My sewing has slowed WAY down, practically to a stand still. It wasn't really intentional, it sort of just happened and I've been wondering why. Of course hand sewing is slow, perhaps it requires a certain frame of mind or mood, but how do you keep up the momentum?


I started off making quilts quickly with my machine, then once I started doing English Paper Piecing I realised how nice the change of pace was. All types of hand sewing became my passion and the fact that projects are portable, easily picked up and put away, made them even more appealing. There are a couple of hand sewn quilts that are ongoing and obviously they are my longer term projects but that block above, for example, was started last October! And for someone that has been hand sewing every day, three months feels too long to not have even finished one block.

So why did I stop? Work is busy, a lot of sewing gets done and if I've been sewing all day I often don't want to do any hand sewing in the evening. Sometimes I am simply too tired, I would rather read a book or watch YouTube.
But it really started when I decided to listen to podcasts on my commute. I realised I was enjoying listening and wanted to concentrate. It felt nice to not sew at the same time. A nice break.
And here's the thing, I don't want to do more than one thing at a time. Life is hectic, three kids and work keeps me busy. So when I'm relaxing that is what I want to do. Shut off, zone out, take my mind of things. 
I did (nearly) #100daysofsilentsewing and that was wonderful. In fact I might try to do that again, even just for a few minutes. Every stitch counts! It's not that I want to hurry up, in fact a couple of the projects I probably haven't finished because I want to drag them out a bit longer (I'm especially thinking of you Green Tea and Sweet Beans ♡). It's not a race and I know that, but I really am missing hand sewing and all the benefits it brought me. 

There was definitely an element of overwhelm too, seeing so many beautiful hand sewn projects on social media, and how quickly people seem to finish them! I needed to take my own advice to restore my creativity, step back just a little and do some replenishing. Maybe it was just a break that was necessary.



Last weekend I did manage to prep some epp pieces during the #saturdaynightcraftalong and choosing the fabric combinations got me really excited. So the plan is to try and pick up some momentum and get back to some 'me time' hand sewing.
Having remembered the vision for my ice cream soda blocks I am motivated to finish that block above too!

It would be nice to get to a place where I have one project to work on and not move on to something else until I've finished it but I don't know that it will ever happen. I'm not sure that's my way. A mix of projects suits me but it has become a bit overwhelming. It might be nearing time to face my works in progress/unfinished objects list and gain some control (I know it needs doing!). Or just keep sewing what I fancy and taking it all slowly. Or maybe I should try to quickly finish one off my slow sewing projects.

Can you tell this post is a stream of consciousness?! There is no conclusion, I am going to go and sew now...


I will just post the picture of my Year in Colour - a fun tool created by Makelight to show the colours that you used on your Instagram in 2017. It's interesting to play about with and I intend on referring to mine for inspiration.