Time Management Techniques

I don't claim to be an expert by any means, but I have learned a few things in my 61 years (I had a birthday Monday!). There are a few time management techniques I've learned over the years that will add up to give you extra time to spend sewing, quilting, or whatever else you might want to do.
First, develop routines that will make your life easier.
For instance, I set the tone for the day by making my bed as I get out of it. Before I get out of bed, I straighten the pillows and pull up the sheet and cover  as far as they will go. Then I get out of bed and put the decorative pillows on. (NOTE: It's a good idea to wait for any other person in your bed to get out first!) It might not work for you, but for me it gives me a boost to always have my bed made and looking good. It makes me feel "organized". 
Here are a few other things that work for me:
     Do your laundry every day or every other day in small, manageable loads instead of one humongous load once a week. Put away the clothes as soon as you get them out of the drier. Don't let them sit on the couch or bed waiting to be folded or hung up! There isn't as much to fold or hang in a small load, so it doesn't take very long. Train yourself to do this by doing it enough that it becomes a habit!
    Train your family members to take their own plates and flatware to the sink after meals, rinse them off, and put them in the dishwasher. Keep the dishwasher empty. It doesn't take long to unload it. (Time yourself some time. If it takes 5 minutes, then when you have an extra 5 minutes to waste, you can do a 5 minute chore like unloading the dishwasher!) I also learned from my mother to wash my pans and any dishes used in preparing the meal as I go along. Then I don't have a huge pile to do after supper!
    
Second, the old adage is so true "A place for everything and everything in its place." If you don't have a place for everything, you either need to find a place or get rid of something. You won't spend all that wasted time searching for things that you've misplaced if you know where to look for it. Do I follow this perfectly? Of course not, but I'm a LOT better than I was when I was younger. Sometimes you have to make a place for things or buy something to help you organize.  Here are a few ideas for storage:

Keep all your bills, tax info, insurance info, etc. in some type of file system. I use a file box and file folders. I sort the mail beside the trash can where all the junk mail goes. Then I pay the bills as I get them, mark them "paid", and file them in their folder. However you choose to deal with it, you will always know where to find those papers.

In my sewing room, I use hardware drawers to store my embroidery floss by color. I have the number and a little swatch taped to the front. This idea was from my friend Freeda (thanks, Freeda, this has been wonderful!).

 I also keep other sewing and quilting notions like packets of needles, thimbles, glue sticks, pins, etc. in larger hardware drawers. I've written on the front what each drawer holds.

 I have open tubs in my cabinet that I throw small scraps in. I put them in by color. Since I do a lot of applique, I can often use very small scraps. This method takes almost no time at all and keeps these scraps from cluttering up my room.
I posted a photo in my last post of my pantry. One of the best investments I have made for my pantry were commercial quality plastic containers with tight sealing lids. I use these for flour and sugar. When I start to run out of flour or sugar, I can just buy more and add it to the container. I can always see what I have. 

Third, I use time saving appliances to my advantage.

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 I love my coffee pot. It uses K-Cups and will brew one cup at a time. I choose the type of coffee I want (or hot tea or cocoa), pop in a K-cup, put my cup under the spout, and push a button. I have a hot cup of coffee in less than a minute. No more measuring out coffee and water, dealing with coffee grounds, and cleaning out the coffee pot. Its a small thing, but it does save me time and aggravation. (Plus, I don't have to drink the extra bold coffee that my husband likes. I can choose the type I like.)
I also make good use of a crock pot, cooking bags, and a pressure cooker. These make delicious, tender meats that you haven't had to tend to all day. More time for quilting!
You probably have ideas that help you that I haven't mentioned and may not know about. I would love for you to share them in your comments. You might have exactly the solution that some other reader needs. What do you do to stay organized and save time? 

Getting Organized

I'm really not a slob. I like things clean and orderly. Unfortunately, the last two months have been so busy I've let my sewing room get completely out of control! I found it easier to just pile things on the chair or stack boxes on the floor. Then I could close the door and forget about the mess for a while.

 I am capable of getting my "stuff" under control. This is my pantry - all neat and organized with labels and Rubbermaid containers to keep things fresh. Fortunately, my pantry is large (for a pantry).

My sewing room, on the other hand, is small (for a sewing room). Especially for someone who makes quilting a business. It is 11 1/2' x 10 1/2'.
I started by moving my business equipment into the small closet in the room. It had been stacked with tubs of scraps, which I cleaned out (saving the best ones) and non-cotton fabrics (that I moved to another closet). I kept the tubs with items I used regularly and put them on the floor under the shelves. This freed up a lot of space in the room.

I put my large cones of thread in tubs that fit on a shelf.

I also put all my fat quarters and large scraps in tubs by color. These went into my cabinets. (I found the tubs at Wal-mart for $3. I bought 6. When I decided I could use more than that, I went back. They had sold out and tubs of the same size now cost twice that.)

Things are looking better, but I still have a lot of work to do. It's hard to see, but I have little hardware drawers on top of the cabinets . Each drawer has a different color embroidery floss with a swatch and the number on the front of the drawer. Oh, and I found my good pair of scissors!!!!

When I finish completely, I'll try to post an after picture. In the meantime, I think I'll stop and have a cup of coffee. I feel like I'm getting a head start on "spring cleaning".

Our Lives Changed by a Scoundrel!

My Singer Featherweight

If you're a quilter or you sew anything on a home sewing machine, you may be surprised to know a few little facts. 
First of all, Elias Howe was not the first person to invent a sewing machine. There are patents as early as the last half of the 18th century for machines that sewed with a needle through either fabric or leather. Unfortunately, none were particularly successful and some didn't even work. That is until 1830 when a Frenchman named Thimonnier invented a successful machine for sewing caps. He was almost killed by a mob of tailors who accused him of trying to put them out of business. 


In 1834 Walter Hunt invented a successful sewing machine, but did not pursue a patent because he was afraid it might cause unemployment.


In 1846 Elias Howe patented his sewing machine. 


THEN, in 1850 another sewing machine was patented. Elias Howe sued for patent infringement and won. The "infringer" was Isaac Singer. But this was not the reason he was called a scoundrel. He was a well known actor of his day and  "dabbled" in anything that would make money. He was also a pretty good inventor. He was approached about coming up with a more "user friendly" sewing machine.He replied, "You want to do away with the only thing that keeps women quiet - their sewing!" He did it anyway, although he stepped on a few toes (those of Howe) in doing it.  His machine was too expensive to be widely accepted, so he came up with a genius plan that we still suffer from today. He devised the "installment plan". This is the little idea that made it possible for women to be able to afford to have sewing machines in their homes. And yet, this is not why I call him a scoundrel. 


Isaac Singer became very successful. In fact, he was so successful he maintained 5 households with a wife and children in each! He was also known to have knocked his "real" wife and daughter unconscious when they dared to confront him. 


I would love to see his face today when groups of quilters at workshops and classes sit with their little Singer Featherweights doing "the only thing that keeps women quiet - sewing" --- only they are NOT QUIET, but talking a blue streak! 




 

The Blocks I Won

 These are the blocks I won at my quilt guild meeting on Wednesday. They are made by other ladies in the guild.
Now I am challenged to come up with a quilt using these 9 blocks. I can add more blocks if I want. (The stockinged feet are not part of the block set!) I will post the final quilt later. (Not sure HOW much later as I am a little stumped so far about making these come together.) It is a FUN challenge. I have drawn out about 4 ideas for a Valentine's Day quilt, but I haven't even had time to cut a single piece of fabric since the holidays. My tree didn't come down until yesterday! 
So stay on the lookout in the future for the final results. Until then, have fun with your own challenges! I will try to write a real post  SOON!

Christmas on the Riverwalk

We went to the San Antonio Riverwalk last week with two of our three sons.  That night the temperatures hovered around 68 F. and the skies were clear. One terminal of the Riverwalk is a mall area. The river goes right up to the steps. Peruvian musicians have been there for years, playing their beautiful music (pan pipes and all!). This night they were playing Christmas music. In the middle of the river is a little island with a huge Christmas tree on it. 

. We could have ridden a boat along the river to see all the lights and sights, but we chose to walk. All along the cobblestone pathways, we heard carolers singing. They were sitting in small barges along the river - one held a group of school children, another a woman's group, another a men's quartet. We stopped at a steakhouse for dinner and chose to sit at a table on the river.The Riverwalk is below street level, so it feels like a separate city. We decided to walk up to street level and see more of the city. Horse drawn carriages covered with lights were drawn along the street. (We don't have snow or white Christmases, so we make up for that with lots of lights!)  And there we were at another Texas landmark, the Alamo! Most people are surprised at how small it seems.....                                            

                   
                             but it is a "huge" attraction here.
                   Merry Christmas from the Alamo! 

The Story of the Gumdrop Tree

My Uncle Ted and Aunt Floy always had a gumdrop tree at Christmas time. They lived across the alley from us and my cousin Shirley was my age, so I was at their house often. The gumdrop tree sat on a side table beside the couch in their living room. It called to me. I wanted so badly to pick off a gumdrop and pop it in my mouth. BUT, my Uncle Ted, who loved children and was very often a jokester, had told me that if I touched a gumdrop, it would disappear! I longed to touch one to see it vanish into thin air, but I knew that he would know if one was missing. I didn't want to do anything to put me on his "bad side" (if he even had one!), so I carefully skirted my way around the gumdrop tree when I was in the living room. I didn't want to accidentally touch a gumdrop, or horrors, a whole branch of them. As far as I can remember, I NEVER ate a gumdrop off that tree. 
When my boys were little, I bought one of those little plastic gumdrop trees just like my Uncle Ted had. I put it up every year. You can see that my boys are not afraid of making the gumdrops disappear and they never were. It didn't work on them. As soon as they were told, they ran over to see the magic! Oh, well. It still became a tradition. I even have a back-up gumdrop tree in case this one "bites the dust". (You could use a bare branch if you don't have a plastic tree.)

     My mother had a cookie cookbook from Betty Crocker when I was a little girl. (As soon as a reproduction came out I ran out and bought it!) I have memories of bar cookies with gumdrops from that book. I will give the recipe here. I haven't found gumdrops that aren't "spice" drops, so I don't know if that is what she used or if gumdrops were different back then! If you use spice drops, I would pick out the licorice ones and not include them! 

 Jeweled Bars
4 eggs, separated
2 1/4 cups packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup candied orange slices or gumdrops, finely cut
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Heat oven to 350 degrees (F). beat egg yolks; add sugar, water, and vanilla. Blend dry ingredients; stir into egg yolk/sugar mixture. Mix in candy pieces and nuts. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold in. Spread in well-greased 9" x 13" pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cut into bars while warm. Makes about 3 dozen bars.
  
       Until next time, have a wonderful holiday!

A UFO and my Grandmother's Fudge Recipe

I had decided to put my quilting away until after the holiday season. My calendar is way too full right now to even think about dragging out my unfinished work. BUT, I can't resist. I went into my quilting studio to clean up a little (I really need to clean a LOT), but I ran across this UFO from about 2 years ago. I had finished it to this point just before we moved into this house. I put it away temporarily and then forgot it existed! I can't resist. I still need a backing, but it might be that I could finish it in time to give it as a gift. It was intended for my oldest son. Maybe I can find snippets of time to work on it. If not, I will put it on my design wall so that it stays nice and pressed and just show him what he will be getting. 
I also have another holiday recipe for you. This is from my grandmother, the one who is 102 years old. She made this at Christmas every year. To me, this is Christmas fudge! I looked forward to it all year.

                                        See's Fudge 
Place in a large heat proof bowl:
          18 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips 
          1 pint marshmallow cream or 2 cups miniature marshmallows
          1/2 pound butter
          2 tablespoons vanilla extract
          2 cups chopped pecans or walnuts
Place in a large saucepan:
          4 1/2 cups granulated sugar
          1 2/3 cups (large can) undiluted evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk!) 
Mix sugar and milk and bring to a boil. Boil about 7 minutes on medium to low heat, stirring occasionally. Start timing when it first starts to bubble. 
Add the boiled mixture to the uncooked ingredients in the bowl and stir well. Pour into a buttered 9" x 13" pan. It will set as it cools. 
(I like to use an electric hand mixer to really beat the melting ingredients into the hot sugar/milk mixture. I feel this gives it a smoother texture.)
Variation: Here is a variation that I came up with and have used in the past:
Half the recipe and boil it only 5 minutes. Use "milk chocolate" chips in place of half the semi-sweet chocolate chips. Use almond extract in place of vanilla, but don't half the amount. Toast almond slivers and use as the nuts. Pour into a 9" x 9" pan. I called it Hershey Bar Fudge. 


                     Merry Christmas! 
                            I need to get busy now!