Great end to my first week
Well ... I didn't get any quilting week done this week as I started my new job ... but I did finish out the week in a great way ...
I had dinner tonight with 8 new friends from the Seattle Modern Quilting Guild! It was great to spend some time with other quilters ... and thanks to Sandy, Katie and Ara Jane for sharing some of their fabrics and scraps ... I look forward to being able to share in kind at the next meeting.
I'm also at a decision point ... I've been piecing and quilting with my 30-year-old Pfaff sewing machine since I started quilting last May. All along, saying that I would get a quilting machine when I started work. It happens to coincide with my birthday ... so my husband has been pushing me to go ahead and splurge. I've found the machine that I want ... JUKI TL-98Q. But before I splurge, I want to make sure that the quilting bug continues now that I'm back at work ...
So my question to you ... how do you balance working and quilting ... and do you have any other suggestions on new machines?
All the best
Lisa
I had dinner tonight with 8 new friends from the Seattle Modern Quilting Guild! It was great to spend some time with other quilters ... and thanks to Sandy, Katie and Ara Jane for sharing some of their fabrics and scraps ... I look forward to being able to share in kind at the next meeting.
I'm also at a decision point ... I've been piecing and quilting with my 30-year-old Pfaff sewing machine since I started quilting last May. All along, saying that I would get a quilting machine when I started work. It happens to coincide with my birthday ... so my husband has been pushing me to go ahead and splurge. I've found the machine that I want ... JUKI TL-98Q. But before I splurge, I want to make sure that the quilting bug continues now that I'm back at work ...
So my question to you ... how do you balance working and quilting ... and do you have any other suggestions on new machines?
All the best
Lisa
Ohhh..a new machine! Yay, I hope you get it! As far as balancing, I can't help you there since I'm a stay at home mom. Even still, I find it hard to find time to quilt with a 6 yr. old and a 21 month old. I try to do it when the big one is at school and the little one is napping. But it's never enough time!
ReplyDeleteI have a machine that is very similar to the Juki. I have the Viking MegaQuilter which is also the same as the Pfaff GrandQuiler and the Janome 1600p. I looked into the Juki as well. It's the same as the above as far as the features and the 6x9 space. BUT the Juki is 1500spm vs. the above doing 1600spm. No biggie, really. They all are the same machine for the most part! Good luck with your decision and you will LOVE a new machine!! I know I do!
That Juki (or one of the ones Jen mentions) is actually my dream machine, too, so I couldn't recommend anything else. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I have had several commitments in my life (studies, work, children, etc) I have been able to get quilts done by budgeting a block of time every day, no matter how small. If it's an hour, if it's only 15 minutes, making daily progress in small doses still yields completed quilts.
You can do it!
Thanks SO much for the thoughts and tips ladies!!!
ReplyDeleteI also find it a challenge to fit quilting into my schedule. I work anywhere from a 4-6 day week (rotating schedule), including nights and weekends. So I just fit it in where I can. I tend to be very selfish with my days off, though, and often spend a solid 6-8 hours sewing on those days. It tends to make the rest of the week more bearable.
ReplyDeleteGood luck, and that is a gorgeous machine!
hi lisa! great to spend time chatting the other night. loving your blog and all your quilts!
ReplyDeleteas for balancing work and quilting, i have just resigned myself to the fact that there may be weeks when i can sew my heart out and other weeks when i just won't have time to even look at the sewing machine. but i always have to remind myself that sewing is incredibly invigorating and even if i'm tired it still makes me super happy.
I usually only find time to quilt on the weekends, unless I've got a deadline or a retreat coming up to prepare for. But the nice thing about sewing/quilting is that it doesn't fall apart or go bad during the lulls. You can just pick it up later.
ReplyDeletei've recently set up my sewing machine on a table in our living room, as opposed to my sewing room which has a closed-door policy due to naughtycats, and this means that i can sneak in 15 or 20 minutes of sewing while my wonderful husband makes dinner, or squeeze in some piecing while he plays xbox. we're in the same room and can still talk, so it feels like we're spending time together. there are definitely days i'd rather stay home and sew than go to work, but occasionally i'll work from home and i can usually squeeze in more quilting time since i can skip the getting ready and the commute and just hang in my pjs all day!
ReplyDelete