Time Spent Sewing

My book club is currently reading Four Thousand Weeks, Time Management for Mortals. Four thousand weeks is the number of weeks that we mortals can expect to live in an 80 years long life.

The book also talks about the modern concept of time as being a commodity that we “spend”, often with an eye to how we can benefit from the expenditure. But that we may be deferring the possible enjoyment of the use of time now to a future benefit.

Hmmm…how does this apply to sewing? And do we sew just so that we can eventually, some day, be sewing masters? And what then? Are we simply on a hamster wheel of spending time sewing so that we can sew better some day rather than enjoying our moment by moment use of the time? Are we focusing on the cultural demand to “be productive” when we head to the sewing room?

First, and above all, my bias is clear. ANY time spent sewing is time well “spent”. Got a few hours? A couple days with time to fill? A clear week of no outside commitments? Sewing is always a good idea. It brings me joy. I will admit that is also gives me a feeling of accomplishment, of productivity. With quilting we also feel a bit a of immortality…our creations may outlive us and bring joy to someone after we are gone.

When I started learning FMQ, I made dozens (yes, several dozens!) of easy quilts in order to move more quickly through the painful and frustratrating early phase of learning a new skill. Did I enjoy every golden moment of that process? No, I did not. But I enjoyed a whole lot of them! I learned a lot, and I now share those lessons learned with others and the benefits of those hundred or so weeks of time expenditure.

When I retired on 2015, people loved to ask, with intrepdiation, “but what will you DO with your time?” “Sew”, I replied. “But what then?” They would query? “Sew!”. Six years later, or 312 weeks in time management book lingo, I stand by that response. I have also traveled coast to coast with hubby, visited relatives and friends, taken care of grandchildren, gardened, baked, and read many hundred of books. But, like the cheese in the old children’s game, sewing stands alone as my higher calling and purpose.

I no longer sew to earn money, which I have done off and on most of my life. My weeks evaporate like a small puddle on a scorching day. Now I sew for me; I sew for the sheer joy and wonder of it. For the ability to create something wonderful, to express myself, and to share my creations with other.

The several thousands of weeks spend at a job and child raising are done. I am not seeking the love of my life, nor do I have a Bucket List of places to go and things to do. Much of my adult life was spent wishing for more time to sew! And it finally arrived.

Time ceases to exit in my sewing studio…I am timeless as I watch the thread lay down its sparkling sheen across the edge of an applique or create an FMQ motif. Do I tire of selecting fabric, perusing patterns, evaluating color combos, visiting quilt shops, shring my work with other quilters,, or sewing on that last binding? Not in the least!

Let’s also address the elephant in the room. I do not have 4,000 weeks ahead of me. At the age of 70, assuming that I will sew until I am 80, I have 520 weeks of my life ahead of me (and a number of those weeks have already galloped by). As a senior, accumulating losses of friends and relatives, celebrities of my youth and the increasing failings of my physical body, I am brilliantly aware of my limited time to spend. And that those 500 weeks might be 400, or 300. Or less. My solution? Sew more, not less!

Handing a loved one – or anyone, really- a little piece of my quilting history in the form of a table runner, a lap quilt or a lovely bed sized quilt that I spent 2 or 20 or even 40 weeks creating and seeing the look on their face never gets old.

Do I have a large pile of unfinished projects? No, I don’t. I love the feeling of a project completed. When I leave the sewing studio for the last time, there may be two or possibly three projects left undone. Stacks of fabric, yes. Idle machines and tools of the trade, yes. But my life work of sewing will be done.

Luxuriate in the time spent sewing. Revel in it. Treasure the moments, even the time spent caring for your machine, shopping for fabric, and organizing your space. It won’t come again.

Happy quilting! Lennea