My first week of retirement was a roaring success. I relaxed a lot, did some housework, cooked dinner a few times, and did a little sewing. In fact, I sewed more in the last three days than I think I have in probably three years, at least. It was so much fun, I’ve made a promise to myself that I will spend more time sewing, and I will try to get in a little machine time each day, even if it’s only 5-10 minutes. I mean, if we’re being honest, there are days when you just get too busy to sew, or you get into something (like cleaning out a closet) that you’d rather do than sew at that particular moment.

What? Just me? Well, ok then.

How long has it been?

It was so nice to sit down at the sewing machine and just start sewing two squares together repeatedly. I’m more than halfway through the first step of piecing the 1.5″ squares, and I hope to have that done today. My plan is to have the entire top pieced by Christmas, which I don’t think will be too much of an issue. After all, this is a fairly easy block to make.

This exercise is helping me regain confidence in my piecing skills, which I feel are seriously lacking at this point. I haven’t done a significant amount of sewing in many years, and while I kept buying sewing machines, I really didn’t need them. When I traded in the Bernina 570QE, it had less than 300,000 stitches on it. It wasn’t my favorite machine, but I definitely could have (and should have) used it a lot more than I did. Over the last three days, I have probably spent at least 8 hours in my studio actually working on this quilt, not worrying about whether or not the set up is functional.

There are two types of sewists, I think – those who find sewing to be relaxing, almost like a spa day or a therapist, and those who find it nerve wracking and tedious. I am fortunate to be someone who finds sewing to be relaxing, and I am finding that the further I distance myself from work, the more I enjoy it. When I was working, I worried that the time I was spending sewing should be spent cleaning, and when I spent all my time cleaning, I was resentful that I never felt I could relax. It’s a tough spot to be in, particularly when you put yourself there all the time. And because I was so conflicted, I never got anything done without forcing myself to do it.

To be clear, this is not ever something that Chris said to me, and he encourages me all the time to go in my studio and “play.” I just find it difficult to do that when the house is a total wreck and I feel like I have very limited time in which to do anything. But in the last week, I have found that I need to balance everything, and that should be less of an issue now that I’m not working outside the house.

I find myself thinking about sewing organically now, and I find myself in the studio just because I want to sew, not because I feel the need to clean and organize in there. I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I felt that way, but it has been a very long time. When I decided to get the studio to a place where it’s “good enough” for me to sew in, even though it’s still a mess, my entire attitude about being in there changed so much, it’s like I’m practically a different person. A different person who I like much better than the unfulfilled mess of a woman I felt like in the last year or five.

Plans & Goals

My plans for the coming week include more cleaning time, more sewing time, less sitting on the couch. The Christmas tree is up, but it still needs to be decorated, and I have a bunch of presents to wrap. I also want to start tackling some of the housework that I ignored last week. There’s a pile of mail I need to go through, and some work in the entry hall I want to do. I’ll be thrilled to start making progress, starting with finishing deep cleaning the kitchen. I think I’ve said it before, but right now, almost every flat surface in my house is piled with crap, so I’ll be working through that this week.

My housekeeping goal for this coming week is for the house to be clutter free in the common areas, and the floors clean. I want to clear out the entry of all delivered packages, and get clutter off the floor so I can set up the new robot vacuum/mop.

My quilting goal is to finish the piecing for my Spare Squares blocks, so then I can put the top together. I still have about a quarter to a third of the 1.5″ blocks left to piece, and then the 2.5″ blocks need to be pieced together. I am really hoping to have the blocks completely done, but no harm if they aren’t.

Someone told me that I shouldn’t set deadlines for anything now that I’m retired. I think that advice is ridiculous. There are deadlines throughout life, but it’s how you manage them that really matters. I’m not giving myself a deadline for the house or the quilt, but I am going to continue to set goals for what I’d like to accomplish. If I miss a goal, it isn’t like I’m going to punish myself. For me, goals are fluid, and can change based on what’s happening at any given time. But goals give me something to work toward, and that isn’t a bad thing. It may help keep me focused instead of allowing me to spiral out of control. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last four years, it’s that goals can be adjusted, and there’s no harm in doing that.

So, are you trying to finish up Christmas gifts? Working on something for yourself? What are your sewing plans for the rest of the year. Let me know in the comments!