Last 5 Quilts Ever...
 

I was working on some blocks that my grandmother made when she was pregnant with my oldest aunt. It made me think-what if my next 5 quilts were my last 5 quilts? Would they be the same ones I'm working on or thinking about making now? Because if they aren't, why not? Am I saving fabric because it's too cute to cut up? Am I making so many obligatory quilts that I'm not making the ones I want to make? Am I waiting to get better to tackle that tough one, or until I have more time? I'm fairly young, but you never know when the beer truck will run over you. Everyone's answer will be different, and I'm sure there will be some contrary replies; but for me, I think I am going to try to work on the quilts patterns I love the most, with the fabrics I love the most, for the people I love the most whenever possible.

Wow, very thought provoking--ssoooo, I thought about it, and was relieved I wouldn't change what I'm doing. I don't have a huge stash-I periodically go through and any "loved it when I bought it-not so much now" I pass on to 2 missionary friends who work with Syrian refugees & incarcerated women in the Middle East. They make up hand sewing kits for cottage (or in this case tent) industries. My list of projects I have kitted for myself are for my loved ones including my husband and me :-) the one I'm really looking forward to is dividing a scrap quilt top that my Mom found after my grandmother passed. My sister and I are going to make it into small wall hangings with my grandmother & Mom's pictures and family information for all the grandkids. We spend time sewing together on our summer breaks from teaching--definitely need to move that up to this summer without fail! Thanks for the push to self examine!

I told myself two years ago, that what I finish is fine, and what I leave behind will be finished one day by someone else. I don't stress anymore about UFO's. What I am working on right now is my big love. Good for you. There are so many times that we have to do certain things, when we quilt, it should be what we feel like doing.

Your post is very eye opening. Two year ago I stopped all quilt making obligations. I don't care if cousin's DH's nephew wants a tee shirt quilt, I don't want to make one.

What a great thread. I am not so sure I could answer this question properly. You see I do charity quilts and personal quilts during the year. I think the hardest part of family quilts is getting the colors and style right for that person's taste and not my own.

All that being said, you are so lucky to have your grandmother's work to finish. I was far too young when my grandmother died to be so lucky.

Thanks for the reminder...I find myself making quilts for new babies in the family and others that people have asked me
to do. I've decided I'm going to be more careful about accepting others request, so that I can catch up on the ones I really want to do. But I have 4 in line to be done before I get there! :((

So very true and that's the reason I decided just this week to finish my Jane Stickle. It's my labor of love and its time to display it for myself.

Thank you for this great post. May I share it with other quiting friends?

oh Kitsie, I've been waiting forever for your reveal ;-) It's been fun watching the progress. Glad I haven't missed it!

No such thing as an obligatory quilt in my book.

That sounds like a good plan, jzaaboo. I recently realized I've been so busy making quilts for everyone else that the ones for me have been put on permanent hold. Decided to change that and have finished two tops that are ready for quilting and have two more ready to be picked up from my LAQ. I've decided to balance things by working on one for myself along with each one I make for someone else.

Love this post....all about the priorities....the challenge of my life! LOL

A thought provoking post.
Thank you.

I just spent 5 days in the hospital with a problem that may become chronic. While I was there my husband and I got to talking about what we are going to do with the rest of our lives. I am 64 and he is 74. He is still working at least 40 hours a week. We discussed moving to a Retirement home where on site health care and even meals would be available. As soon as I am able I will have to start getting rid of most of my fabric stash. It is something I knew was coming but of course no one wants to think about it. I have more finished quilts then I can use and everyone who I wanted to give a quilt to has one or more. At present I make at least 20 Linus quilts a month. It is a great excuse to still purchase fabric but it won't be fun if I have to pack it all up and move it. If we do move we will make sure there is room for my sewing machines etc. I own 5. I also have two treadles but I have no attachment to them. Aside from using them as an end table etc. I don't even know if they work or if parts are available.
I would welcome any suggestions. Sadly none if my children or grandchildren seem to be interested in sewing or quilt related projects. Ironically my daughter has a small business with a "Traveling Craft Truck" She parks it on the street in a small business type area and people can come in and work on small crafts that can be finished in an hour or so. She is targeting businesses who need or want a "team" building type activity for their employees. She posted pictures of a small group who came aboard and made name tags for themselves. She used her own skills to decorate the inside of the truck. The driver's seat is covered in crocheted Granny Squares. There are counters of various levels to allow for workers to sit or stand and cupboards to stow her supplies etc. Because of my health issues my husband may actually retire. If we move he will.

I only have 16 blocks that my aunt gave me. I was 2 when my grandmother died, I don't remember her. But yes, I am glad I have these to finish, but my son will likely take my (still small) stash and take it to Goodwill at some point. No problem with that, but maybe it'll make me think twice before I buy something I don't absolutely love.

No problem!

I have a stack of Double Wedding Ring blocks/ovals that my Great Grandmother pieced in the early 1930s. In the 1960s, when she was over 80, she gave them to my Grandmother and told her to finish the quilt.

Grandma kept them until she was in her 80s, and knowing neither my Mom nor Aunts had any inclination to piece and quilt, she gave them to me and told me she did not have time to finish the quilt. It was up to me to finish the job.

I am now 59. Grandma died in 1987. Mom is "hinting" that she wants to see Grandma Betty's quilt on her (Mom's) bed.

I'm considering this thread a fire under my backside and will try to finish this quilt. Mom and I both agree it will have to be hand quilted - but I'll hire a talented Amish lady to do that part!

P.S. I was so blessed when I was age 5, to travel with my Grandmother (who raised me) to visit her mother, Great-Grandmother Betty. GGBetty and I were instant and lasting best friends. She was "ancient" and deaf since age 7 (scarlet fever). We talked and laughed and I got to sleep with her. Each night she would ask if I could hear the whip-poor-wills. She said that even after nearly 80 years she could still remember how they sounded.

I have finished the last quilt top from my mother and will be giving that away this year.
At almost 73, I've decided that if I want to make special quilts for my g-grandchildren, like wedding quilts, that I needed to get started. I have three to make. But then I think, how do I know what they might like in 10 or 15years and will they even get them when I'm gone or if they do get them are they still good. I'm going to put that on hold for a year or two, because they all have quilts that I have given, just not any adult quilts.
I'm first going to make small quilts for each of my nieces and nephews... and keep making quilts to sell. Then when all those are done, I will decide to made the gr-grandchildren the wedding quilts. If they are finished when I die maybe someone in the family will finish them for me.

I am the only one in my family that quilts. I make whatever I want, and have enough stash, but no fabric I consider too good to cut. If my next 5 are my last 5, so be it. My goal has been to continue to improve, and challenge myself, which I've done. I usually don't know what I'm going to do with the quilt or wall hanging as I work on it...at some point I "just know" who it's going to! Great thread!!

Thank you for bringing this to the forefront. As a longarm quilter for hire I find a limited time to quilt my own tops. I have began to schedule my name on the calender, and hope to finish some UFO's for me and my family. Even if they are not the prettiest tops ever made, I do want them quilted before they are pasted to family or sold.

Quote- "Am I making so many obligatory quilts that I'm not making the ones I want to make?"

Guilty!

Quote-"I think I am going to try to work on the quilts patterns I love the most, with the fabrics I love the most, for the people I love the most whenever possible."

A very good resolution.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I understand what your saying I have mainly made quilts for my family and myself but lately decided to start making donation quilts because I have decided I wanted keep making quilts to help others. I don't think I will change in the way I make my quilts but learn simple technique to make them better. Thank you for sharing this with us.

I kind of had those same thoughts when I made another top, pieced the back, made the binding and hung it up with the other 6 quilts in the same state. I wondered who would ever finish them as neither my DD or DDIL quilt. I've been on a mission ever since to have them quilted and completely finished! All the quilts that were hanging on that rod have now been completed. I'm now on a mission to search out all the tops that have been finished but don't have a backing or the binding done. I'm hoping that when they are all done I will continue that same train of thought with UFO's that need the tops completed. I am happy with the quilts that I make -- and even happier when they are completely done!

I think you should do what was in your last sentence. Go for it, life it too short.

I will be 74 next month and have no intention on giving up easy. I have a lot to do here in my sewing room yet!

Certainly good to consider one's priorities, even in our hobbies. I really ought to start making quilts for my kids so that, in case I die before I think, they will have a work of my hands themselves. At this point, they would only say, "She was always making quilts for total strangers and babies, but I don't have anything." Or maybe they won't think that way at all .Maybe they will see giving to strangers as part of my legacy and continue that.

I still have a few grandchildren who haven't received their quilt from gma yet, but other than that I make what I want. Right now I am working on a quilt that my mother started....she got the top finished before she died. I am doing the fmq to complete it, hopefully in the next couple days. It has been a struggle as her piecing skills were not the best and the quilt doesn't lay flat at all. Since it is a Broken Star (?) I have been putting just a few stitches at the corner of each small diamond piece to tack it down, and then some fmq in the outside squares. I work on it for a while, then take a break. I want so badly to make it look nice that I am overly critical of how my fmq looks and I stitch and rip, stitch and rip. It makes my brain hurt.

I am now at the part of life where I'm thinking about this, too. So, for now, I'm going to work on quilts that I want to do and not be distracted by some fun group thing or make quilts for charity for awhile. The last five years have been willingly spent on charity and baby quilts for others and quilts for friends. I figure I have 10-15 good years left to finish what I want to do quiltwise. Time to make some for me.

After an 80 day stay in two hospitals and being on a feeding tube for several months, I thought about all of these things. I decided that I would continue to do what I can as long as I can and then worry about what to do with the "stuff". Now I have macular degeneration and am facing the loss of my eyesight. I got a better (stronger) light to attach to my sewing machine, got an Ott light to use by my easy chair, read on a Kindle, etc. but I'm not giving up yet. When I can't piece the small pieces together I will make aprons or pillowcases. I also cook, but it is getting difficult to read the recipes without a flashlight or the Ott lightl, so I'll print out my favorites on the computer in a larger font. I can't just sit with my hands folded neatly in my lap, I have to have projects of some kind. My theory is never give up!

I told my SIL that after she takes what she wants to donate the rest to a church with a quilting circle. The only time I buy fabric is if it's a solid that I'm short on. I have enough stash for 2 more life times after this one. I only have 1 UFO -it's the one I was making for my dearly missed husband. Some day I will get it sandwiched and quilted-maybe

I hope to be sitting at my sewing machine, working on my last quilt, when the Good Lord calls me home.

Anniedeb - you have put into words my exact feelings on this topic. I don't dwell on what I should have, could have done in the past but learn from my mistakes and try to improve now and the future. Certainly a good thread to get everyone thinking. Enjoy the day all.

I don't make obligatory quilts, I just make quilts. I give them away, sell some, keep some. It's the process, the sewing that I enjoy no matter where the quilt ends up. I have a few small pieces of a crazy quilt my grandmother made that I turned into runners and they are on the nightstands in my guest room. I have several quilts my mom made. Mom just turned 80 and she is still sewing away. She is a queen of UFOs, so many started projects, she works on one then gets an idea and is off on another one, eventually they get done. I don't care as it keeps her busy, happy, and her mind active.

I have belonged to the "Life is short" club for many many years. I lost my dad to a heart attack when I was 18. I grew up in a hurry. Then lost many family members over the years to cancer. And I had my own wakeup call just a few months ago. Kind of changes what is important to you.

Every quilt I make is one I WANT to make. I make a lot of charity quilts. I have at least 10 that I figure my children can fight over when I am gone. I don't like the term UFO so I try to finish every one I start. I quilt for the satisfaction it brings ME, and if I can make someone less fortunate than me happy, so much the better. My quilting friends can fight over my stash when I am gone. If I made a quilt because I felt OBLIGATED I know I wouldn't do my best work. I want EVERY quilt to be my best.

Wow. This is very thought provoking!

Thank you for the post, I keep saying "when I finish this one", I'll make one for me. I think it is time!

This is thought provoking. I have also begun to think more this way. My quilt guild had an auction last week as a fund raiser. I had fabric I didn't like that was given to me that I always felt I needed to use. I felt like it was staring at me from my stash to be used. I use it mostly to make donation quilts. Since I don't really like the fabric I don't enjoy the projects. Other people love them. I took it all to the auctions and now it is all gone. Other people went nuts over it. I have plenty in my stash to make donation quilts I will enjoy working on more. Why should I use my precious time sewing something I don't enjoy.
Also I am makig a quilt for my GS who will be 2 soon. It is for his big boy bed. I had a layer cake ( don't usually buy pre cuts) that I really liked. I pulled it out to use and put it back because it was one of those fabrics that was too precious to cut up. As I dug for something else to use I thought " that was stupid" if my GS isn't precious enough for this fabric who is. It is working out perfectly.
Your time is precious. You will never get it back. What you want to do.

"As I dug for something else to use I thought " that was stupid" if my GS isn't precious enough for this fabric who is."

thank you! I love this. No truer words......

I am always the one when fabric donations come in at the Senior Center and everyone is like sharks around fish, I ended up with with the unfinished blocks. I try my best to finish these blocks and give them some useful purpose for others to enjoy. Haven't come up with a pattern for these. I am really stumped. I want to keep her center block intact but I think I may have to cut these larger blocks down in half to create blocks that will work in a round robin borders. I need to be able to make a top around 36" square for a man in a wheelchair.

I don't worry about the access of my UFOs I have because my friends who also make charity quilts will pick up my leftovers and see that they are finished.

You're absolutely right!!! Why don't I have one of MY quilts on my bed yet all the grandkids have been covered multiple times and every baby I know of in the last five years has been covered. As well as my sister's tax preparer and her best friend and grand nieces and nephews and....it goes on and on. Sometimes charity has be begin at home and I should slide myself in between all those comfort and mission quilts going out the door every week.

Great thought-provoking topic...and I'll be looking at my stash and patterns a little differently now.

I'm the Queen of UF Projects...have done about every craft out there; ceramics (shed full of molds-kiln all never used by me) was to be my retirement plan. have sewed since I was in high school, only one in my class to take Home Ec. 4 yrs.. Just turned 59 and have been quilting since 2010. Retired 2008 due to Cancer and Back/neck injuries. Having done a lot of Memory quilts and lap quilts for friends who have had Cancer too. Quilts for Family, one on my design wall waiting on quilting machine to get out of shop, piecing another one while waiting(Crown Royal Bag Quilt) and doing Blue Jeans throws. And Nephew wanting a Graduation Tee Quilt out of his High School Tees for Christmas. When all of these are done then one for my king bed...FOR ME! I also have a stash of E-bay tops and started tops I hope to finish, I think of whoever had stared them and how much they would love to know that they got finished...These I pull out and work on when tired of the project of the moment. Your thread has me ready to move on all of it. Thanks for the PUSH.