I’ve been pushing myself some to get things accomplished around here so sewing has still taken a bit of a back seat. I have so much more time to sew in the winter.
I did have a little “talk with myself” to remind myself that it’s totally okay to do small things. Too often I wait until I have four hours to sew rather than do some of the 20-minute things I can do to set me up so that once I do get a bigger chunk of time, I can maximize it.
Here’s an example:
I bought some fabric at a garage sale. It was double-sided and pre-quilted. 
It was cute. I spent $2 on it and planned to send it out to my friend that makes layettes. It has sat on the island in my sewing room for two months. It won’t take a long time to finish these. All I have to do is bind them. No big deal at all. But I kept thinking I would probably need two hours or so to do it. I’ve had trouble finding two hours to do it.
Then I finally remembered the only real way I ever accomplish anything when I get really busy is to divide things up…even smaller two-hour projects so Monday last week I brought the piece downstairs. At naptime, I cut the large piece into two pieces and I squared them up. Then I cut the binding strips.
Now I don’t need a two-hour chunk of time to finish these. I likely need an hour or so. It’s much easier to find an hour’s worth of time vs two hours.
After I had the binding cut it was only two days later and I eeked out time to finish them. They are just simple pre-quilted fabric that was bound and now they are quilts. I’ll be passing them on to my friend Lana who makes layettes for Lutheran World Relief.
I know many of you are garage salers and thrifters. If you ever come across infant sleepers like these with the bottoms open, Lana is in need of them. Right now she makes most of the ones she ships out and it is very time-consuming. She is always in need of these sleepers, flannel sheets (can be used as they are made into diapers), and receiving blankets.
I know there are many of you who like to help from afar and finding sleepers like these in good condition would be a great help.
I worked on my Red Sampler Quilt Along. You might remember me saying last week one of the blocks required watching one Lori Holt’s Youtube videos. This one…
I’m am appreciating the television that Buck hung last winter in my quilting room. I could watch and sew along.
Here you can see I was able to finish my block.
I just love having my old living room television in my sewing room. At first, I thought it was so excessive to have a large television in my sewing room.  Now that I have it, I love it! I really did need a new one for the living room so at least I didn’t buy a new room for the sewing room but seriously, now that I have the big one up here, I’m so thankful. It so nice especially when watching a tutorial to have a big screen.
I went on and finished two of the blocks for this week.
I did pull out my book and try to decide which quilt to make first. I am currently thinking it might be the third from the right…any opinions?? Do you have the book. You can find it HERE. I know some of you want to sew along with me. I have a gal that’s going to kindergarten that I want to make a Christmas gift for. If you have the book, page through and tell me what quilt you would make for a 6-year-old for a gift.
That’s all that happening in the sewing room. I’ve never sewn this little except after Kramer died. Typically I really miss when I don’t sew much but I’m currently so busy there is no way I could fit in quilting time except for a few 20-minute sessions here and there. I’ve not had time to cross stitch either. I’ve not missed it that much. My family is filling most of my time as has the garden and currently, that’s just fine. I want to get everything the way I want it before it starts getting so hot.
I have no real sewing plans for the upcoming week besides getting the next edition of the Red Sampler Quilt Along blocks done. Right now, three blocks in a week is enough of a challenge for me.
I have the book. I’m going to make Mary and Connie’s quilt. That what I bought the book for. Just love that quilt. I’m doing in in turquoise and oranges but in batiks. Took me a while to find all the fabrics I needed. Now we are going to come to Iowa for a national car meet in Dubuque, Iowa. On June 8. We leave our house June 1 as it’s 2,000 miles drive. I would love to stop at Missouri Star to.
What ever quilt you choose will be great.
Family is so special you are being so blessed with all them grand babies they are your main thing right now they grow so fast and then it’s so much harder to get them all together. Enjoy while you have the time they are only small for a little while.
Sometimes we don’t have enough time to do everything we want to do. That’s when we say which is most important.
Babies don’t stay little long enough to say I’ll see to them later. Neither do lawns and gardens. You have made good choices in my opinion. Back when my girl was little I had to work out of the house. I missed so much. Now I have time and rapidly growing grands. I’m blessed and you are too. Have fun with the grandbabies and your garden
What size are the blankets Lana needs for the kits she is making? is it possible to share her address?
Thanks for asking this, Ann. I was wondering the same thing. I thought maybe the address was listed somewhere on the blog, but the highlighted item didn’t take me to the correct place and info. Thanks, Jo for thinking about this.
I’m interested too! What about the sheets? Color preference?
I may be able to get some gently used sleepers like the one pictured in your post. Where do I send them?
Hi Donna. You can send everything to me and I will pass it on to Lana. This is my address:
Jo Kramer
111 2nd Ave NE Waucoma, IA 52171
I have the book too. I am going to make Mary and Connie’s quilt too. I love quilts with stars, especially elongated points. I think you chose a good quilt for a little girl. It will look very cheerful,
I have the book too and I think third from right (Amy’s quilt) would be really cute!
I’m not much help. Got my book down and looked it over. It seems like I have marked every quilt in it as a favorite. One or two looked especially good if you wanted to grade colors from red down to pink.
I like the one you’re looking at and the one named Two Step
Our activities seem to run in seasons, Jo. Right now it’s gardening season for you. Between that and doing things for your family it’s all you have time for and that’s ok! I’m glad you remembered that you can break quilting tasks down into manageable chunks. I did that last week, too! I loaded one piece of backing with one piece of batting. I fit SIX quilts on the frame!! I quilted them in pairs over the course of 3 afternoons. Two of those quilts were for your Community Quilts program, so I’ll share them once I get the binding on.
I think that 3rd quilt from the right is lovely, especially with the neutral background and the bright fabrics.
I used to have times when I’d realize it had been a few weeks since I’d done any sewing. So the last couple of years I’ve done a “sewing room challenge” to go in and sew just one seam (or pin a bit, or select some fabrics) on a particular project. That project gets done one little seam or task at a time, but is never the main thing to work on.
If I have more time than that, I’ll work on other quilts, but if I don’t — at least I made progress on something. This year’s sewing room challenge is to do a bit on a random HST quilt: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPO6RBUnxIz/
It can take a little time to figure out what to work on for your daily little task. It could be something that doesn’t have a pressing due date or something that’s months off (because it could move to the front burner if it needed to then). But for me, this has been a really nice way to get something done without even noticing. It’s a lot like Bonnie Hunt’s leaders and enders, I suppose, in that it keeps building up until you really have something, but the main point was to get me in the sewing room on a daily basis.
My current task is sewing two 4.25″ squares together; it takes no time at all. I have one sewing machine dedicated to that and I just leave what I’ve sewn under the needle until the next day when the next one pushes it out.
BUT, I’m not suggesting you do something like that unless you want to! You have plenty of things to do, including grandchildren to love on and care for! It’s working for me, though, and maybe some of your readers would like the idea. :)
I love your little easy layettes — so sweet!
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog this morning. Please send me notifications via email. Happy Quilting!
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