Oh my, oh my, where is the time?

By Adriana Hook

Stitchology

It’s a busy week for creatives. There are fabric releases, quilt along launches, shipping of pre-ordered cross stitch materials from market, and new yarn trends with new designers and books from hidden artists and inspirations. Aside from a full house reorganization, my son starts his next school session as a high school freshman! Did I mention I homeschool? Where does the time go? 

What happens to time? I’ve tried paper, computer programs, and phone applications to track the use of my time. But nothing keeps up with the reality of multitasking. Many of us will go from room to room trying to get something done, along the way we pick up a dirty hoodie on the sofa, move shoes out of the way, make a mental note of something, pick something up from the floor that is a hazard, then we get to the other room and put away the paperwork. On the way back, we toss the dirty hoody in the laundry, put away the floor items, pick up something else, put it in the junk drawer, then see to that mental note. How do we track all that?

How do you time the phone call with your mother while you are sending out a client e-mail.  What about cleaning out your e-mail for the day?

Facebook is a great escape. You get to see your friends enjoying their vacations or celebrating life milestones. It seems like they have it all together. How do they find the time? The Craft Alliance recently released their 2022 survey results to give shop owners and creatives insight into how other creatives spend their time and money. 

Currently there are about 85 million “active creatives” (a person that creates at least 1 item in 12 months) in the U.S. and Canada who spent more than $35 Billion in 2022. Most quilters start 10-12 quilts a year and spend more than 6 hours a week on a quilt project. 

The quilting industry alone is expected to reach $5 billion in 2026-2027. There are currently an estimated 30 million active sewists (a slight decrease from 33 million during the pandemic years). The quilting industry continues to experience steady annual growth consistent with the growth seen over the last 10 years. There are currently 9-11 million active quilters in the U.S. and Canada. New quilters represent 8-10 percent of the quilting population.”

There are a lot of people still interested in quilting. The one thing that stood out to me was the fact that quilters spent 6 hours a week working on their quilts. Where do they find the 6 hours?  Are they better organized? Are their houses smaller? Do they have clean children? What is their secret?

I think part of it is that they love their activity and project. And no matter how busy the day is, they will find a way to add a few stitches and that adds up, allowing them to create something beautiful before too long. Not only is the time important to finish the project, but it’s also important to human mental health to disconnect from the constant house/work chores and the technology that is slowly poisoning us.

Next week, we’ll be sharing organization tips from the pros. You may find a trick or two that helps you find more time for the hobbies you love.