Stitching Stuff: Week 52 of 2023

Happy last day of 2023!  It's been a very different year for me, not bad, just different. This year was definitely better than last year. Fingers crossed that 2024 is even better.  The last week was definitely not one of our best weeks, all three of us have had Covid since the day after Christmas.  Grad Girl and I are just about back to normal. This is the first time My Guy has had it, he's recovering a bit slower than we did.  I did OK on getting in my sewing time this week, but I will admit mid week I wasn't doing much more than my minimum of 15 minutes in the sewing room.  It's hard to sew when you feel crappy and are blowing your nose every 2 minutes. 

• 15 minute days/week = 7/7 days
• 15 minute days/Dec = 27/30 days
• 15 minute days/2023 = 309/364
• Success rate = 84.89%

My goal was to stitch at least 15 minutes for 75% of the days in the year.  So I'll make that bench mark for the year.  I track by the calendar year, so I won't have my final report for 2023 till next week.  Maybe one more day will push my success rate up to 85% for the year. 

There have been a few comments and emails expressing interest in participating in the 15 Minutes to Stitch for 2024.  So I thought it would be useful to summarize some of the questions that have been asked in case you are considering, but think it's more than you want to commit to. 

1. Why 15 minutes?  

They say you can do anything for 15 minutes.  So I picked that as my starting point, I usually sew for longer once I get to my sewing room.  Set any time limit you want.  Gail's (from Quilting Gail) goal is 30 minutes per day. If 5 minutes is all you think you can commit to, then set that as your goal.  The whole point is to consciously make time for needle and thread.  

2.  Does it have to be every day? 

No.  Frederique's (from Quilting Patchwork Applique) goal is just 3 days per week cause that's what works in her schedule most of the time. As I said in #1, it's about finding time to do something you like, not stress yourself out with another item on your to do list that's already way too long. 

3. Does it have to be sewing machine time, handwork time, machine quilting?

No. It can be any or all of the above. If I do anything that moves a project along or keeps the sewing room organized, including playing in EQ to finalize a border, designing a label, cutting scraps, pressing fabrics etc, that all counts towards my 15 minutes. If you want to do more of something, make that your focus for the goal.  

4. How to track the time/do I have a tracking sheet? 

I use an Excel spreadsheet to track my sewing time.  

 I reuse the Date/Day/Activity boxes each month. I can try to put this out on Google Docs if anyone is interested in it.  Or you can use a planner or calendar. When my computer crashed last year, I I just used a simple notebook and kept my stitching time and fabric metrics that way.  I created a tracking sheet several years ago, but I decided it didn't work for me.  

 

 It's currently set up in Publisher, but I think I can export it to PDF format. If there is enough interest, I'll try that and see if I can post it to Google Docs. 

5.  No, you don't have to track time to link up. You are welcome to link up if you just want to share what you got done during the week. There is a lot of motivation to spend some time in the sewing room if you want to link up with a particular linky party.  

That's probably more info than many of you wanted. Thank you to everyone that links up most weeks. You've all been so encouraging and motivating. Wishing everyone a very happy and productive 2024!

1. Julie in GA 2. Karen 3. maggie f 4. DonnaleeQ

5. Gretchen 6. Quilting Gail 7. Melisa- Pinker n' Punkin Quilting 8. Janice

9. Jennifer in Indy 10. Amanda

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