Fifteen Minute Increments

The Dad, who works from home, finished up yesterday and came down to play with the kids.  I asked for 15 minutes to run up and sew a little bit.  "I could never get a project done the way you work." he told me.  "What?  I usually work in 15 minute increments."  "Exactly."

When I began really sewing (I think I just hit eieio's 2 year anniversary!), E was in nursery school and O was home with me.  It was rare to have more than 15 minutes at a time in my studio so I learned how to make it work.  Now, O is in nursery school and E is in Kindergarten and I have one full 'Studio Day' per week where they are in school until mid-afternoon and I have no other obligations.

Besides that, I still tend to work in these little spurts.  I use my evenings for fabric selection, ironing, and cutting - the parts of the process that seem to take the most amount of time. If the pieces are all prepped, I'll do some sewing, too.  I've learned, though, that I should turn off my machine at 9.  Otherwise, I get a little glassy-eyed and am more prone to make a mistake.

Last weekend, The Dad took the kids up to his parents' for overnight.  They were gone for more than 24 hours!  And I got to just sit in my studio and sew.  When they returned home Sunday at 5, I realized I hadn't even unlocked the front door and left the house since the night before!  Not necessarily very healthy, but oh so productive...