5 Things I Did This Year To Make My Quilting Life Easier
Posted on December 26, 2025 by prairiemoonquilts in Inspiration, Lists, Organizing, Quilting For HireAs you probably know if you’ve hung around here at all, I’m continually trying to get organized. And it’s my firm belief that organizing is an ongoing thing that is never really finished, especially if you’re creating wonderful things.
This past year, I applied that to not only my STUFF, but tried to apply it to my life as well. Just as having an organized work space leads to better productivity and leaves room in your head for more creative thinking, likewise, having a routine, being able to batch certain tasks together, or being free to drop things when you need to help out family or friends, all help alleviate stress and make life go a bit more smoothly.
And as I get older, I’m all about things going more smoothly — haha!
So here are five things I did this year to help make things go a bit smoother in my quilting life (which, in turn, makes the rest of my life less stressful):
ONE
Traded in my old longarm machine for a brand new one
While this was not a decision made lightly (or inexpensively), and I did dwell on it for a looooong time, my ultimate reasoning came down to seriously taking the stress out of the one thing I spend the most time doing. As Ivy kept getting older and developing more and more little quirks, I just kept adapting myself, instead of Ivy, and working around all the little annoyances. One day, I realized just how many little quirks I was adapting around, and sat myself down and said: “She’s a machine. She’s supposed to do what you tell her to. That’s what she’s built for. And you’re letting HER boss you around by ignoring her finicky ways.” She was 21 years old, and had been with me for 15 of those years. She was very good to me and did a lot of work for me, but there were features on newer machines that I thought I might like to have, in order to make my quilting life go more smoothly. And a new machine wouldn’t have quirks I’d have to work around (at least not until it has some age on it like Ivy).
So I bought an INNOVA M24, and immediately, standing at the machine became fun again. I had gotten to the point where I dreaded turning on the machine because I had to fiddle with so many little things just to get going. Now, I can walk in, turn on the machine (with a remote control, no less!), and start quilting. No quirks. No stress. Hopefully, none will ever show up, at least not for a very long time! The time savings, plus the new features, have made me way more productive.
TWO
Cleaned up my quilting schedule
Scheduling customer quilts has been a struggle for me from Day 1. I always underestimate the time it will take me to do something, and the amount of interruptions I’m bound to get. I worked very hard this year to get caught up on the backlog of customer quilts, so I can start out 2026 with a much more organized and realistic schedule for completing them. So much stress gone! If you quilt for hire (or only for yourself), I highly recommend getting a handle on this sooner rather than later. Why it took me fifteen years, I don’t know. Maybe my procrastination tendencies?
If you’re interested, you can see how I’m doing my schedule HERE.
THREE
Got rid of fabric I know I’ll never use
I went through all my fabric as I moved it into my new studio. As I sorted and put it all away, I asked myself if it was something I would ever use. If it’s been in my bins for years, but it’s never the piece I reach for when working on any project, does that mean I’ll never use it? Probably. I filled boxes with pieces like that and gave it away. I also know that I’m over my “homespun phase”, so I gathered it all up, used some to complete a couple projects, then gave the rest away. I never use batiks, so I was able to weed those out as I went. I also realized that I rarely use novelty prints, so I donated those to a friend who makes a lot of Project Linus quilts. I haven’t missed a single piece of it! And if I ever do, I’ll keep in mind what My Cowboy always says: “They make more every day!”
I’m down to one giant box of scraps left to go through, and giving about half of it away as I sort it. And I hope to be done with it soon, and have all my fabric right where I want it. Then the next goal will be to use up enough of what I have left that I end up with some empty shelves that I can use to store other things on. I’ve pieced a LOT of backings out of my big yardage collection this year, and while it’s taking time to make a dent, I can actually tell that a dent is being made, so I’ll continue on.
FOUR
Downsized some projects and gave up on some others
I’ve had to tell myself over and over again: Not every quilt needs to be queen- or king-sized! I start out all excited, thinking I’ll make a large quilt, then get going and have to push it aside; and when I come back to it, it just seems overwhelming. So I’ve downsized a lot of my scrap quilts to not be so large, which means I won’t need to make as many blocks to get them finished. I also concentrated on finishing some that were so close to done, it made no sense to not finish them up quickly. (Why do I always get stymied at borders?)
Other projects, I decided I have no intention of finishing at all. So the unused fabric got sorted back into the stash, any unused blocks went into the orphan block bag, and several projects got checked off the list easily! It’s OK to let go of a project you no longer love and want to work on. Life’s too short to waste it making things you don’t want to, when you could use that time making something you really love!
FIVE
Shifted my focus
At a young age, I started working in a job where I would have to be focused on a project, but if the phone rang, it was a higher priority, so I would get interrupted from the project, take the call, then have to regroup on the project after the call, and do this on repeat, 8 hours a day, ad nauseam. It taught me how to interrupt myself, even when there wasn’t a ringing phone around. And I learned this lesson very well over the 20 years I did it. And it’s been a HUGE struggle to un-learn it.
My mind works way faster than my hands, so while standing at the longarm, I’ll think of something else I could do, and just walk away! It might be an hour or more before I remember that I’m supposed to be quilting — uff! So I learned to make games out of the tasks to keep myself on track. I use a timer, a clock, songs on the radio, Random Number Generator, other techniques like the Pomodoro technique, and little rewards, all to keep myself focused on sticking with something for a longer period, and not letting myself walk away and get distracted. I also keep a notepad and pen handy so I can write down whatever it is I interrupt myself with so I can reassure myself that I won’t forget about it later (this has been a huge help).
Granted, there are real interruptions, such as looking up and seeing goats outside the studio where they’re not supposed to be, or a horse in the driveway! Or important phone calls, or knocks at the door, or a certain Cowboy who needs help with something.
But I’m slowly doing better. Every morning, I choose the three main things I want to or have to get done that day, and concentrate on those before I let myself worry too much about anything else. I don’t always get them all done, and some are meant to take more than a day or two, but it’s one more game I can play to see if I can get them all checked off the list!
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So I tried to work on myself this past year, and I have a lot of plans for next year as well. More simplifying, more organizing, more ways to keep stress out of my life, especially my quilting life — quilting is supposed to be fun! Even if it is your job.
And if it really IS your job, there’s a lot more information in my book, Quilting for Hire, about choosing a longarm machine, starting your business, deciding what kind of work you’ll do, scheduling, pricing, staying motivated, and much more. You can find the book HERE.
I still get distracted easily, I’m still prone to procrastination and fits of laziness, I still fall down rabbit holes and chase random squirrels, but just like organizing, I think I’ll always be a work in progress! I can’t be the only one, right?
And to help us all get off to a great start in 2026, remember — The Final Countdown starts Monday! I hope you’ll join us.
Good for you!!! Have a wonderful 2026!
Spent Christmas Eve with granddaughters( soon to be 11 and 13 1/2). I was shocked with how organized my daughter is ( husband’s trait) how messy their rooms were …after cleaning them! I explained the 10 min every day to them. I’ve preached that to my kids for years. Do I do it? Not consistently. I will take a few of your suggestions ( thank you) and work towards a more organized, less stress, more productive sewing time this year. Always appreciate your insight!
Love 3, 4 and 5. Don’t own a long arm so 1 and 2 don’t count for me, lol
You are my inspiration… I remember driving into my driveway after a long day of work and seeing the goats loose!!!!
Going to try the Pomodoro Technique and see if that works for me. Thanks for the suggestion.
I am pretty much organized. After quilting a quilt with its binding done I then process the scraps. This year I made 18 quilts with scraps and finished all the left over fabric and batting. One I am taking this week off. January 1st, I will start next Christmas quilts with all my organized scraps. My stash of fabric is starting to go down. I have not bought fabric for three years, but I think this year will have to buy backings. I even have made after quilts ( Karen Brown, just get it done ) for many backings. Keep up your great quilting. Love to read your posts!!
Woo-hoo, good for you! Those are great accomplishments for your year. Thank you for sharing them. I have definitely done your Item 4 and am working my way through Item 3. There are just some fabrics that I’ll never use. I need to focus on your Item 5 this next year. Stay on task and get done more of what I want to get done!!! Thank you for sharing!
I need to work on creating a schedule and sticking to it. I also need to do an update on my UFOS and see what I need to do on each project for them to finish up. Some of them are getting some age on them and I need to deal with them. Storage and organizing has always been an issue for me but I have been accumulating storage bins for the past few months. Here’s hoping 2026 is more productive and less eventful than 2025!
You Rock! I wish you a joyful new year.
I tackled #3 this year and can now fit all my fabrics in my studio.
My goal for 2026 is to try to bring my FMQ up to the standard of my ruler work which will be quite a challenge given my perfectionism. I tend to use my computerized system as a crutch. I want to be Shelly when I grow up…minus the goats! 🙂
Read about the Pomodoro technique. Sort of use that, but not as structured–as it applies to genealogy and quilting hobbies. Thanks for offering the link to that.
Wish I had goats in the driveway!!! Do watch the deer, however. They have been plentiful, especially around the apple trees. Happy New Year!
I really need to go through my fabric, maybe Ill get to that this year.!!! ha ha,ha
Sounds like you’ve made really good progress Shelly! I’ve done 1,3 and 4 in the past but need a refresh on 3 and 4. 😂. Thanks for pointing out the Pomodoro method. I’m going to see if I can use that to help with my procrastination problem. May have trouble with the break…I can check on something else and lose 4 hours. Definitely need a timer and some rules of what I can and cannot do on a break. The best thing I did this year is to keep a focus list each month of what I was wanting most to move forward. Kept me from starting too many new projects and being more intentional. Got several UFOs to the quilting Que.
Looking forward to TFC!
You are doing great! Thank you for sharing. Fabric clean outs are so…refreshing!