To assemble or not to assemble, that is the question
 

I have completed the blocks for five tops but have hit a wall. The problem is that I really, really (did I say really?) dislike the assembly process. To avoid it I have spent the last week down the rabbit hole that is my scrap bin and don’t seem inclined to climb out.

Then the thought struck me that perhaps it makes sense to store the blocks as is. I don’t have a suitable location for hanging completed tops to keep them relatively wrinkle free and I am sure most would agree that pressing completed tops is not a lot of fun, and I do not want to do it twice! It will be a lot easier to store the blocks, as they are already in containers.

Does this make sense or am I making excuses? What do you do?

I would assemble them, but not press, if the pressing is what stops you. I find that once I put stuff away, I'm unlikely to take it out again any time soon. There is always another quilt I want to make.

So, if you only find pleasure in making blocks, then make blocks. No one said you had to make quilts. The completed blocks will sell well in your estate sale.

That's just my take on the situation, though.

bkay

I think it makes a lot of sense to store the blocks as is. I also have little space to store completed tops, but they fit conveniently in stackable boxes when bagged as blocks or units, so that's what I've been doing. You can then assemble when ready to do the quilting. I'm all for spending our time doing what we want to do, as opposed to what we think we're supposed to do.

To answer this question, I need to know, why you store the completed tops instead of finishing the quilts?

I find the assembly of a top always takes longer than I expect but I do push myself through this process because I want to see what the quilt will look like. My stumbling point is converting those tops into quilts. So I totally understand your situation. I am trying to focus on completing quilts. It's hard but I'm working on it!

Well, too bad you don't live closer or I'd assemble them for you. I love seeing a quilt top come together!

Sew one block to another everyday. The sew one row to another once a week, then two rows together, then three and so on. Quit tops finished. The days are going to pass so may as well get something accomplished. In the end you have five nice quilts instead of blocks stacked up holding guilt.

I count blocks as an unfinished project, but I count tops as completed, "just not quite a quilt yet". I have a small house and space is always a consideration. I bought large clear plastic totes that I can see through to guilt me every time I step into the room, but which are out of the sunlight. I put my top, back, and binding in the box along with any notes/patterns for the quilting.

I have to look into ways to get more of my tops quilted but it is the piecing that I enjoy and since most of my projects are for donations at this point, I'm not hugely motivated to spend money to finish them. I need to get my Bernina to the shop (can do up to twin on that), and I need to look at finding a home set-up that someone would be willing to rent to me for a couple days per month. Can't afford shop rates and am looking for something a little less time structured.

I like to put blocks together into tops to see what I have. If I like it, I go on and finish it. If I don't like it, I put the unfinished top up for sale on FB, Etsy or Ebay. Unfinished quilt tops sell really well, and there's no point in forcing myself to finish something I don't like anymore.

Set a goal. Assemble one quilt top a month. My roadblock is sandwiching them together. Last year I set the goal to finish one a month and got 12 quilts done that wouldn't be finished otherwise. I think it's better to fold an assembled quilt than to store blocks. If I assemble a quilt that I don't really like, I will donate the top to something in the quilt guild and someone else finishes it.

For me, it comes down to a bad back and the reality of being able to sit for only a limited amount of time each day. Piecing is the perfect activity (sit a little, stand a little), whereas quilting and binding is sit, sit, sit, sit some more, and push a heavy quilt around (if machine quilting), which I can only do for 1/2 hour every other day. So finishing quilts happens much more slowly than creating tops, and the tops pile up. Personally, I feel no guilt about works in progress, but I am in awe of those who work on one quilt at a time from start to finished quilt! That is my ideal, but I am thankful that I'm at least able to piece consistently.