Five Quilting Habits
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Evaluation Time!
At the end of each year, I like to take a look back and analyze the good, bad, and ugly. Once I do this, I have a better understanding for where I need to change, improve, and what I need to let go of, if anything. Although there are so many things that fall into these categories, here are the top habits I’m going to develop in 2024.
Habit 1: Keep My Cutting Table Clear
Because my sewing room is connected to my kitchen, it is easy to just dump all kinds of stuff on my sewing table, from household paperwork such as mail to cleaning supplies and more. As you can imagine, many of these items will sit there, causing me to shuffle them around when I am ready to sew. This leads to me pushing stuff to the side to cut and create. No more! This year I will keep my cutting table clear and ready to go. I even made a sign to remind myself.
Habit 2: Finishing Projects
I know this habit is going to be tricky for me. As a content creator, I am always thinking about my next project and get so excited to start it. I have a ton of unfinished projects because of this. Two examples come to mind and the videos for these projects can be seen here and here. I need to get these finished! As a content creator, however, I also feel it is my responsibility to make sure projects are finished and posted here on my blog. This year I am not only going to finish my projects from the past, I am also going to finish the projects I start in 2024. Period. It has to happen. Pray for me.
Habit 3: Creating More Healthy Quilting Habits
There are many areas where can improve in this area, but I narrowed it down to three:
Staying Hydrated: Ohhhh, this is a big one! I am terrible at staying hydrated, especially when I am in my sewing room. I am great at the beginning of the day—I fill my water bottle and take it in with me. I just have to remember to drink it! This year is the year I will be more hydrated.
Air Quality Improvement: I was cleaning my sewing room the other day—I mean REALLY cleaning it—and noticed a ton of dust. This wasn’t the normal regular every day dust we often see in our homes. This was caked on dust that looked very different. It was sewing room dust. Do you know what I mean? This prompted me to think about how much fabric dust I must breathe in and what that could do to my overall health. I decided to get an air quality tester, so I reached out to the company AirThings , and they sent me a View Plus. I am particularly interested in the particulate matter measurement, although all of items it measures will be interesting. I am pretty sure I will need an air purifier, but we will see!
Taking Breaks: I need to be better at getting up and stretching, maybe taking a walk, getting some fresh air (again, air quality!). I tend to just push through and not take these breaks, leaving me stiff, exhausted, and grouchy by the end of the day.
Habit 4: Learn to FMQ (Free Motion Quilt) On My Domestic Machine
A few years ago I started developing this habit by practicing FMQ everyday, but for some reason, I stopped practicing. You can see the beautiful progress in this picture. I need to start practicing again. This year is the year! I am going to do it! I will make 2024 the year of learning to FMQ, or, ehhh, continue to learn, since I did learn some before. This will also help me establish my second habit of finishing projects, right? Right!
Habit 5: Further Embrace My Quilting Community
This year is the year I am going to give a lot of love and focus to my quilting community. Although I belong to a guild and am very active in it, I want to dive into the world of online classes, go to more quilting events, and continue to nurture my current quilting friends. Who’s with me?
Let me know the habits you want to implement into your quilting life. I would love to hear!
Happy Quilting,
Kris