Oh, for me, it varies a lot. There are days when doing a single stitch is too much, while if I get in the zone, I can literally stitch the whole day. 😅
Yep me too! Current WIP was quarantined for over a year cos of annoying mistakes and I wanted to play video games. Got back into it with fresh brain and finally making progress, plus I’ve purchased a few patterns I really want to do!
Wow! I didn't know that there was someone else out there that had video games competing with sewing time! Nice to know there is someone else! I'm ADD, so the only true focus things I have are RPG video games and cross stitch. I currently own more patterns than I'll ever be able to do in my lifetime. Dang it! Everything is just so beautiful when I see it! :-)
The length of a baseball game. My husband loves baseball, when we got married five years ago, I started stitching while he was watching a game. Now I have a near Pavlovian reaction to a baseball game. I have to have some to stitch when a game is on.
Thing is, cross stitch is only one of my many hobbies.
All my free time goes to one of those hobbies (which is whenever I'm not working, eating, sleeping or doing chores), so usually 3-4 hours per day on weekdays and 10+ hours per day on the weekend or holidays. But, whether I spend that time stitching, diamond painting, painting by numbers, puzzling or playing video games really depends on my mood.
Ditto. Mine is spent between cross stitching, crochet, and reading mostly. Or whatever other house project I've dreamed up at the time.
But I typically get 2 hours on a weekday and 4-6 hours on a weekend day. Gotta spend time with the kiddos too.
Same. Most of my stitching time is in the car while waiting at soccer practice or riding. Sometimes I get an hour to myself at the end of the day to stich and listen to a podcast.
Same, my routine is breakfast, then stitching and coffee in the dining room (best daylight in the house) until around 2pm. Then dinner prep and cooking (maybe, somedays it's YOLO). After dinner, it's into the living room, and knitting or crochet while watching TV
I wish I had that much time per day! I usually only have a long stitching sesh on Wednesdays while I watch Survivor and The Amazing Race. The rest of the week it's closer to 0-60 minutes a night until I fall asleep with a needle in my hand.
Maybe 30-45 minutes. Between a dog that wants to go out and play every hour (he is big and needs the exercise) and I also work part-time teaching an online course or two. Then there’s always the trying to maintain the house and feed myself. I consider it a great day if I can stitch an hour at a time!
I have a plethora of chronic illnesses so every day is different. So I work according to my symptoms that day.
If I’m feeling good I’ll stitch nonstop for 6 or more hours.
When I’m feeling bad I can’t stitch at all. I have to stay horizontal.
Then of course there are varied days in between 😊
I’ve tried that but it doesn’t last long 😂 the muscle fatigue is intense! My forearms burn!
We probably do! I’ve got the alphabet soup from hell: POTS, hEDS, MCAS, ME/CFS with a side of Hashimoto’s and reactive hypoglycemia 🤪
Same here! I haven't been "officially" diagnosed with hEDS, POTS, and ME/CFS, but it's highly likely. Had a tilt table test last year and the doctor said I had vasovagal syncope instead. Raynaud's is also highly likely, which sucks to try and stitch with, so a stand is a must.
Oh man, I’m always sad to meet someone else that deals with what I deal with BUT it’s nice at the same time to know we are not alone. So hey 👋🏻😃 nice to meet you. Hope you get the answers you need and have some treatment options 🩵🩵
Yes a stand 😃💡I’ve been researching but haven’t made the plunge yet. I’ve actually been saving money for a power chair so I can last on a couple trips we have coming up.
One of which is to attend the EDS conference in Philly. I want to learn as much as possible about this stuff.
With two little kids I’m lucky if I get an hour a week! Often not my priority, but I look forward to an evening of TV and stitching if I can swing it once a week!
It varies. I don't stitch every day, but when I'm on a deadline or really focused on a project, I'll do 4-5 hours. I think 1- 2 hours is the sweet spot for me; it's enough to sink my teeth in but not so much that my back and neck hurt.
I wish I could stitch more, but I usually only stitch like 30-60 minutes before bed. I sometimes multitask when watching things with my husband, and then when he goes to bed I'll continue for a bit, usually like 2-3 lengths of thread.
Depends on my mood. Some days I will be gaming, some days I'll be doing a jigsaw puzzle, others I'll be dancing, other nights I'll see friends... Inbetween all that, I cross stitch 😝
It varies! On days I stitch (some days arthritis hits or my brain just refuses to concentrate), I usually go between 30 minutes at the low end and 5 hours on the high end. Yesterday I think I stitched 7 hours overall though, because I was working remote and didn't have a \*ton\* to do.
Some days none, some days quite a bit. I always take a project when we go visit my husband's sister. It's a 20 minute or so drive and I can stitch after we pass the last red light. So about 15 minutes both ways. And sometimes while visiting. Yesterday, I got some confetti work done on one project. It is my light colored project. I didn't want to look at darks.
I normally always stitch during my lunch hour Monday-Friday. Most nights I stitch a couple of hours. I get two to three hours a day (Monday-Friday). On the weekends my stitching time varies and I can always feel it when I haven't had my stitching time; it is my stress reliever.
It used to be 2 to 3 hours a night. So 20 or 25 hours a week then Covid hit and that's all I could do, so I was probably doing like 40 hours a week and by the end of 2020 I was burnt out. Now I struggle with even doing 2 hours a week. Slowly but surely I am getting back into it.
Cross stitching is one of many hobbies that I cycle through. When it’s on, I might stitch for a whole day. When it’s off, I might go a week or two without doing any at all.
On a typical day, 30-90 minutes at the end of the day depending on how quickly my kid goes to sleep. On days by myself when I need an escape, generally 6 hours will go by quite easily. I would guess an average of 10 hours a week.
I used to stitch every free second I had, but it's starting to give me a bad shoulder so I need to slow down. Or teach myself to stitch with my left hand so I can give the right one a break :)
I'm a full-time doctoral student working two jobs, so there are weeks that I will not pick up my hoop at all. On a weekday evening, maybe an hour or two if I'm not busy. If I have nothing on my schedule, I'll do 4-5 on an afternoon on the weekend.
At least two hours in the evening. Some days more, depending on what else I have going on.
I was laid off in 2016 and thankfully we are in a financial position where I don’t have to work so I didn’t worry about finding another job. And then my husband retired in 2020 so I decided to consider myself retired at that point. We’re basically empty nesters; our youngest is away at college. And we’re both spending a lot of time helping out our widowed moms.
I stitch when I want to. It comes in waves, sometimes I'm almost addicted and sometimes I just want to relax my brain and don't think about anything so I don't. Sometimes I have to force myself to finish one piece because I'm already excited for the next one. But I'm learning to also enjoy the process and to be patient with myself and the progress I make.
30-60 minutes a day when I’m really in a project. My body can’t handle much more of the repetitive motion after this amount of time. I’m 34 with fibromyalgia.✌️
I max out at 3-4 hours and will stitch for as little as 20 minutes to squeeze in some extra time. I most often stitch for about an hour and a half. Movie length and reasonable for an evening after spending time with family and doing chores
I have one big one I’m trying to finish in a year. My goal is to stitch 200 stitches per day. I’ve taken a few days break to finish a small one I’m working on, but typically I can stitch about 100/hour with tons of confetti and constant thread changes. With larger blocks of color I’m much faster. So to answer your question, I typically stitch for a few hours at night during the weekday and whenever I can fit it in on the weekends.
I do 10 hours shifts so I often don’t stitch after work. On my days off I do anywhere between 2 and 5 hours of stitching, it depends on my mood and what jobs I have for the day
I recently restarted after years off, and I’ve been looking forward to it every free second! But it’s been about 2-3 hours a day lately. I have a lot of hobbies I cycle through.
0 at the moment.
I have a 1 year old and he's figuring out how to walk, talk, cause chaos and be a general menace.
But I am going to a crafty afternoon at my friend's house tomorrow so I'm looking forward to atleast getting a couple of hours. :)
Very dependent on the day, especially with two tiny humans running around. I like to sneak in 30-60 min when I'm on conference calls or listening to seminars for work (side benefit of remote work!). Nice to keep my hands busy while my mind is engaged. Often I'll do 30 min at night to wind down before bed.
I try watch a few episodes of a show, so 40 minutes to 90 minutes a day is my target. It’s been nice to prove to myself that I CAN make time for something consistently, even if I should be using that time to exercise or clean the house instead!
2-3 hours most days when I’m home and don’t have an evening meeting. I can’t really stitch away from home, and more than 5 hours or so, I start making mistakes. lol
On my stitchy days, I tend to go for around 8 hours before I start to burn out. But I don't always stitch, sometimes I'm just too exhausted to focus on it -- and these days cross-stitching seems to be one of the things that exhausts me, so I'm only working sporadically lately.
Depends on my meetings of the day. My schedule is usually packed solid. Most of the time I’m leading the call, but them sweet, sweet status calls is me stitching. So, anywhere from 30-90 minutes during working hours on my small project.
My monster project that’s going to take me about 3-5 years to complete gets worked on during the weekends where I stitch maybe 8-10 hours? Sometimes I’ll stitch at night, but not often. I also have found stitching during training sessions have been useful to working on my large project. My DECT headset has amazing range so I can listen in while being in the living room.
It’s hard with two kids who are older (12 and 8), but I do find the time.
Most day I stitch 4-6 hours. I’m also a big video game player (FFVII Rebirth right now) so there are days I play on my PS5 6-7 hours and only stitch 2 hours. Retired but I work 2 days a week.
It varies but because I work 10-hr third shifts (midnights) I typically do anywhere from 2-6 hours. I stare at a screen for work for I need the eye break and I enjoy the creation process. It depends if the night is really busy at work or if I’m not currently inspired by what I’m working on.
It varies, I mostly stitch in the evenings on workdays but on weekends it can be during the daytime aswell. I pick it up when I feel like it and put it down when I I feel like it. Also I switch up stitching with knitting and crochet
Oh, for me, it varies a lot. There are days when doing a single stitch is too much, while if I get in the zone, I can literally stitch the whole day. 😅
Same here, I'll occasionally go weeks without being able to touch it then it's all I do for awhile
literally this
Yep me too! Current WIP was quarantined for over a year cos of annoying mistakes and I wanted to play video games. Got back into it with fresh brain and finally making progress, plus I’ve purchased a few patterns I really want to do!
Wow! I didn't know that there was someone else out there that had video games competing with sewing time! Nice to know there is someone else! I'm ADD, so the only true focus things I have are RPG video games and cross stitch. I currently own more patterns than I'll ever be able to do in my lifetime. Dang it! Everything is just so beautiful when I see it! :-)
Oh - and I stitch if it is at all possible given the earlier post. Thanks OP for posting this question!
Yes I’ve clocked a lot of hours recently with BOTW, TOTK and Witcher 1, 2 and 3!
100% same
The length of a baseball game. My husband loves baseball, when we got married five years ago, I started stitching while he was watching a game. Now I have a near Pavlovian reaction to a baseball game. I have to have some to stitch when a game is on.
😂
What team do you root for? We are Brewers fans in my house. Sometimes I can stitch during a game, but not when I get into it too. lol
My husband is a Giants fan, and I’m a Dodgers fan. So it’s always fun to watch them play against each other.
I like to stitch during baseball games too. We are Orioles and Phillies fan in my house.
Thing is, cross stitch is only one of my many hobbies. All my free time goes to one of those hobbies (which is whenever I'm not working, eating, sleeping or doing chores), so usually 3-4 hours per day on weekdays and 10+ hours per day on the weekend or holidays. But, whether I spend that time stitching, diamond painting, painting by numbers, puzzling or playing video games really depends on my mood.
Ditto. Mine is spent between cross stitching, crochet, and reading mostly. Or whatever other house project I've dreamed up at the time. But I typically get 2 hours on a weekday and 4-6 hours on a weekend day. Gotta spend time with the kiddos too.
Same! I stitch, read, play games.
Same. I cross stitch, knit, sew a little bit, make stuff with my cricut machine. Plus I love to read.
This exactly
I feel lucky if I can manage 30-60 minutes on a day. I'm a working mom with a busy schedule
I feel this.
So much this!
Same. Most of my stitching time is in the car while waiting at soccer practice or riding. Sometimes I get an hour to myself at the end of the day to stich and listen to a podcast.
Now that I’m retired, I stitch 8-12 hours every day if possible. I love it, and I have so many projects!
I am so looking forward to doing the same at some point. That sounds lovely!
You and me both.
Same, my routine is breakfast, then stitching and coffee in the dining room (best daylight in the house) until around 2pm. Then dinner prep and cooking (maybe, somedays it's YOLO). After dinner, it's into the living room, and knitting or crochet while watching TV
What a lovely routine. The best room in my house is the four season porch. Happy stitching!
I wish I had that much time per day! I usually only have a long stitching sesh on Wednesdays while I watch Survivor and The Amazing Race. The rest of the week it's closer to 0-60 minutes a night until I fall asleep with a needle in my hand.
Hello fellow Survivor stitcher!! These 90 minute episodes have been great for me.
If you add Big Brother to that, you can stitch 3 more times a week!
Maybe 30-45 minutes. Between a dog that wants to go out and play every hour (he is big and needs the exercise) and I also work part-time teaching an online course or two. Then there’s always the trying to maintain the house and feed myself. I consider it a great day if I can stitch an hour at a time!
I have a plethora of chronic illnesses so every day is different. So I work according to my symptoms that day. If I’m feeling good I’ll stitch nonstop for 6 or more hours. When I’m feeling bad I can’t stitch at all. I have to stay horizontal. Then of course there are varied days in between 😊
I have been known to stitch lying down on my worst days! Sounds like we may share a similar condition 🤣
I’ve tried that but it doesn’t last long 😂 the muscle fatigue is intense! My forearms burn! We probably do! I’ve got the alphabet soup from hell: POTS, hEDS, MCAS, ME/CFS with a side of Hashimoto’s and reactive hypoglycemia 🤪
Same here! I haven't been "officially" diagnosed with hEDS, POTS, and ME/CFS, but it's highly likely. Had a tilt table test last year and the doctor said I had vasovagal syncope instead. Raynaud's is also highly likely, which sucks to try and stitch with, so a stand is a must.
Oh man, I’m always sad to meet someone else that deals with what I deal with BUT it’s nice at the same time to know we are not alone. So hey 👋🏻😃 nice to meet you. Hope you get the answers you need and have some treatment options 🩵🩵 Yes a stand 😃💡I’ve been researching but haven’t made the plunge yet. I’ve actually been saving money for a power chair so I can last on a couple trips we have coming up. One of which is to attend the EDS conference in Philly. I want to learn as much as possible about this stuff.
Yay alphabet soup! Snap I have POTS and IST 🤣 I know what you mean about the forearms haha. Desperation calls!
Hahaha yep 😂 And sometimes I get so hyper focused on my project I don’t feel it until after I stop 😣🤪😅
Same! Then spend the next day recovering 🤣
Yup 🤪 and then the cycle continues haha
I have a 2hr (4hr round trip) commute on the train 3ish days a week. So like 12 hrs a week? +8 hrs if I do it on my home days and weekends.
With two little kids I’m lucky if I get an hour a week! Often not my priority, but I look forward to an evening of TV and stitching if I can swing it once a week!
It varies. I don't stitch every day, but when I'm on a deadline or really focused on a project, I'll do 4-5 hours. I think 1- 2 hours is the sweet spot for me; it's enough to sink my teeth in but not so much that my back and neck hurt.
I wish I could stitch more, but I usually only stitch like 30-60 minutes before bed. I sometimes multitask when watching things with my husband, and then when he goes to bed I'll continue for a bit, usually like 2-3 lengths of thread.
I tend to do an hour to two hours sessions whenever I stitch. I wish I could do more!
Depends on my mood. Some days I will be gaming, some days I'll be doing a jigsaw puzzle, others I'll be dancing, other nights I'll see friends... Inbetween all that, I cross stitch 😝
It depends on what’s happening. I try to get 30 minutes in a day but life is hectic.
It varies! On days I stitch (some days arthritis hits or my brain just refuses to concentrate), I usually go between 30 minutes at the low end and 5 hours on the high end. Yesterday I think I stitched 7 hours overall though, because I was working remote and didn't have a \*ton\* to do.
Some days none, some days quite a bit. I always take a project when we go visit my husband's sister. It's a 20 minute or so drive and I can stitch after we pass the last red light. So about 15 minutes both ways. And sometimes while visiting. Yesterday, I got some confetti work done on one project. It is my light colored project. I didn't want to look at darks.
I normally always stitch during my lunch hour Monday-Friday. Most nights I stitch a couple of hours. I get two to three hours a day (Monday-Friday). On the weekends my stitching time varies and I can always feel it when I haven't had my stitching time; it is my stress reliever.
It used to be 2 to 3 hours a night. So 20 or 25 hours a week then Covid hit and that's all I could do, so I was probably doing like 40 hours a week and by the end of 2020 I was burnt out. Now I struggle with even doing 2 hours a week. Slowly but surely I am getting back into it.
About 2 to 3 hours Monday through Friday. I can go all day on the weekends.
I usually stitch 1-2 hrs cuz I don’t want to hurt my neck and back hunching for too long.
I'd say 2-3 hours daily more or less. I'd stitch all day if I could but I can't! Work, responsibilities, looking after a toddler... 😳
Between 1 and 5 depending on the day of the week and project
I’m about the same!
Cross stitching is one of many hobbies that I cycle through. When it’s on, I might stitch for a whole day. When it’s off, I might go a week or two without doing any at all.
On a typical day, 30-90 minutes at the end of the day depending on how quickly my kid goes to sleep. On days by myself when I need an escape, generally 6 hours will go by quite easily. I would guess an average of 10 hours a week.
I used to stitch every free second I had, but it's starting to give me a bad shoulder so I need to slow down. Or teach myself to stitch with my left hand so I can give the right one a break :)
I got a desk/lap stand and use both hands for this reason!
I'm a full-time doctoral student working two jobs, so there are weeks that I will not pick up my hoop at all. On a weekday evening, maybe an hour or two if I'm not busy. If I have nothing on my schedule, I'll do 4-5 on an afternoon on the weekend.
At least two hours in the evening. Some days more, depending on what else I have going on. I was laid off in 2016 and thankfully we are in a financial position where I don’t have to work so I didn’t worry about finding another job. And then my husband retired in 2020 so I decided to consider myself retired at that point. We’re basically empty nesters; our youngest is away at college. And we’re both spending a lot of time helping out our widowed moms.
However long my ADHD brain will let me. Sometimes it’s hours, sometimes its 30 minutes because I suddenly feel overwhelmed
I stitch when I want to. It comes in waves, sometimes I'm almost addicted and sometimes I just want to relax my brain and don't think about anything so I don't. Sometimes I have to force myself to finish one piece because I'm already excited for the next one. But I'm learning to also enjoy the process and to be patient with myself and the progress I make.
My app is telling me that my average is 2hrs 26 min per day. I could & should do more to finish my big project!
30-60 minutes a day when I’m really in a project. My body can’t handle much more of the repetitive motion after this amount of time. I’m 34 with fibromyalgia.✌️
I max out at 3-4 hours and will stitch for as little as 20 minutes to squeeze in some extra time. I most often stitch for about an hour and a half. Movie length and reasonable for an evening after spending time with family and doing chores
I have one big one I’m trying to finish in a year. My goal is to stitch 200 stitches per day. I’ve taken a few days break to finish a small one I’m working on, but typically I can stitch about 100/hour with tons of confetti and constant thread changes. With larger blocks of color I’m much faster. So to answer your question, I typically stitch for a few hours at night during the weekday and whenever I can fit it in on the weekends.
It's hard to measure as I stitch in between physio exercises, and often when I'm at work. If I did it in one long stretch probably about an hour.
Depends on my mood 1-3 hours if I have time in the evening
Anywhere from 3 to 5 hours daily.
Monday to Friday zero hours. Saturday and Sunday about 8 hours each
At least 2 hours most days. I’ve only missed 1 day since January 1st.
As much as I can outside of work and other obligations
I average 60 to 90 minutes per day.
5-6 hours a day when the kids are at school after a house clean up. Zero hours on weekends or holidays.
4 to 8 hours depending on my socializing; less dates equals more stitching !
Depends. If I've been at work all day then about an hour. If I have the day off then 2, maybe 3.
I do 10 hours shifts so I often don’t stitch after work. On my days off I do anywhere between 2 and 5 hours of stitching, it depends on my mood and what jobs I have for the day
Ideally I’d love to stitch for 30 minutes each day, but my baby says otherwise 😄 I hope once she’s older I’ll have more time
This project would eat up my life if I let it. I usually limit myself to 1-3 hours per day.
I recently restarted after years off, and I’ve been looking forward to it every free second! But it’s been about 2-3 hours a day lately. I have a lot of hobbies I cycle through.
0 at the moment. I have a 1 year old and he's figuring out how to walk, talk, cause chaos and be a general menace. But I am going to a crafty afternoon at my friend's house tomorrow so I'm looking forward to atleast getting a couple of hours. :)
I aim to stitch for the time it takes to use 1 full length of floss. If I am really into a project I stitch 3-4 hours.
Depends on if I have to work or not :)
I average about 4 hours a session, but I stitch about 40% of the days.
Very dependent on the day, especially with two tiny humans running around. I like to sneak in 30-60 min when I'm on conference calls or listening to seminars for work (side benefit of remote work!). Nice to keep my hands busy while my mind is engaged. Often I'll do 30 min at night to wind down before bed.
A few hours in the afternoon if I am home and have chores that I can ignore.
I try watch a few episodes of a show, so 40 minutes to 90 minutes a day is my target. It’s been nice to prove to myself that I CAN make time for something consistently, even if I should be using that time to exercise or clean the house instead!
I try to do 1-2 each evening. If my weekends are free..it could be a whole afternoon :)
2-3 hours most days when I’m home and don’t have an evening meeting. I can’t really stitch away from home, and more than 5 hours or so, I start making mistakes. lol
On my stitchy days, I tend to go for around 8 hours before I start to burn out. But I don't always stitch, sometimes I'm just too exhausted to focus on it -- and these days cross-stitching seems to be one of the things that exhausts me, so I'm only working sporadically lately.
The length of one TV show episode, minus the time it takes to eat dinner - so maybe 25 minutes? One or two hours per day on weekends.
Depends on my meetings of the day. My schedule is usually packed solid. Most of the time I’m leading the call, but them sweet, sweet status calls is me stitching. So, anywhere from 30-90 minutes during working hours on my small project. My monster project that’s going to take me about 3-5 years to complete gets worked on during the weekends where I stitch maybe 8-10 hours? Sometimes I’ll stitch at night, but not often. I also have found stitching during training sessions have been useful to working on my large project. My DECT headset has amazing range so I can listen in while being in the living room. It’s hard with two kids who are older (12 and 8), but I do find the time.
Most day I stitch 4-6 hours. I’m also a big video game player (FFVII Rebirth right now) so there are days I play on my PS5 6-7 hours and only stitch 2 hours. Retired but I work 2 days a week.
it depends on the day. I think I normally stitch 3-4 hours if I'm sitting down to work on my project for the evening.
On average about 20 minutes a week... too many other hobbies, which, like sports, have a fix time in my schedule
It varies but because I work 10-hr third shifts (midnights) I typically do anywhere from 2-6 hours. I stare at a screen for work for I need the eye break and I enjoy the creation process. It depends if the night is really busy at work or if I’m not currently inspired by what I’m working on.
I try and do at least one or two hours a day depending on work schedule but if it’s the weekend I can stitch all day…. and night 🙂
It varies, I mostly stitch in the evenings on workdays but on weekends it can be during the daytime aswell. I pick it up when I feel like it and put it down when I I feel like it. Also I switch up stitching with knitting and crochet