Multiple Projects
 

How do you manage your sewing when you have multiple projects you are doing or want to do? I'm making "tag" blankets for my grandkids but also have quilting projects I want to work on! I'm retired so I'm home most of the time.

I have a little timer that I use to time myself as to how long I'll be on the computer, quilting, reading, cross stitching, etc. Usually, I'll spend at least an hour on a project and then move on to something else. However, if there is a show that DH wants me to watch with him, I'll cross stitch in the living room.

i have trouble working on the same project for long periods of time [probably ADD]. when i'm tired of doing one, or come to a point that i have to think about the next step, i just work on something else. isn't retirement great !?!

I don't have as many projects going on as Tartan but do have a few. Sometimes I just feel like sitting in front of the TV and working on my Grandmothers Flower Garden. So far this year I have made a table topper from a Snibbles pattern, finished an Irish Chain and have it ready to bind and finished another top and have it to the quilter to be quilted. So glad to be getting tops finished. I have so many to finish that it stresses be to think of them. Just want to get them done so I can move on to new projects that are on my bucket list.

I'm retired and I switch around on my projects all the time.

Ideally for me I try to have different projects in different stages, i.e., 1 being cut; 1 being assembled; 1 being quilted, etc. This way, depending on my mood or time or location, I can work on different things. I cut/sew in my sewing room. I (hand) quilt in the LR watching TV in the evenings. Or I can take a quilting project with me if I'm doing hand sewing (not too often).

I have several quilt tops all in different stages that Im working on. Im retired also. I spend my daytime hours in my sewing room and after dinner usually sit in the livingroom and do hand work. Three years ago I started a Dresdan Plate Quilt. My New Years Eve resolution was to finish some things. I finished that today, and started another UFO. But its all good and so much fun!!

Oh After years of trying I just can't do more than one at a time. I am messy enough with one project.... Two would be a real disaster area. I learned from trying to do mutilples that I am more than likely to never finish one or more of the projects. Recently I revisted the concept ... and yep there has been a OBW on my design board for 9 months now...

I just had to put all my unfinished projects but one away in a closet so that I could concentrate on just this one. It's much easier than if I could see the others pulling me toward them every time I looked around the room. I hope I have the strength to take out just one "new" UFO when this project is finished.

I'm weird, I make myself work on something until I finish it. My quilting guild does have small projects each month and I will do them, but then back to my major project until complete. Someone called it self control, but I just think it's learning how to use what spare time i had while working. I love this retirement and wish I could of done it 20 years ago!

i love retirement. and i have 3 ufo and
started another one. i keep telling myself
finish the one you started, but then i find something
else to start. so much fun.

Me too!!!!!

What is a tag blanket?

A tag blanket is the newest thing among the younger set. It's a small blanket about 16"x16" or a little bigger. You use any type of soft fabric, maybe add something for texture, and use ribbons or trim to put small loops all around each side. I have four grandchildren and three of them are 14 months and younger, so I'm making one for each.

I hadn't heard about these. How are they used ?

Right now is the first time I've had multiple projects going at the same time since I started quilting. I'm working on some very labor intensive wolf panels with a LOT of detail, so I've just finished 8 baby burp cloths on which I practiced my FMQ, & then I traced a pattern from one of my magazines onto tracing paper & would be cutting it out if I hadn't lost the fabric! Now I'm waiting for more of it to come in the mail! I just work on each whenever I feel like it & celebrate as I finish each one. :-) I'm about 1/2 done with #3 of 4 wolf panels, so I'm getting them done, albeit slowly.

I keep each project in a clear plastic bin - pattern, fabric, sometimes even thread. That way nothing is missing when I go to work on it again. I have the pattern facing the outside of the bin so I can easily tell which is which and I work on the one that I am in the mood to do.

I wish I were retired! I'm so jealous!

I CAN'T do much more than one thing at a time - one small project for open class, one big quilt in the piecing/assembly stage, one in design but already bought the fabric, and one small UFO to mull over.

Cherylsea's idea of organizing them is a good one, especially including the thread!

I have the same problem! This year I am rotating a new project and WIP. Hopefully I will get more done.

I have lots of UFO"S but eventually i will get them done I HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!

I find that changing what I am working on is a good thing. I had planned on a lap quilt but when I saw it, I didn't like the front. So, overnight I came up with a different idea for it and now I want to work on it again. I am going to turn it into puppy quilts for our local shelter.

I'm at the age now where I do have to keep a list of the things I want to finish in 2012 and a deadline (if there is one). I keep the projects together in jumbo plastic bags so that I am not hunting for all the pieces when I get ready to work on a particular project. I am also retired and absolutely LOVE it. I am very busy, but it is with things I want to do, not what I have to do. Life is good!

I will designate certain blocks of sewing for each project. If I know I am only going to have a shorter stint (two young kids at home means sewing time is scarce and often interrupted) then I may work on a project that is more easily interrupted. If I have longer stretches of time (and hubby has eyes on the wee ones) I bust out my never-ending FMQ project or any other project that requires work without interruption or will be more labor-intensive. LOL! If you are retired, I am guessing you get to determine your sewing hours without much interference, so perhaps just designating a block of time for each project? Or even a specific day - say Monday you work on rag quilts, Tuesday something else, etc.

I am sure you will get lots of good suggestions here - good luck!

One thing I do is have a see-thru box for each project so that I can keep all the pieces of each together and not get them mixed up. Works great for me.

I'm totally an ADD quilter, but it keeps life interesting and I do finally get most of my projects done. One thing that helps me is that I save those plastic zipper bags that sheets and blankets come in. If you put everything related to a certain project neatly in a see thru bag, you at least feel some sense of organization and it makes it easier to go back to. Also, it helps to sandwich in some of those less appealing projects between ones you really are excited about.

There appear to be 2 kinds of quilters: those who work on 1 project at a time and those work work on many. I'm usually working on only 1 at a time. I find that when I start a 2nd before I finish the 1st, the 1st disappears into Never Never land, and I find it months or even years later, because I have lost all interest in finishing it. And then the guilt begins...

I'm retired too, and have way too many UFOs. When I need to change what I'm working on, I neatly fold and put out of sight. Unfinished tops hang on one side of the closet, blocks go in the UFO drawer of the dresser that's in the closet. Fabrics for projects not started are folded and together in the future projects drawer. I still usually end up with a couple of things in my workspace that I'm actually working on. Right now I have a quilt panel and blocks on my design wall, a wall hanging needing quilted next to my DSM, an embroidery panel next to the embroidery machine, and new plans/designs next to the computer. I couldn't handle any more being out. I don't get anything done if my space is too cluttered.

When I have multiple projects going at the same time I try to tie all the pieces of each one together and put them in a box or tote near my sewing desk. I also try to put other 'stuff' away or at least out of my sight so I don't get distracted and begin another project. It works pretty good but I have to admit there are a few projects that have been in the box for quite some time because something new always comes up and takes precedence. May in Jersey

I retired 4 years ago and my sewing projects live in clean pizza boxes. I have the boxes labeled and when I get bored working on one, I'll close it with all the fabrics and go to another one. When one project gets done, I take the label off and that box is ready for a new project.

The ribbons on the end are made with different textures and are for the baby to feel. It is a tactile experience for them. My grandchildren all have had one (and I mean only one that has been used by each child). The like to touch the ribbons, put them in their mouth, etc.

I make a list of all things I need to work on in my sewing room and post it above my machine. As I finish something I cross it off the list. For me that is a good feeling of accomplishment.

I make a list of all things I need to work on in my sewing room and post it above my machine. As I finish something I cross it off the list. For me that is a good feeling of accomplishment. pat

I just started back into quilting since I now have all the time in the world. I retired 3 years ago but went to MA to help my daughter with the children. They have all moved to Australia as was the plan and I am now back in my home and so I have lots of time on my hands now. I am doing several BOM's, plus I have a quilt class that meets once a week that has a few projects going......one that takes a year, one that is for the month and then one that is for the term of about 3 months. Anyone can join these projects as she has a web site and you can download the projects free. http://lynbrown.com The year long project is going to be the Quilter's alphabet. I find that I still have time left over....hmmmmmm. I put my projects in the plastic bags and they are marked. So far everything is a WIP. I also knit for charity and read books. I love being retired. I can do what ever I want with no time constraints or have to be anywhere. The down side is not enough money,

I would love to complete one project at a time, but ideas keep popping in my head and I have to give them a try.

I usually have two quilting projects and one knitting project going at one time.
I have a log cabin on the frame and am hand quilting, I have a cathedral window that I work on as my carry along as a sit and sew project. My knitting projects vary from socks to sweaters......

I have one "major" project going at a time but will set it aside occasionally and work on something like a small artsy quilt or one involving a new technique. I got started with Lyn Brown's mini calendar quilts last year and have made most of them (or some variation using my own designs). I enjoy small pieces like this because I can "play" and use up scraps without committing myself to a lot of time and cost. They are also fun to display on their plexiglas stands.

I also make purses and other stuff as a "break" from the major project.

Finally, I've noticed that I have to take a vacation from quilting occasionally and put everything "quilting" out of sight and concentrate on one of my other hobbies for awhile. This will happen when I begin telling myself that I "have" to work on a project instead of thinking that I "want" to work on that project.

The multiple unfinished projects that keep getting in the way of my quilting are 1. yard work, 2. mending, 3. ironing. 4. guilty conscience for not getting 1, 2 and 3 finished. LOL

I don't count the projects I have going, but yes there are a lot of them I have 2 needle turn applique that I work on at night while I watch TV with the hubby, then one on the design wall that I am doing with DGD, then quilts in progress in the large plastic shoe boxes, tops that are hanging on my ladder in the living room and piles all over the place. I wish I could be a clean room kind of quilter but I can't seam to do it I have piles and my mind knows where things are so I guess it works for me. Then I have started 2 new mystery quilts and I have a bag of fabrics I have been setting aside for at least three years and the quilt has now been built in my head and I am anxious to start it also. When I get bored with one project I just shift to another and then eventually they get done.

I use large zip lock bags, so I can put one project back, but still see what it is, and keep the threads, pattern and etc. organized for when I am ready to use it again.