Set a Sewing Streak to Make Progress On Your Quilts

Anyone who’s made a quilt will tell you: quilting is an art and hobby that requires both patience and persistence. Quilts can take months (or years!) to go from start to finish, especially if a person has limited sewing time. One way to keep a project moving forward is to commit to making some small progress each and every day with a sewing streak! 

What Is A Sewing Streak

I first learned about the power of using streaks for motivation from Steve Kamb, founder of the Nerd Fitness empire. He talks about this both on his website and in his book, Level Up Your Life: How to Unlock Adventure and Happiness by Becoming the Hero of Your Own Story, telling the story about how a person committed to doing one simple thing (going for walk) every single day without fail and how this had powerful impact over time. I’ve also heard this referred to as the “Seinfeld Strategy,” based on a method that comedian Jerry Seinfeld supposedly used when he committed to writing one joke a day and keeping track of his completion streak.

There are a few things to keep in mind when planning your sewing streak: 

1. Decide on a concrete measurable action that you can do every single day. Be very specific with this action, so that when you ask yourself the questions “did I complete this task?” the answer is either a straight yes or no. 
2. Make sure it’s a short action that you can achieve in about 15-30 minutes. Remember, the goal is to select an action that you can do every day, regardless of your mood or energy. 
3. Track your progress each day to create a visual record of your work and success. You can do this however works best for you, but keep it simple. A checkmark on a paper calendar is just as good as using a productivity app. 
4. Never miss two in a row. Although the goal is to complete your task every day, life happens. Don’t get discouraged if you do miss a day but vow to pick up your sewing streak task the next day. Never allow two days to go by without completing your task. 

Set Up Your Own Sewing Streak

To set up your sewing streak you’ll first need to decide what counts towards meeting your daily goal. This can be as specific or as detailed as you like. If you’re feeling especially overwhelmed, choosing a more detailed goal may be helpful to ensuring you’re clear on what you need to accomplish each day. 

Here are a few examples of sewing streaks to help inspire you: 

• Broad Goals
  • Create something every day
  • Work in my sewing room 
  • Use my sewing machine every day
• Detailed Goals
  • Work for 15 minutes on my English paper-piecing project
  • Practice my machine quilting for 20 minutes
  • Piece my current work in progress for 30 minutes

Give It a Try! 

Think about how you can use the practice of setting a sewing streak to boost your own productivity in your sewing studio! Decide what your streak will be and then decide how you’re going to track it. Then, just get started and focus on one day at a time, working to complete your goal each and mark it off each and every day. 

Have you chosen what you’ll do for your first sewing streak? Share it in the comments below. 

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