You can’t pick up a magazine lately without reading an article about the science of sleep and all it can do for us. After decades of the lack of sleep being some sort of ridiculous badge of honor we are rounding back to acknowledging that the human body needs sleep and for most of us that is 8 hours.
Yes there is the rare bird who needs less but for the most part those people have just gotten used to how life feels with not enough sleep and have learned to deal with it. It does not mean they are working at peak performance in their daily lives. In fact sleep deprivation has the same negative effect on people as a blood alcohol level of .05 percent ( which for those interested is the level to be legally drunk in Europe)
Don’t shoot the messenger! I know some people have serious sleep issues and for them I am sorry, being tired sucks and I totally encourage you to explore your options and the concepts of sleep hygiene.
I personally just came off of a serious streak of NOT ENOUGH SLEEP where it not only impacted my mood but my ability to function ( sew something wrong 4 times in a row anyone?) as well as my emotional state (it is possible to cry over not have any peanut butter it seems)
A lack of sleep has so many profound effects that one could type for days and miss their nap trying to get it all down on paper!
The VERY short list includes:
- Heart Issues
- weight gain
- poor testing performance
- impaired decision making at work
- negative effects of personal relationships and even impacts on marriage!
And I will add~
Lack of sleep makes for crappy quilting. Yes, possibly not the most important thing on the list but there it is nonetheless! A week of lost sleep had a profound effect on my ability to sew well. Hell I could not even think, it was crazy feeling.
It is not that I don’t get it. We love to sew and quilt and our days are busy so robbing Peter to pay Paul means that we steal our sewing time from the sandman. Which when done very occasionally can be ok, but done on a consistent basis tends to disrupt other parts of our lives in unpleasant ways. I know that personally I make way more mistakes both mis-stitching and mis-cutting when tired than I do any other time. This wasted time and material makes be grumpy and yet the societal drive to do more faster lives in the quilt world just as much as it does in the wider world.
Just checking out the front covers of a bevy of quilt magazines finds the following calls-to-action:
- Quilt in a DAY!
- Easy Weekend Quilts
- Sew-Fast Projects for the busy Quilter
Might I suggest it would be ok for us to slow down a bit and look at the concept of creating slower but perhaps even better quilts? Doing less and finding a slower type of enjoyment in making the things we love without the hurry-hurry pressure that seems to have taken over the industry. This idea of slower but better means that you can afford quilt-store quailty fabric since you are buying less. You can take the time to do complex blocks since you give yourself a nice long while to get a quilt done. You can enjoy the company of friends without it being a frenetic rush of who gets the most done.
Not an idea that everyone is going to embrace I know but for me it means more sleep, a nicer Maddie and better made quilts, so in my life I consider that a win.
If the idea of more sleep and slower stitching intrigues you take some time to check out the Slow Stitching Movement
and if you are looking to go even further I am currently grooving on the book-
Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less <—click
and the website –
The Minimalists – A Great Website <—- click
Tell me… what are you thinking about your time when it comes to quilting?
