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Thats right… did you know you actually can make more time for sewing and quilting in your day?? No magic potions required. Just a proven strategy to add in more of what you love.

You may be thinking… ‘But I’m super busy, Christen!‘

I would be so rich if I had a dollar for every time someone told me “we all have the same 24 hours in a day!”… ugh… if you could only see my eyes rolling back in my head… because while TECHNICALLY it is true… it is so not a valid reason as to why some of us are able to accomplish everything our hearts desire and us others are left floundering around and never able to find a single moment to produce creative work.

I’m about to share 10 tips that you can start to put into practice today that will give you more sewing and quilting time.

Most of them are centered around being a busy mom, because hey… I can only teach what I know, right? But these tips work for every single busy person in this world who needs a little help juggling life and a passion for quilting!

(And as promised, NO magic wands involved… but if you happen to find one, I would *LOVE* to borrow it… just for a few hours? I do promise to give it back!)

10 Tips to make more time for sewing and quilting

Plan Out Your Calendar

I use google calendar because I like having the notifications and reminders come up on my phone. I really love paper planners but I’m helpless if I accidentally leave it at home. Use whatever you feel comfortable with.

You need a place to write everything down – Everything that is going on in your week. Every appointment. Every commitment. Everything.

You need to be able to look at your week at a glance and see what is taking up all of your time.

See if you can make any adjustments right away such as making all appointments or meetings on one day of the week instead of different days.

I really love this planner! It is one of my favorites and I always feel so much more organized and on top of things when I have this planner in use!

Write “creative time” on your calendar

That’s right. It really can be that simple.

Make a date with yourself. Write it in pen and don’t let it get tossed around like it doesn’t matter. Make the commitment.

You wouldn’t ever miss an appointment with a doctor, would you? No, because you respect that that time is important for your health. Give yourself the same respect. Your creative time is important for your mental health and happiness.

Even if you can only squeeze in 30 minutes here and there… it is absolutely worth the time spent because it will add up in the long run to making big progress towards your project goals!

Remember when you were a teenager and you had plans to go out Saturday night? Remember looking forward to it all week long?! Yes, bring back that giddy happy feeling again!

I find that it really helps me get through a particularly tough spot in the week if I know I have an hour planned to sew in the evening!

Pick Your Projects With Purpose

You may already have a list of projects that is a mile long. I know I do.

I tend to get super excited about a project and am all in. (nevermind about those other projects I have that aren’t finished yet) I buy a new pattern. then I’ll buy the fabric and I start making plans. I have tunnel vision for only that project… until something comes up and I have to take a break. Then the project has to take a backseat for a while and the initial inspiration spark dies off a little at a time.

Choose a project that speaks to your soul and has a specific purpose (even if it is just that you really want to make a turquoise quilt!)

If you have a quilt that you are making for another person, you’ll be more likely to finish it because you’ll have the motivation of seeing how much they love your beautiful quilt to help push you through the less than inspired moments.

Only work on things that bring you joy

This goes with what I said above, but it is important to point out that you’ll have a lot more fun working on things you love than forcing yourself to work on things that you don’t.

Example: I don’t like working with dull colors. Bright and happy bold colors inspire me and leave me feeling energized. If I have to make a whole quilt out of dull fabrics… I can do it, but I will find much more joy working on a quilt in my favorite fabrics.

To keep up with your project list – I created a FREE handy Quilt Planner!

Clean Out Projects That No Longer Inspire You

If you were working on something and you have lost that spark of joy for it… it is ok to let it go.

Take one more thing off of your plate and cross it off of your to-do list.

There is no sense in letting it hang around on your to-do list if you really deep down have no desire to work on it again. It is just causing you to dread it forever at that point.

Sometimes when you have both money and time invested in a project, it is hard to let it go… but it is taking up physical space and mental space at this very second. How much is that worth to you?

Make some more room for things that you really do love and are really inspired by right now!

Give up all house chores!

haha… just kidding. I wish this were a possibility. I feel like I’m really the only one who cares about the state of our home. My kids would be happy to live in a dump.

I hate laundry and I hate doing the dishes… but I know myself. If I leave those chores until “after I sew”… I can guarantee they won’t get done and I’ll be sorry tomorrow.

I’ve developed a reward system (yes, like I’m a total child). I will set a timer for 10 minutes and do a total speed clean of my dishes and kitchen, then throw a load of clothes into the washer and after the timer goes off… THEN, I SHALL SEW!

You would be surprised what you can accomplish in 10 minutes if you have something really great as a reward!

Quit saying Yes to everything

Its really hard when the opportunity for plans comes up and you want to say yes to everything.

It might be because coffee out with friends does sound really fun even though you’re already really busy. Or it might be because you don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings by saying that you can’t help out with the community project right now. Of course, you feel like you SHOULD want to babysit your grandchildren every week, right?

Let’s get one thing straight here… Saying “yes” isn’t the problem… the problem is saying ‘yes’ to everything! It leaves you overscheduled and unable to find the time for yourself that you crave.

When faced with a commitment decision as yourself:

“Would I rather do _____ or sew?” – then, you will have your answer to if you should say yes or not! 🙂

Evening Sewing Dates

I like having set nights during the week where I know I am going to be able to sew.

My kids are relatively hard sleepers and have never complained about the noise of the sewing machine. Even still… I think I could figure out a way to get all my cutting done at night or plan my next quilt etc.

My husband and I sat down and discuss our weekly evening plans. I work out what plans we have for the week regarding the kids, friends etc… then I set aside an evening for us to relax together. We like to watch movies or play a game… whatever. It changes weekly.

Then, I set aside an evening for us to work on our own individual items. He will work on whatever projects he has going on and I will work on my sewing.

No one feels left out because it is something we discussed prior and we have already made each other a priority by making sure we have other evenings scheduled. win win!

Put your phone away

Quit wasting pockets of time by checking your social media and other outlets or playing mindless games on your cell phone.

I get a lot of inspiration and ideas from looking at Pinterest and other creative blogs… but if I spend all day looking, I’ll never actually get to the point of creating! and that becomes wasted time!

Set a timer or make it a point to remember that you are the boss. You decide when enough is enough and you need to have a break from looking and start using that time to create!

The Sticky Note Bread Crumb Trail Method

Sometimes I only have 10 minutes to sit down and work on a project, but 10 minutes is better than nothing so I’ll get to work right away.

If I have to get up and leave, I jot a quick note down on a sticky note. I like to leave notes about where I left off or what I was about to do next.

Sticky notes are like a bread crumb trail for the next time I sit back down to sew. I’ll quickly remember what I was doing and be able to pick back up right away.

Stop Making Excuses as to why you “can’t”

A bit of tough love here…

You are the only one who is keeping you from being able to find more time to sew and quilt.

Ouch, right?

If you are just dying to find more time to sew and quilt and the hours in your day feel really limited… Show yourself some love, sister! It’s time that you buckle down and find the time you so desperately want!

You can do this!

For more helpful tips that give you more actionable steps that you can take today, download my free guide: A Busy Girl’s Guide to Quilting.

The easiest way to improve the craftsmanship of your quilts is to perfect your piecing. (say that 5 times fast!) If you’re not entirely happy with your piecing and you want to have Better Quilt Piecing, I’m going to share my tips with you today!

First, the difference between a total beginner quilter and an expert quilter is obviously practicing… More experience = more knowledge on how to work around the ins and outs of sewing and this issues that come up… but that doesn’t mean that you have to wait years down the road to be a better quilter!

You can start TODAY!

…Right now even!

The biggest differences between the beginners and advanced can be seen in the tiny details…

How many times have you thrown up your hands in frustration and said “ah! I don’t care if that seam doesn’t meet up perfectly. I can live with it not being perfect”? Then, instead of picking out that seam to fix the errors, you just kept moving forward, and never looked back?

Don’t be shy. I’m guilty of it too… it is ok!

In fact, I used to tell everyone “don’t look too close” when they would ooh and ahh over my latest sewing masterpiece.

How is that for confidence???

If anyone had a terrible case of sewing insecurities, it was me! I wasn’t worried things would fall apart at the seams or anything… but I didn’t want anyone inspecting my handiwork.

Too many of those quick little “oh well!” decisions and my quilt tops looked like someone gave a 13-year-old a sewing machine and some half-hearted instructions and left her to fend for herself.

It was pretty rough, let me tell you…

It was a decent attempt, but nowhere near what I had pictured in my dreams.

There was a lot that I would let slide back in those days because I didn’t want to take the time to go back and re-do it.

I’m not sure if it was laziness on my part or just sheer willpower to plow my way through thinking more practice was all I needed to get better…

It was the voice of a sweet friend that finally called me out on this vicious cycle of making something that took A LOT of time, effort and money and then not being able to be proud of my work because all I saw were flaws.

Bless this sweet woman for calling me out. When someone who knows way more than I do tells me what to do… I listen.

I’m sharing her advice with you today… You should listen too…

If you want better piecing, pick a pattern and work on your piecing until its perfect.

This “piecing project quilt” doesn’t have a time limit unless you give it one… but it will be the one that you give the title of No EXCUSES to.

I’m not going to lie and tell you it was all rainbows and unicorns. There were some frustrating moments and some lessons learned along the way… but I promise you will have better piecing and more confidence to show for it if you follow these steps!

Proper cutting is essential

You can’t expect things to work out properly if you aren’t cutting your pieces precisely. That is step #1. It is just like a recipe without any measurements. You’re never going to get the exact right outcome if you don’t start with the right pieces.

Check out this post on which rulers are my favorite and most used!

I pulled out my seam ripper more times that I want to admit.

If something isn’t right, fix it now. Don’t move on and say “oh well” or “I’ll come back to it later”. Re-do the seams that aren’t perfect and make it right.

Check and Measure Your Seams

I became obsessed with measuring my quarter inch seams for accuracy (something I wasn’t diligent with before)…

Staying consistent with your seams

Guess what? Just by mastering my quarter inch seam and being consistent…. 70% of my inaccuracies disappeared.

I was kind of shocked… no, REALLY shocked actually…

Seams began to line up without having the stretch the fabric so tight to MAKE it work.

Sew straight seams

This one takes some concentration, but it is a big one that goes with seams consistency. Here is a whole post about How to Sew Straight Seams even!

I also created a product that has helped improved my straight seams so much. Y’all, I can’t even put it into words sometimes. I’ll even pay the shipping for you anywhere in the world (Yay! FREE shipping!!) and you can find it here in my store if this is something that you struggle with. So many people have had wonderful success with the Straight Seam Guide.

Nest your seams

I know, I know… everything has to do with yous seams! But it really is completely in the tiny details of your quilts!

If you don’t know how to nest your seams, you can check out a whole post complete with a tutorial video. It will change your life.

Measure measure measure

In my old quilts… I really prided myself on being kind of a hippy quilter? (if that is a thing?) I didn’t have to measure everything… good enough was good enough and I liked being able to go with the flow and sew how I wanted to. aka, typical artist thinking she knows everything she needs to know and likes doing her own thing haha…

The problem is, I was not a hippy quilter when it came to the end of the process. I morphed into ashamed and naive quilter who wasn’t all that proud of what she had made.

And that is totally ridiculous. I’m so happy that I finally said enough is enough and I fixed it!

I had to learn to measure more than once. Check check and double check everything.

The pattern said that A + B will equal C, and darn it… I was going to have C! So I figured out how to get my As and Bs just right!

What I wish I had known all along…

Do you know all those quilts that I had made where I just assumed that I “needed more practice” as I zoomed past those little mistakes and left them in the dust? If I had just taken the time to fix them as they came up, I would have been a better quilter years ago!

I didn’t need more practice sewing (though mastering my seams was a HUGE improvement) I just needed to slow down and work on those tiny little steps one at a time.

Now, measuring and checking and precise cutting… it is all second nature behavior in my sewing adventure! I’m like a precision MACHINE!

Now, I can still make a quilt where I don’t have to measure and can let my inner hippy free spirit quilter come back out… but even she has higher standards now 😉

My quilts still have flaws

They always will… every single quilter I know still makes mistakes and is “still learning”.

I’m not a perfect quilter by any means, but I don’t hide my quilts like I used to. I love them.

Be proud of yourself at any level you are and know there is only room for improvement as you work on each quilt slowly progressing towards the next one!

I can’t wait to see how your next quilt looks after you put these steps into practice! Let me know in the comments what you think!

Sometimes I wish for the simplest things in life – like sewing a line with your sewing machine and expecting it to be straight. That shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?… wrong. – But fear not! – For today I am going to share with you my tricks to sewing straight seams!

When it doesn’t happen the way you want it to, you have to find ways to make it happen.

Sewing straight and even lines when you’re piecing a quilt or following a sewing pattern is kind of… how can I put it nicely?

Absolutely positively non-negotiable… yeah. Exactly that.

Even the slightest waver of your stitches and you’re suddenly the queen of fudging it to make things right and hoping no-one notices.

Or you just have to come to terms with the fact that this beautiful piece that you dreamed of in the planning stages just isn’t going to perfect. You either have to learn to live with it, or dramatically crumple it up and put it in the corner to collect dust until you have the patience to pull it out again.

I mean, maybe its because I am a mom and therefore I sometimes have the defiant mentality of a toddler, but I am the boss of my quilts… not the other way around. Sometimes there are tantrums too, but that’s a whole different post.

Anyways, today I am going to share with you a few different tricks to sewing straight seams so you won’t have to throw a tantrum yourself!

You’re welcome 🙂

It is worth mentioning that if your fabric cuts are not straight and even… you might as well quit reading now.

How can you judge the straightness of your seams if your fabric is all wonky?

Being able to have a clear guide for your fabric is one of the biggest keys in sewing straight lines.

Here is a fact: Your needle sews a straight line… Always.

It only goes up and down… so the real culprit in your wonky sewing lines is your fabric.

If your fabric is moving around, your lines are going to be off and not straight.

You need to find a way to tame your fabric so you can feed it into your sewing machine correctly.

I have a few helpful suggestions for you!

HOW TO SEW STRAIGHT SEAMS

The first one I’m going to share with you is an invention of my own creation because I got fed up with following the faded and almost nonexistent lines on my sewing machine.

The Straight Sewing Guide

In a quick moment of inspiration, my designer background served me well and I created this Straight Sewing Guide. I know I’m not the only one who struggles with this so I made it available to us all!

It is a vinyl sticker that you adhere to your sewing machine. It gives you longer guidelines, allowing you to keep your fabric straight while sewing.

[Notice the front, middle and back guidelines!] –Yes! I love them too!

You can grab your very own Straight Sewing Guide in my shop! Also, I am offering worldwide free shipping for my sewing friends around the globe! 🙂

WASHI-Tape Guidelines

Another trick that I used for a long time was simple line of Washi-tape.

It may not be fancy, but hey… it did its job. If you’re not yet a fan of washi-tape… it is an amazing low-tack decorative tape that is super popular in the craft circles… just… imagine the possibilities of pretty tape!

I used the washi-tape to to make my 1/4″ seam guide on my sewing machine. This gives you a guideline to keep your fabric aligned to.

Provided your cuts are accurate, your seams will also be straight.

As you can see in the image above, I had to take the tape off every single time I wanted to change out my bobbin thread, but you could just use a craft knife and make a few slits in the tape to make it easier on yourself.

Quarter Inch Machine Foot

This is a little more focused than just a straight seam, but if you’ll notice on the quarter inch foot, there is a little guide that keeps your fabric in check.

As long as your fabric stays nicely aligned with the little guide, you should have beautiful quarter inch seams!

I wrote another post on Mastering the Quarter Inch Seam. It goes into more detail about why you should and also shares some other tips for how you can really be the master of your quarter inch seams!

I hope these Tricks to Sewing Straight Seams help you master it.

Remember…

You are the boss of your quilt… not the other way around! 🙂

Happy Sewing!