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Sunday, July 29, 2018

Week 30 of 2018: Stitching and Stashing

So it's a rainy Sunday morning here. Though it's not one of those slow rainy mornings that makes you want to stay in bed, there was too much thunder and lightening to make it peaceful.  It's really coming down out there at the moment.  So no sleeping in this morning.  That's OK, it was time to get going on this morning's 15 minutes to stitch linky party. 


I've been using the 15 minute challenge for seven years to help me get into the sewing room every day and do something to move a project along.  Why 15 minutes?  That came from some time management book I was reading at the time.  It said something along the lines of committing to do a task that you needed to get done for 15 minutes, if you really didn't feel like doing it, you could quit after 15 minutes.  I was wondering this morning if there was a way I could tell if the 15 minutes really made a difference or not.  I've been actively piecing quilts since 2004.  From 2004 to 2010, the average number of quilts finished per year is about 2.7/year.  From 2011 to 2018 the average number of quilts finished per year is about 4.4/year.  Hmm, so maybe there is something to this 15 minutes a day.  

So here's how this week went:
      15 minutes stitching days/week = 7/7 days
      15 minutes stitching days/July = 28/28 days
      15 minutes stitching days/2018 = 199/209 days
      Success Rate = 95.22%

You can link up at the bottom of the post if you want to share how your stitching week went. 

The stash report took a pretty big hit this week.  I gave into the 70% off sale going on at Connecting Threads a couple of weeks ago.  Most of what I bought was tone on tones in white and black to use for backgrounds in my scrap quilts.  What that did to the report is not pretty. 

     Fabric used this week:  0.64 yards
     Fabric used in 2018:  27.96 yards
     Fabric added in 2018:  64.41 yards
     Net fabric in for 2018:  36.45 yards

So I'm back in the red.  Not so badly that I can't recover, but it's going to take me till the end of the year to get there.  Linking up with Quiltpaintcreate for this week's stash report.  

Happy stitching to everyone this week.  If you want to share how well you did at finding time to stitch this week, you can link up below. 



1. Melissa G
2. maggie f
3. Deana
4. Christina's Handicrafts

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6 comments:

  1. 15 minutes makes a difference. I can go in thinking I will just work 15 minutes and I stay for an hour. Even if I only work for 15 minutes I am that much farther along. Thanks for the motivation!

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  2. Congrats on the success of your 15 minutes plan!
    Sometimes stash enhancement is necessary to move projects along. After all, if you don't have the right materials, no matter how much time you want to spend on a project, it can't progress. Looking forward to seeing your acquisitions and how you use them.

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  3. So I should commit to that 15 minutes a day for yoga right? LOL actually I do yoga usually 4 to 5 days a week anyhow but the sweaty kind I always have to talk myself into getting onto my mat especially if I’m doing it at home by myself. That’s really cool that it has made such a difference! When I was full-time teaching I tried to, for the last several years, sew even 5-10 minutes a day just for my sanity not to get any quilts moving along. I succumbed to that 70% off sale too…

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  4. I'm certain you'll find great use for the fabrics you purchased! Finding a great sale is being financially responsible - the best way to shop! Good for you!

    After much thought, I've decided that this week I will join the 15 minutes of sewing a day. I do love to do hand work, so 15 minutes a day of machine sewing will, I'm sure, move my projects along nicely and improve my skills! Thank you for hosting this! See you next week!

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  5. You've proven it, and I knew it from quilting an entire quilt by hand, just getting up 15 minutes earlier a day and quilting that time. It's a great idea! I should keep track and join you, but I usually quilt every day except Sunday, so I haven't added that in. Maybe next week! If your fabric buys were things you needed, and were on sale, I think it was a good idea, stash notwithstanding.

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  6. 15 minutes is perfect and always turns into more. Getting started is really the key. Thanks for the weekly challenge.

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