I was in my friendly neighborhood quiltshop the other day, picking up some fabric to complete the collection for a quilt I am going to make (Homeward Bound, from McCalls Quilting a couple months ago). As I was leaving I accidently used the F-word. I said, I'm leaving to go FINISH the quilt I am working on (A very male version of Yellow Brick Road)... All of a sudden the shop got quite silent and people giggled self consciencely... I realized, some quilters might not know the definition of FINISHED. One woman hurried up and asked me not to use the F-word again. It made her feel so... uncomfortable. I accused tham all of introducing me to another pasttime that I would have multiple unfinished projects, like I needed another.

So the question is... How many projects are you juggling (or have already dropped into the black hole of your quilting closet)?

Me? I have the original queen size quilt waiting to be pinned and quilted, the practice lap quilt waiting for me to be happy with transfering quilt patterns onto it, first cuts made on a full size quilt called Dazzeler (from Southwestern Quilts, a great book), all the fabrics for Homeward Bound are washed, pressed and starched, and I am busy collecting bits and pieces for a scrap type queen sized quilt built on muslin.

So fess up, how many projects do you have going on?

tim in san jose

Now you're just gettin' plain personal! :lol:
Funny you should ask. My sister and I were just adding up our projects yesterday. I have 4 active projects right now and about 14 others in various stages. I am hoping to pull about 4 of them together and quilt them next week. Time will tell!!! :?

The next question, of course, is how many have you finished?

Lets see I'm not in to bad a shape this year seeing it just started. I mailed my sisters quilt out today,( that was a left over from 8 months ago) I hope to get my nieces quilt done by next week, baby due in Feb.

Have two baby quilt cut need to embroider the blocks (it's for a set of premi twins wanted them to be extra speical)They're doing good weight almost 3 pounds now.

One ready to quilt. One ready to piece together and 1 half cut. Not bad 6 and its' only the 12th day of the year. I might make it before Dec. if I don't get another bright idea. LOL The more going the better it keeps me busy, wouldn't have it any other way.

It's those bright ideas that get us in trouble. Now look, if I take this pattern with these fabrics, add a couple more inches of sashing between each block, two more layers of borders, this baby quilt design will look great on our queen size bed...

How many have I finished? I just started this insanity in September. Who's had time to finish anything?

tim in san jose

All of my quilt projects are done, however don't ask be about my crocheting or any of my other crafts. I also have to confess that since I have been working on remodeling a house and moving, I haven't completed or started any projects except for wallhangings. :oops:

Confession...in my mind I have about 10 quilts I want to make, some of which I've really started collecting fabric for.
I have one quilt top started which I don't plan to ever really finish. I'm getting real about it.
Other than that, I've given myself a rule. Once I've gotten to the sandwich stage with a quilt I will NOT start anything new till I've finished (ooops, I said it) all the quilting for it. I may work on other projects that had already been started, but no new ones. lol

I am not that bad at all. I only have the one that I am working on that is not finished, But I have many many more in my head........... :P Misty

Let's see - working on a wall hanging - working on a CW reproduction pp quilt - need to quilt 4 others - working on piecing 3 more. That's close to all of them.

I'm so glad I am in such good company. I have fabric set aside for two ;a pattern for another. One rag quilt half done. A denim quilt half finished . Pieces all cut for one, afew cut for one, two that need quilting.
I'm feeling a bit over whelmed,maybe I should start another.LOL.....The room I'm using is a mess, I think I need to get it straightened...well that's it . Do I get a prize?

Well add one more for me. My 8 yr old granddaughter wants a puff quilt in pink or purple. She says her old care bear quilt just doesn't go in her new grown up room. (Now that she doesn't have share a room with one of her 4 brothers) Here I thought she was still a little girl. I guess I was wrong.

I know I saw it somewhere so I guess I'll have to hunt for it. Maybe if I'm luckly I'll finish by her birthday in Oct, LOL

If that little darling wants a puff quilt in pink and purple, she is still a little girl!!

Okay, I have read this and realize this is a phenomenon well known to quilters. Some of you may not be aware there is a language that goes along with this ongoing situation.

UFO= UnFinished Objects. This catagory can include any project that has been cut out, started, in need of quilting or any form inbetween.

WIP= Work In Progress. A project that has some sort of ongoing activity will fit in here.

PIGS= Project In Grocery Sack. This is my largest catagory. I include intended projects in this group. If I purchase fabric for a specific project to be done at some point, the fabric and pattern go into a plastic sack usually provided by the quilt shop. Sometimes my PIGS also include something I have cut but not begun to actually assemble.

Boo I have seen the first two and figured them out but your pigs crack me up. What a funny board, I just love it here. Get lots of info and a few laughs in between. :lol:

Rita

1. Top done; nothing else
2. All done except binding
3. Top, backing & batting pin basted
4. Had the quilting almost done but not satisfied with my work, so I'm taking out the quilting; need to square up a few blocks; then quilt it again and bind
5. Medallion for center "done" but don't like the way it turned out. Trying to force myself to accept it as is and move on to the next step
6. Queen-size Grandmother's Garden; hand-pieced, for hand quilting. Still piecing the top. (This is the fifth time I've started this quilt. Previous four are decorating a landfill somewhere. Don't ask. LOL
7. Still printing blocks for a crib-sized
8. One blocked and drying now. Needs binding then a few more repair touches here and there. Friend's grandmother hand stitched the top but didn't get to the quilting before passing along to the big quilt shop in the sky. Hand quilted; has taken since September 06; Hoping to have done before I go to bed tomorrow night.
9. I don't count the ones in my head. There are more of those than there are voices. ;-)
I know there are more, but don't even want to think beyond this list. LOL

I'm just starting out (again) after an 8-10 year quilting hiatus.

1 wall hanging (Flip Flop Summer) 3/4 done
1 wall hanging (christmas angels) class project that will be done in 3 weeks (or it suppose to)

1 have one BOM (Block of the Month) going and I'm involved in one swap right now which at the end of the month will give me enough "charms" to start another quilt.

By summer I expect to have alot more WIP ;)

I've discovered I don't like to do bindings, so I've got a cute little pile of mini-quilts that're all complete except for the edges. I suppose if I ran marathons I'd be the one quitting 15 feet from the finish line!!! :lol: I've one wallhanging that's been in the frame since November. A table runner that's basted but hasn't decided how it wants to be quilted yet. And 12 appliqued Hawaiian patterns on 18" squares that were supposed to have magically sashed themselves into a completed quilt by now, only the right batik for the sashings hasn't jumped out at me from the stash. And nobody will let me forget the 84" Hawaiian quilt that has no echo quilting on it as of yet. Otherwise, the year is young and I'm making record time!!!

PS: To Tim who started this topic... love your writing style! You should be captured and cloned. A good quilting man is hard to find! :lol:

I've got 2 WIPS and several PIGS. But like everybody said the year is still young.

We're supposed to finish these things? Is there a time limit?

Actually I can boast of finishing all my quilts. All five, over a period of 20 years or so.

Now tell me. How do you remember what you were going to do with those UFOs and PIGS? (Leave notes, as I sometimes have done?) How is the initial enthusiasm regenerated? Where in the creative process was the project suspended? Do we drop breadcrumbs along the way? Where in the world are they put while awaiting attention?

These heavy issues burn deeply into my psyche, and I'd rather finish the dang thing than deal with "issues."

In reality, I have one WIP that's in danger of becoming a UFO if I don't get out there to my workroom right now. Then there'll be six (count 'em, SIX) quilts FINISHED.

First off, you guys (ambiguous reference to quilters of unspecified sexual specieshood) are a hoot. I know there are lots of unfinished projects out there...

So why is my first quilt still unfinished? Quilting seems to be a path, an associated linked list of various tasks, each requiring a set of skills to complete before advancing to the next. Much like Black and White Photography, Alternative Process Print Making, or Woodworking, all skills I have mastered to one extent or anothr in the past. That being stated, as you finish a task, it's a big leap to take your baby and press on to the next step for the first time. I am at that point where I have to wrestle this top, back, and fill into a pinned quilt, without inducing project wrecking pleats, tucks or worse. It's still my baby! Once there, I have already spent time with the sewing machine and .04 polyester thread doing the ditch quilting on my practice quilt. I suspect the matter of scale will be the only major issues from this point on. Maybe next week. When that's finished... stenciling a quilt pattern... freehand machine quilting... and bindings... I agree, more big steps on the road to mastring this craft.

In the meantime, I have cut all the squares for making connected triangles for my next quilt. I have sewn a couple of the faces together and done the diagonal cut... both squares are square and the correct size! Something that feels familar but advances the knowledge base a bit.

Good luck on FINISHING one or two of your projects.

tim in san jose

Wow... I know how that goes. I was telling someone when I first started that I wanted to finish what I was working on before I started another quilt. The sales girl laughed at me as though I told a funny joke.

I have relatively stuck by that. I made two very pretty rail fence lap quilts 2 years ago. One needs the binding redone, one needs to be finished machine quilted. But I lost them in a big move a year ago. So now, I only have the one I'm working on. I have plans in my head for 3 more, but I work strictly one at a time. I have 3 small children, husband, and all the household things that keep me so busy that I cannot afford more than one project at a time.

mpeters, you are obviously a young quilter. Have no fear, you have plenty of time to catch up with us and the levels of wips, ufo's and pigs. Trust us, as your children and income grows, so will your obsession. :lol: The day will come that you walk out of a quilt shop and realize the purchases you just made were strickly a compulsion. There is no holiday gift, no baby on the way that needs a quilt, no promises made, this project is just because you were drawn to the fabric or pattern. Your day is coming, and we will just smile knowingly. :D

mpeters,
I remember my days of raising three little girls and teaching school. I finally gave up and put my sewing machine away and all my other crafts. I am so impressed that you are able to find a little time for yourself. Good for you! Keep at it. and I agree with Boo. This quilting just grows on you. I retired about 7 years ago and quilting has quickly become my obsession (my grandchildren are all too far away). Have fun with those little ones.

Okay ladies (unless of course there are gentleman quilter's communicating here and therefore I apologize)....

I get the UFO's, the compulsion, the obsession. I see it with all of my friends. My friends are rather considerably older than I am, but I quilt with them and our friendship has more than blossomed it has multiplied. I understand complex quilting terms and know who the quilting police are, but what are PIGS and WIPS??

I believe I am lost in translation. :?:

Melissa
:D

Melissa, I was totally lost on the terms, too! And then Fearless Leader Boo cleared it up for me. A WIP is a Work In Progress. And PIGS are Projects In Grocery Sacks!!!

PS: There are no quilt police...pass it on!!!

I love when I get the easy questions before someone else does. :lol: WIP=Work in Progress. PIGS are Projects in Grocery Sacks. Regarding the quilt police, I would stay clear of them. I have met a few in my life, but have soon discovered that they are just critical of everything, not just quilting. My Aunt Mary (not a quilter) would have fit the quilt police profile. She came to visit once and started dusting! If truth be known, I don't think the quilt police are actually quilters. :roll:

I have to finish a project before I start a new one. As I'm finishing my current project my mind is planning the next.

I have:
3 UFOs that just need quilting.....one is actually on the frame and I'm waiting for more thread.
1 UFO that I started working on and then quit....(may get back to it)
3 WIPs but two of them are being done through a group and we are only doing so much each month.

I also LOVE the PIGS category but don't have any of those.....YET!! LOL
Gay

I am trying to get all my UFF finshed I going to be moveing so try to get all done and use up farber so wont have to move it NEVA

UNCLE!
:wink:

Okay.......I don't know where all of mine fit in these categories but, I'll do my best.

UFO's: I have at least 8 tops that need to be quilted.

WIP's: a queen size made w/all Kansas Troubles fabrics, a bed size Stars Around the Garden, a small wallhanging w/half done binding & if they count here ....... over a dozen projects that I have done one or two steps or blocks on and then put back away.

PIGS: If I only count the ones I have all the fabric for already and not the ones in my head.............at my last count I had 113. Yes, one hundred thirteen.

Talk about obsession! And the sad thing is....I added another PIG yesterday after visiting the quilt store. Then, as I was leaving the quilt shop they received the new Nancy Halvorsen Christmas line. So, I told them I would be back today to pick up that fabric for yet, another PIG!

HELP!

3 current projects --they are going to the mtns with me, maybe I can get something done on hem or horros even complete one. One cut out, one in progress--needs to be quilted, fabric for another--pink dogwood quilt, two from flea mkts that need to have the tops done. And like Patrice syas, don't count the ones in my head--No one can count that high I think--well..........maybe another quilter could LOL

OMG! so, quilting police is the same as a MIL! :lol: :D hahahaha!!!!
and when I think of the PIGS...I think Pigs In a Poke! It just comes to mind...I know ppl that call a bag a "poke"...my brain works in mysterious ways, or just works too much all together! ;)

I had to smile when I saw "Dropping the F-Word". I thought the f-word was what you say when you've cut 2 yards of your favorite fabric into 2 inch squares and then realizing it should have been 3 inch. I'm still laughing.

Uncle, aunts, cousins. Heck family tree even. I think you got everybody....it would drive me crazy to have that much unf*****ed business. YIKES!!!

That last one was for Sue. I didn't realize the thread kept going.......and going and going.

2 inch squares that should-a-been 3 inch squares are just new opportunities!

They say butchers make hamburger out of their miscuts, carpenters make sawdust out of theirs, quilters must just make alternate designs out of their miscuts! :wink:

Oh heck(or one of them "H" words)! It's coming up on three months later... and I am still working on Homeward Bound's flying geese backgrounds, the YBR is still un-basted, Dazzler has been put away till I figure out how to make the squares not look like the ground in an earthquake from 20,000 feet, and the scrap quilt... well, it's coming along slowly. On days when the head hurts from too much going on at work, I will go to my studio and just... iron. I have no idea how much fabric that quilt is going to take, so I have lots. The lap quilt I have used for learning how to use fat threads for quilting is still... unfi...shed (does that make it a U-word?).

It sure would be nice if the boss told me to go home and quilt awhile, but I am not holding my breath.

tim in san jose

I'm still a bit of a novice quilter, so my UFOs, WIPs and PIGs are pretty much under control. I tend to go for the fabric - (Oooooooo, pretty! I've been wanting to work with border stripes... how much should i get... hmmm... i guess 3 yards is good for a start... look at that gorgeous batik...etc.) - and patterns, especially from QNM. When I cut out a quilt, I generally follow through without it taking tooooo long. (clothing, now THAT'S another story)

My sewing room currently has - a bin of country color fabrics that i'm flirting with making into a log cabin or perhaps a really nifty F&P scrap quilt for myself (i've never kept a quilt - i just shiver under sheets and blankets)... assorted bits and pieces of blue fabrics and bandanas for a quilt made to fit a truck bed for camping - he doesn't care about the pattern and it'll be tied - i just need to START it!... then there's the baby quilt for my nephew who will be 2 in May (whoops....)... the candy bright and black fabrics for a jewel box quilt... the slowly burgeoning pile of rich/dark batiks that i'm falling in love with... the 20 yards of unbleached muslin destined to become a chemise and assorted muslins for clothing/costuming and practice pieces to learn how to marble... bits and pieces to make a charm quilt via English pp, which i've never done before... a bookcase of fat quarters because i'm addicted to the packs from KQ... also somewhere in there is batting scraps, two sewing machines, a serger, a desk, an ironing board and iron and a loveseat (for handsewing). Thank goodness i sleep in the tiny little bedroom of my 2-bedroom apartment and keep the "master" for sewing! There are no UFOs currently (please don't hurt me!!!) and less than half a dozen orphan blocks. No PIGs - that's what the bookcases are for! :lol: