Tuesday, April 24, 2018

Climbing Out of the Black Hole

Last week, I had to report with shame and humiliation a total failure in my quilting goal of sewing at least 15 minutes a day.


Okay, it wasn't that bad. I mean, sure it was 0% success rate for the week, but I am not expecting 100% for the year, and I am still happy with my yearly average.

My time at work is either feast or famine. There is either too much work or no work.  I am feasting at work, which means famine at sewing. Also with the better weather, there is yard work to add to my domestic chores, and more time spent outside to enjoy the weather.  I have to be gentle with myself  and let the sewing go.

But the sewing is relaxing, so I try to sew when I can without the pressure of having to sew every day.


This week, I managed to sew on Monday, Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday. I'm not sure if I managed to make up a week's worth of time since I wasn't keeping track of the sewing time. On Monday, I only had 15 minutes but had so many interruptions, I'm not sure if it even counts as 15 minutes. Tuesday, I managed several short sessions that probably ended up with more than fifteen minutes, and on the weekend, I tried to do more than 15 minutes at a time, but there were several sessions.  I am taking credit for it anyway. In fact, I was pretty calm and relaxed all week, so I am taking credit for 100% this week. It's about quality, not quantity.

Days with stitching this week:  7 out of 7 days
Days with stitching this month:  15 out of 22 days
Days with stitching this year:  100 out of 112 days
Success rate:  89%

Even though I am taking credit for sewing all 7 days, my success rate didn't budge.  It rounded up to 89% last week and now it is a solid 89%.

I stepped away from the design floor for a moment and Zeus served as watchdog to make sure the blocks didn't go anywhere. He is multitasking, because he also pressed them for me.

As you can see, I am using blue cornerstones instead of the brown in Bonnie's pattern. It is my effort to make sure my quilt looks different, however slightly, from all the other On Ringo Lake quilts out there. There are others who also used blue cornerstones, but I also have another change planned for the setting triangles. I am borrowing the setting triangle idea from another quilter, but hopefully by borrowing adaptations from two different quilters, I will have a better chance of having a more unique quilt.

Linked to:
Let's Bee Social #226

7 comments:

Michele Bilyeu said...

Boy,can I relate. But I love your checking in and whenever you show a pic Zeus!

Quiltdivajulie said...

Zeus is doing a great job -- Good for you making adjustments so your quilt is YOURS!

mangozz said...

I still haven't assembled my On Ringo Lake yet. It's a tough quilt to put together without a design wall and pieced sashing. Yours looks very nice so far. Looking forward to seeing the final layout.

Laura said...

You just described my own job...feast or famine! We are in the same boat...sunshine and gardening, or sewing, but there doesn't seem to be enough time for both during the famine work times. I am, like you, making the most of it all as I can. Thomas the train, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" Or, "Inch by inch...everything is a cinch." Sewing isn't a race...it is a stress reliever; the same with sunshine and gardening. Enjoy it all!

Tanya said...

Zeus looks like he’s commiserating with you in that first picture. Your quilt’s colors are beautiful!

Kaja said...

I like that you are measuring your success in a fluid way, and by the quality of your sewing time. I too have intense periods of work and then lulls; nothing to do but roll with it.

O'Quilts said...

"Humility like the darkness, reveals the heavenly lights". Thoreau.
I have the saying on my wall...it is so tough...xo