stuff done, which is where my new routine is coming into play.
Here's my idea. On DH's days off, I'm not planning on doing anything quilt related, but I can work on non-quilty sewing projects if I have the time. This past weekend I started sewing up the bowl cozies.
I've got this stack done, plus the six I mailed off to my DDIL. I'm not quite halfway done the 47 I cut out, but I made some great progress! I should be able to finish the rest this coming weekend, because DH will be doing the final edits so he can get the Sept/Oct issue of the magazine to the printer.
I still get interruptions just like everyone does. Sometimes I go running around with my sister, or like yesterday, I have a last minute request to babysit.
I still have deadline projects, and the deadlines are looming. Still, I think the break from quilting on weekends is actually helping my attitude with that. By the time DH is back to work on Tuesday, I'm anxious to get back to my quilting project, and even the tedious tasks seem less so after a break.
Today I finished getting the September wedding into rows, and I'll press those rows as soon as finish writing this post. I also got another quilt sewn into rows, and I've already pressed those.
The white fabric in this is Cartoon Network fabric with cartoon dogs on it. It's got Hong Kong Phooey, Scooby Doo, Dino, Astro and Deputy Dog. This fabric has been in my stash a long time, and I had a lot of it at one time. I've made several pairs of pajama pants from it, used the scraps from those in other quilts, but this pretty much busts all the yardage I had left. I'm sure I have random squares in the scrap user system, but I think I'm even out of any strips I had. I made the nine patches from stash fabrics, and sewed them all as leaders/enders while working on other projects. Assembling the quilt is actually the first time this quilt has been the main project, and even then, I'm assembling it as leaders/enders while assembling the wedding quilt, so is it really the main quilt even now? I've got a black fabric with white dog prints on it I'm going to be using as a border, and this will be a quilt top before I know it. There is so much black in the Cartoon Network fabric I think it will be a great border option.
I got two quilts basted in the last week too, so I think shaking up my routine a bit has been a good thing so far.
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