Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Oh, how I wish I didn't have a day job.

I'm a technical writer with the blessing of working from home. My typical day starts between 7 and 7:30 when my three-year-old comes in and wakes me up. Then it's downstairs to start work. Shortly after, my almost-two-year-old wakes up. Then it's quick breakfasts for everyone and I'm back to work. The little ones play and I work. And work. And work. I wish I could quilt instead.

My sewing/creative time lately has been full of working on Freebird Picnic. It's taking me longer to get it done than I like. I finished the free-motion quilting the other day, but it was a very frustrating experience as the tension on the back kept getting screwed up and I had to unpick it at least ten times. I still need to attach the label and then quilt the border and bind the quilt. I'm hoping to work on it tonight and tomorrow, with plenty of time to finish it by Sunday.

As I work full-time, I only get to quilt in the evenings after the kids are in bed (in between taking my three-year-old back to his room twenty times each night). If I try to sew after work while the kids are still awake, my littlest one just wants to climb on my lap. There are so many projects that I want to work on, and I often get inpatient and start new projects before the in-progress quilts are complete. My want-to-make-one-day list is WAY too long and I've struggled with the need to prioritize what gets done.

Oh, how I wish I had endless amounts of time to spend doing the things I want to do instead of the things I have to do. I know I'm dreaming, but doesn't it sound wonderful not having so many responsibilities, and instead having an unlimited amount of time to quilt?

4 comments:

Megan said...

Brooke - I feel the same way sometimes, and I don't even have kids! I'll look at my list of projects that I've started or the list of projects I'd like to complete, and then sometimes I'll doodle around during meetings (ssshhh! don't tell!) and come up with other ideas. And the only place I want to be is in front of my sewing machine. I know that having the full-time job is one of the main things that allows me to indulge my hobby, but it's awfully hard to appreciate that when sewing seems like so much more fun than spreadsheets of statistics. So, no worries - I'm sure you'll figure out something that works for both you and your family. In the meantime, I can't wait to see the Freebird Picnic!

Christy said...

Ditto! Ditto! Ditto! I couldn't feel more the same (well, minus the kids...do dogs count?)

This job thing just gets in the way of fun! I keep thinking of ways to turn my play into pay...but then I worry that it'll take all the fun out of my play.

Megilon said...

I feel the same way! I work from 9-6 and by the time we have dinner and clean-up it is 8. I wish I had more time to spend on projects than just squeezing them in on the weekends and in the evenings. But such is life...maybe some day we will get paid to be quilters.

Kati said...

I feel lucky because I do have quite a bit of time to quilt while my kiddos nap as well as after they head to bed, and I still find myself wishing for more time to do my projects. I always have guilt though when I spend my time quilting when there are always a million other things to do. I think it's hard to find a balance between what we all really want to do and what we have to do.

I'm really so impressed by what you get done while working as well.

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