How fast do you go?
 

How quickly do you complete a quilting project?

Except for a commissioned/hired project, does it really matter?

I make complicated quilts with small pieces and work on three at a time. I sew nearly every day.
The process is what brings me joy, the idea of finishing 50 quilts a year flummoxes my brain, why not buy a blanket?

If you are talking quilted and bound sometimes none. I make double sided quilts so when I have pairs that make me happy they get finished, so some years I might get 3 (6) finished :) Obviously I haven't got a clue!

I have my speed setting on the machine a slow-ish medium, maybe that makes me a slow-ish quilter :)

I once kept track of all the time I worked on a simple lap quilt because I wanted to know. For each time segment I described what was done I included ironing, cutting, winding bobbins and sewing. It took me a little over 39 hours from start to finish.

I rarely make one quilt from start to finish. I seem to have a lot of projects going at once so I have no idea how to track it.

Each project takes the amount of time it takes... I know it can take me roughly one month of work start to finish on a queen sized quilt. Sometimes that means yes, 4 weeks at 40 hours a week for 160 hours. Other times it is less hours but still a month in time. And sometimes I might have something "in progress" for a long time without considering it a UFO.

Once I've declared it a UFO instead of a WIP, I'm usually motivated to git 'er done. I've considered my Barn Quilt project as on-going for about 2 years now. The reality is I just need to get myself to paper piece the blocks I want to paper piece, and I haven't wanted to.

I consider a top as a finished piece, just not quite a quilt yet. Since my favorite parts of the process are the 3 P's (planning, playing with fabric, piecing) it might take years before a quilt is quilted down, but it is stored together with it's backing and binding.

I never consider it a race. Some projects I really get into and piece a top over a weekend, sometimes that same top may take me 3 months. There are many variables and every project is it’s own.

Depends upon how much I like it. If I think it's just great, I get it done fast. Putting aside housework and shopping. If it turned out so so, I have lead feet when it comes to sandwiching it. Sandwiching is my roadblock. Hate it.

I would have no idea! While I'm constantly thinking, designing, sorting and gathering fabric, I really only quilt in the "winter months". Spring, summer and fall are filled with grandkids, their activities, going to the cabin, DH's garden, traveling, hunting season, and home projects, so quilting goes on the back burner. In the late fall, I switch modes, and quilt like crazy. I currently have one almost ready to be quilted, and two others in various stages of planning and cutting.

It really depends on the projects. This year I have finished 9 quilts which as kept me sewing just about everyday this year. I am taking a couple days off on the quilt I am working on because of medical test. I just can't be 2 places at one time and have been pretty exhausted by the time I got home. When life gets in the way of quilting that is a bummer but then I am right back at it asap. Yes, i can have more than one project going at time and I do right now. I hope to get at least one more finished before the end of the year. Time will tell on how that is going to go.

I am not a fast quilter. I have to be in the mood for the next task.

Butterfly quilt started in April needs the label and binding. Sea Medley quilt needs binding. A fat quarter quilt still needs some fabrics cut and stitched.

The Christmas panel needs to be layered and quilted.

No time pressures except my own.

Wait, what? You mean fabric is not like fine wine and cheese and needs to age a few years before you use it so you are assured of never getting another scrap of it if you run short? :D

OK if I take the fabric aging process out of the equation I still take a long time. Some projects really grab me and I work on them steadily from first cut to final stitch but they are really few and far between. If hard pressed with some kind of deadline I can do a simple pattern start to finish in a few months (I only have time and energy to quilt on weekends). But my preference is for more complex patterns and intricate quilting. Once I have the top pieced it also will age a while before getting loaded on the rack. Usually awaiting motivation or courage (because I have decided on a very challenging quilting design) and/or time.

Your work is - fantastic!

Glad to know I’m in the majority here about the slow quilters. I tried once (out of curiosity) to track my time on a quilt. That didn’t include shopping for the fabric because I didn’t think about tracking till it was out of the dryer and I was ironing it!

The closest estimate I could get from logging my time (ironing, cutting, piecing, ripping, redoing, playing with a layout and taking pictures of each as I went, then sandwiching and binding, was 40 hours on a quilt approximately 50x62.

Some projects could be whipped up in a weekend if all I had to do was sew, and if my personality was one-thing-at-a- time from start to finish . I only do that when there’s a deadline such as a bday, shower, or holiday or a donation collection date that I don’t want to miss .

I hang out with my quilts like they’re friends. My friends aren’t high maintenance, they don’t clamor for attention, they are happy to pick up where we left off.

I make about one quilt a month. I don't like to have UFO's so I make the whole thing from cutting, piecing, quilting to binding. I have no reason to be speedy; I can do it so I do :)

I live in Maine ans WA state-- 6 months each year. I don't carry my quilts back and forth. I hand quilt so I have a quilt on each coast. I am working on 2 quilts - a king and a queen. It will take 3 years to finish each. In summer I am outside in the gardens most of the time and only quilt on rainy days. In winter I quilt while watching football or other sports with DH. Small projects like baby quilts and wall hangings, I finish right away as I have a use for them.

Don't fuss about time -- quilting is supposed to be a pleasure -- not a chore to be finished.

On the down side -- I have half done quilt tops not finished fron 10 or 20 years ago. Time to donate to the charity quilts projects at my quilt group.

Just enjoy!!

Mim

For me most quilts take about a month with the best laid plans and no major hiccups. Sometimes, life happens and I don’t get to sew for a few weeks, but then I get right back on the bandwagon and work to get it done so I can move on to a new project. I fear UFOs and don’t want any, so I only work on one project at a time, once it’s on the Longarm and ready to quilt, then I give myself permission to start a new project or wait till I find inspiration for the next.

Being retired, quilting is one of my hobbies not a job. But I am one of those that works on a project till it is done. Just me.

It's the sandwiching that slows me down. Just sitting here thinking about finished tops, I come up with at least 10. Once I get the sandwich done, which I usually glue together, I love the FMQ process. And the gluing doesn't take that long at all. I can glue a quilt in about 15 minutes. It's the process of getting started that slows me down. I'd rather just go to the machine and start a new one!

I’m usually in my quilt room 4-6 hours a day. I have a sit down mid arm so am not dependent of someone else finishing my quilts. So start to finish is really fast. I can do a baby quilt in 3-4 days and a lap quilt in a week or so. I tend to get bored quickly so I usually have several projects going at once. Right now, I have 5 tops done, working on backing for last one now. Planning a marathon basting session, followed by some marathon FMQ’ing. Goal is to have 3 of them done in 2 weeks. My stack has to get smaller. Then its time for a massive reorganization and cleaning of my room. There is no one “right” speed for a project. Do what makes you happy!

At my convenience. I quilt for my own pleasure. I enjoy the process. I am never in a hurry or with a deadline. My mojo comes and goes and I go with it.

I am all about enjoying the process.

Never fast enough! Or more commonly, as fast as I need to. I think I may have QDS, quilt distractability syndrome. It is so easy to get distracted with a new pattern, technique or project. Then I right turn and off I go on something new. What is left behind is my current unfinished piece. I do get back to them before they turn into true UFO's. So how fast do I complete a quilting project. I can do a small quilt in a week but a couple of months is more common.

One month, I finished 9 quilts for donation to the cancer center. I was exhausted! LOL

Well, you guys won't like me much, but I have made 50 quilts so far this year. Several were quick little baby quilts, some, actually most were queen size, and many were large lap size. When I start a project I have to see it through to finish or I lose interest. This year I usually had 3 going at a time, in various stages of completion. A goodly share of my quilts are for various charities, so I don't do anything complicated. I do a lot of Jenny Doan's tutorials. I love quilting, also have my own longarm, so I can quilt them right after finishing the top. Occasionally I do a complicated quilt, but this year I have committed myself to using up stash and working on kits I have purchased when they were on sale. I use a lot of precuts which saves a lot of cutting time. I don't consider it a race, just a feeling of accomplishment, and joy in giving to those in need.

LOL! Blitzkreig in spruts. I only do charity quits and work within a bee. I don't do any of the work after the top is pieced. I usually leave a top or two laid out on my floor (my design wall) overnight to "simmer." When I wake up, I make adjustments and do two things. I web/piece the tops and I start my robot vacuum. I usually complete two or more tops per day. Any time leftover is spent piecing blocks which I usually do at night. I also do leaders and enders. Some tops are wheelchair sized but others can get really big. It just depends on what happens to the donated fabrics when they meet my stash. I don't get to quilt everyday but when I do, I am all in. I bought a Janome that only does straight stitching and has a little dial on it with a turtle on the left and a jackrabbit on the right. Yep, I'm on or close to the rabbit most times.

If I am at home and not piecing, I am cutting (and piecing) backs or bindings for the bees' completed tops. I have achieved my nirvana in the quilt production process. The need is great and I totally enjoy the parts of the process that I'm working on.

I usually go as I have time, unless like now with Christmas approaching. Trying to get 9 made. Prayers please Ha!

The thing that makes me go fast, is a deadline coming up. I have three quilt shows and two county fairs in less than 20 miles from me. Why not have something in them. Most things can get shown in all five of these places and sometimes I skip some of them for this year. Our local show is in an old two room school, so it is very small. One year we had 13 large quilts. I really try to add something to this show every year. A lot of people like this show for its "old home" feeling and we have the best food. Some come just for the food.
Our county fair displays the quilts folded up behind glass doors. I don't like that so I don't enter that one much.

It depends on the project. Some quilts marinate. I am slow. However, I can be motivated if there is a need or I promised to finish for a challenge. For example, I have a challenge due in a month. It will be done.

Some quilts take a l-o-n-g time to what I call "mature". I rarely work from commercial patterns, so it takes me a long time to figure out design, fabric, borders and then the quilting pattern...It can take years. So of course I'm working on other things at the same time.

Others are spur of the moment and I can design it, piece it and quilt it in an afternoon.

Sometimes, I get a little obsessed and I'll spend days piecing a quilt straight through and then quilting it and binding it and it's done in a week.

Or, I can spend months working on a fabric collage for a quilt and not working on anything else.

If I know I have a deadline, like a baby quilt I start way ahead of time because I don't do great with deadlines.

Watson

I don't usually make "quilt sized quilts" - mine are not generally bigger than 60x60 because they become too cumbersome to quilt on my machine.

I quilt for about 4-5 hours a day, and usually make about 3-4 a month. I start one and will finish it (except the binding). Then I pick a day and will bind about 10 of them at once!

Sometimes, weather depending, I can make 6 in a month!

I can usually do 40-50 quilts a year, and I donate all of them in late November so they have something for Christmas to hand out.