I love making quilt tops,from K size to miniatures.The whole process from planning,cutting & piecing is fun,but not finishing them.Can't hand sew & my machine "quilting"is a joke :-)
So my worst problem is piling up quilt tops.Once it's done, I'm off to next one....& so it goes.
How do others handle that? What is your solution? Do you have a bad quilting habit?

I'm with you- really bad at finishing them. I go like a maniac and then get bored with the one I'm working on, especially if it's not turning out as well as I would like (like the one I'm working on now, a zillion things to match up at every stage) So......... I end up with too many tops.
The sorta good news is when I leave them for awhile my interest becomes renewed and they look better than I remembered so then I finish them!!! :D

i piece tops and let them pile up until the urge to sandwich hits.

then i sandwich until i'm sick of it.

eventually, i find myself in the mood to attempt some quilting. i work that phase until the mood passes. sometimes i get more than one out of the way, sometimes not.

when i feel like struggling with the binding, out come the quilts that are quilted.

i work on whichever stage strikes my fancy on any given day. i don't consider that to be either a bad habit or a good one. that's just the way i roll. :lol:

You can find them again? :-)


The sorta good news is when I leave them for awhile my interest becomes renewed and they look better than I remembered so then I finish them!!!

I do very simple quilting on the smaller quilts, but I must confess, that I take my bigger quilts to someone else for quilting. Then I bring them home and bind them. I know that it is cheating to do this, but I'm just not ready to quilt a large quilt.

I have about 23 UFO boxes stacked in the bedroom.
I begin the quilt and then see something else to start.
I've at least gotten smarter about it - now have large enough plastic boxes that I can put what I've done, the rest of the fabric and MOST IMPORTANT the pattern or some notes on what was intended..
This last enclosure I learned the hard way.
Have a box with all the pieces cut, extra yardage and no idea what I meant to do with it.
Every so often I consider further cutting the pieces into strips, squares and triangles and putting the yardage back into my stash. But don't, hoping a brain cell will awaken to remind me what I meant to do.

I used to think I HAD to finish one project before I could start another one - now I know better!
Like others I can get "tired" of the large ones by the time the top is done.
I hav found that if I mix some small projects in between the top making and the sandwiching/quilting of large projects I can enjoy all of the processes more.
Doll Quilt or Table Runner swaps are a great thing for the above.

Cheating???? I don't think so. Trying to quilt a large top on a small machine is very difficult (and my hands are too old for that much hand work). I wish I knew someone in my area well enough to trust my tops to them.
:oops:

Well, then, that's how all those 'quilt tops' end up in garage sales when the quilter dies and the kids don't know what to do with them.

Get busy, ladies. Get those tops quilted don't let them be wasted.

I'm sure I have many "bad" habits...but I always finish what I'm working on before starting a new project. I won't even take new stuff out of the bag for more than admiring it and wistful planning. I work in my kitchen, I don't have room for more than one project at a time. lol I'm currently working with DD at quilting her quilt...I'm not happy with the quilting, but DD is and she's done a lot of the work on this one. It's her baby, so if she's happy, so am I. I'm itching to get started on my next one though. I LOVE the fabrics and can't wait to get started!

a true statement and perfectly valid piece of advice. :-)

on the other hand, i once had the opportunity to turn a top made by a friend's grandmother into a finished quilt. it was an honor i don't expect to encounter often in my life.

we've also heard from more than one member who was inspired to start quilting because they wanted to finish an ancestor's quilt.

i don't have UFO's. i have future heirlooms and archeological treasures. (that's my story, and i'm stickin' to it. :lol: :lol: :lol: )

LOL!!! Your comment fits me exactly!!! Are you sure we aren't long lost twins??

The quilt I am working on at the moment is annoying me, yet I could not wait to start when I saw the pattern. It is for a bed size, but I have just this morning, after laying out the blocks I have finished, decided that I have done enough, so I am going to finish it as a lap quilt.
I always have more than one quilt on the go, so then I can work on whichever one I want. My most favourite part is the hand quilting, so I do get round to finishing them. My most dislike is layering them. I only have two unfinished tops, and that is because I have the need to do a bit of unpicking on them, and keep putting it off.

I like to keep several thinkgs going at one time and in different stages. That way I can work on whichever I'm in the "mood" for that day or night. Keeps me going on them and that way I'm not tired of any of them.

My bad habit is drinking coffee or tea while working on my stuff.........the HORROR stories I could tell, lol! This is a BAD habit, esp. with pets AND coffee!

I can relate!! I love to have my mug of tea close by but I have learned to keep it on a separate little table so that any accidents will cause less damage.

I don't think having too many projects going on at the same time is a bad habit. I think the variety keeps the quilter from getting bored.

Thats not cheating! Its just another way of getting things done!

DH built me a small shadowbox shelf to attach to the wall above my sewing machine. I can put my coffee/tea mug there without the threat of animals or objects knocking it over.

My bad habbit is letting my Studio get so messy that it's not inviting to go in there and quilt. I'm getting better, though.

I must admit that I have lots of UFO's. Some I just don't care for anymore, some just put aside for must do projects, babies don't stay that way for long.so I have to get those done. LOL I put a lot of work into my tops and don't want to ruin them with my lousy quilting, so it isn't cheating to take them to someone who can quilt something worthy of my piecing. I do quilt my own small projects, but my FMQ is just not very good on large projects on standard machine and SID just does not do some of them justice.

When I helped my Mom last year switch her sewing room because the long arm would only fit in the master bedroom, we counted her tops. She had over 40 that are waiting to be quilted. She did most of them by hand so that is why they would accumulate. So I am sure my sister and I will have lots to do some day. Unfortunately, she is not warming to her new machine. But we keep encouraging her.

I just need to get more time to sew. But hope to clear up some UFO soon.

I try not to collect tops. I often start smaller projects in teh middle of a large one, though, and it means my queen size quilt has been languishing for awhile, waiting for me to finish it. THIS WINTER I want to sleep under that quilt.

My grandmother has bags and bags of quilt tops, some from the 1950's, that she doesn't have the money to have professionally quilted or the physical ability to finish herself, even though she wants to (some were graduation quilts promised to grandchildren). I don't want that to happen with my quilts.

It is so easy to set them aside after finishing the top and then not getting back to it. So far, I have been able to get mine quilted as I make them or have 'attempted' them myself (which isn't always what I want since I'm not very good).

That there may be more than one of me is a scary thought hahaha :mrgreen:

:) Susan Margaret - LOL!!! In more ways than one!! :)

Many people die and all their unfinished quilts never get finished, so mine get done. No way will I spend my time and money on a quilt and not get the satisfaction of it being done. Believe me the families may send the to salvation army or the dump.
Recently at our county fair there was an absolutely gorgeous croucheted (sp) bedspread and I saw a lady having her picture taken in front of it, so I asked if she made it and she said no all these squares (about 40) were done, but never put together and I bought them at salvation army for less than $10. But in honor of the person who spent so many hours doing this I finished it for her and wanted people to se it. She had enough for 3 pillows too.

I give away almost all the quilts I make, so I usually have a specific person in mind as I'm sewing. I like to imagine them using their quilts, and that helps me get each project done.

My bad habit is that I don't have my fabrics sorted very well. I usually buy fabric for a project and then discover that there was something in my stash that would have worked just as well. I need to make myself get it all sorted and start using some of it.

I also have your bad habit. But recently I decided to just finish up everything before I start another. Well that worked partially. I did finish up a lot, but I also started one more. Down to 3 more to be quilted, not including the new top. But after that I want to make a scrappy quilt. Possibly quilt as you go, so I'll have lots of quilted squares, then I'll just have to sew them together. This is such an addicting hobby. But I love it. It keeps me sane. I think!

when it comes to quilting, it's only a bad habit if it makes you feel bad or if it interferes with the other important aspects of your life. ;-)

I agree Patrice :D:D:D

I stitch in the ditch for most of my quilts. It's easy and the quilt looks quilted. The few I have sent out to nearby machine quilters was were not at all to my liking. I sent one back to have the skipped stitches taken out and redone and was informed that skipped stitches were acceptable! Quilters that won't learn how to use their expensive quilting machines, and I do not get along.

I am also not very good at finishing the quilts. I will iff there is a deadline (well, on my timeline = deadline + 2 years. lol) So I decided to improve on my lacking machine quilting skills and just started an 8-week class at the local dealer. This week was the first session and I was absolutely flabbergasted of the things I learned JUST on straight quilting. There is hope. Until then, I will continue to add to the pile of tops and revel in the joy of making them.

As a relatively new quilter, I've pieced only two lap size quilts, the rest have been small wall hangings. I like the wall hanging size because I can find the concentration to sandwhich, quilt and bind.

I try not to start too many new projects when I have lots of unfinished ones because it makes me feel tense like I have too much piling up.

I'd really like to try my first full sized quilt, but I find it a little daunting! I'm thinking after Christmas I'll give it a try.

What's wrong with just quilt tops! I have a beautiful barrister bookcase where I display mine - folded up nicely. Tops take up less space. I know I'll finish t hem someday. If not, I have someone designated to oversee my quilts when I die.

ali

Maybe we're triplets???

My problem is quilt kits. I just can't resist them and I never get around to doing them. I guess I'm keeping them to do when I retire. :lol: :lol: :lol:

If I have a bad habit, it's finishing the top, then storing it away for "someday". But a finished top is better than a bag of scraps. Just do whatever you are in the mood for at the time. Happiness and creativity is the key, and there is no police putting restrictions and limitations.

There are no "BAD" habits in quilting, just different creative outlets!
I try, keyword is try, to finish each project as it comes along, but must admit there are some UFO's and orphans in my closet. They'll make it into something someday.
Right now my creative outlet is waiting to go on the frame for quilting.
But I've put a different machine on there, so I'll have to do some practice with that first. Quilt on !!

Why not go in there and use the LA yourself and help her finish those 40 UFO's?

I'm a new quilter and am enjoying reading this thread. My dear friend and I took a quilting course together and got together every Sunday evening to do our "homework". The class is finished, but we continue to get together most Sunday nights to work on our projects. She completely finishes something before moving on. Not me. Right now a spare bed is draped with a top and a pieced backing waiting for the mood to make the sandwich. Another project is quilted and waiting for binding - I'm saving that for our next Sunday together. Another has rail blocks done and the material for some solid blocks, borders, etc are with it waiting for the right moment to decide exactly how they're going to go together. Then there's the quilt for a grandboy that's completely cut out and waiting for sewing time. Oh - and a quilt as you go that's about 2/3 finished. I LIKE switching among these things as I tire of one. Or choosing something based on the time I have right then to work on it. Glad to know my friend is not "Right" and I'm ... gulp ... wrong! We're just different styles of quilters!