Opinions Wanted -- from One-Quilt-At-A-Time Quilters
 

I have read on this Board that some of you quilters work on one project at a time. I'm fascinated! I am thinking about implementing that approach, if I can ever get my numerous PIGS completed. (Sadly, I just counted and I have 22 quilts in process; some are charity quilts I've started, others are for me.) I am running out of room to store these half-fiinished quilts.

If you are one of those amazing quilters who work on One-Quilt-At-A-Time, please tell us your approach, how you maintain the self-discipline, advantages and disadvantages of this method.

I need the inspiration!

Dear one -- if it's not your propensity to be a single minded quilter, you simply will not succeed. There is no discipline, it's simply the way one's brain was designed by the creator (who was Himself given to making many things of a day).

You describe yourself as one who prefers to have many irons in the fire, so a more fruitful topic of discussion for you may be how to juggle irons without getting burned or dropping them on your toe.

DH asked me last week how I kept all the quilts I have started straight in my head as I work on them. I had five in my sewing room in different stages of completion and cutting out number six. LOL I am not single minded and don't want to be. I don't feel stressed about unfinished projects, I feel blessed.

Well said SeatyPie and Onebyone.

I am certainly not going to eat nothing but Turkey after thanksgiving until the entire bird is dispatched! That is why I freeze some for later. I love having multiple projects going, especially because I adore every single stage of the process and enjoy many different types of quiltmaking including machine piecing, machine and hand applique and now I just started EPP. I love it all, from selecting the fabrics to hand sewing the binding. Heck I even like prewashing and ironing if I am in the mood for it. I like having hand work, machine work, piecing, applique, embroidery and longarming so I can pick whatever I am in the mood for with my limited free time. But sometimes you do have to apply a bit of discipline to try and finish one of the many every once in a while.

Exactly!
Well put SweatyPie

Ok. I disagree with all posts after the original poster. The OP asked for ideas. The responses are all about how it won't work if that isn't your nature. Phooeey!

At any point in our lives we can regroup and proceed in a new way. I admire people who have fewer to no UFO's.

In answer to the original question I am working on finishing projects and trying to limit what I start. I do find that lately I like a small landscape project ( a lot of auditioning fabrics and some painting, quilting) to alternate with a piece that is heavy on piecing so I can do what strikes my mood. I do want to break the cycle of start something, move on, start something...

I want to understand processes of those who are more productive than I am. I have extra time now, because I no longer work, so I am eager to proceed in a more efficient manner.

I have 1-2 quilts going at a time typically. I work on the hand applique until it's all done, then I start piecing & FMQ. At that point, I start my next hand applique project so I always have one thing that's portable at all times.

The main thing I found that was throwing me off was going to live project classes because I'd start a quilt there even though I already had 1-2 going & then wouldn't have time to work on it. Next thing you'd know, another interesting project class would come up & I'd join it, too. Trouble, trouble, trouble. So instead, I started looking for opportunities to just sit & quilt. My LQS'es have UFO groups -- some with an "instructor" who provides feedback upon request and sometimes will do a short 5-minute technique lesson, but not anything that has to be used for a specific project. When possible, I also try to go to my guild's Saturday Sew-In's. And today, I'm hoping to get over to LQS because when you buy your fabric there, they let you come & use their classroom space & Bernina machines any time there isn't a class in session. It's a solid block of time when I can just sit with other quilters and focus on making progress on a particular quilt. I make sure only to bring about $20 for emergency supplies -- not enough to go shopping for an entirely new quilt project.

I would encourage you to think about the circumstances under which you tend to start new projects (classes, fabric shopping, guild events, etc) and then try to limit your access to that as much as possible, and instead fill in with extra time working on your PIGS with other quilters. Quiltmaking is always more fun with friends. :)

I almost always work on a single piecing project at a time. In my mind, piecing and quilting are two separate activities, so completed tops are not UFOs, they are completed tops!
Anyway, I find that I'm most effective if I work on a single task until it's done. The only exception is I usually make a one of sample block. Generally, this is how I approach the rest of the quilt: After the sample, I cut all the pieces for the quilt blocks. I don't cut the sashing or borders. Then I analyze the blocks and break the construction down to specific tasks. So maybe I'll do all the HSTs, sewing them all, then pressing them all and squaring them all. Then do all the 9 patches, again sewing pressing and squaring till they are all done. When I have the sub units done, I'll start constructing the blocks. I put the blocks on my design wall and decide if I want sashing or not. If I do, I cut all the sashing and add it to the blocks (I prefer sashing the individual blocks). Then join the blocks. Audition the border fabric(s) then cut & apply.
There are exceptions, for instance scrappy quilts. I prefer a controlled scrappy, so I might cut everything, then arrange all the pieces for an individual block, choosing specific colors or fabrics. Once selected, I use paper plates to keep the blocks together. In this case, I might work on one or two blocks at a time completing them individually.

I am one of the one-at-a-time quilters. I honestly don't know why I am that way. I have a stash, so I don't wait to buy fabric as I am about to make a quilt, but I only work on one quilt at a time. Once I get to the hand sewing part of binding, that is when I think of my next quilt.

I tried making a list of quilts I wanted to make one time, as I really thought my one-at-a-timeness was rather wrong. Everyone else has lots of quilts going on. I thought knowing which quilt I wanted to do next was sort of a compromise. Well, that list just made me rush through the quilts just to "get them done." It was no fun at all. I felt stressed to "finish the list."

I have been quilting for 6 years, and I have made 115 quilts so far. I only started quilting after I retired, but I was a serious seamstress until then. I did have a rule though, my own self-imposed rule, that if I bought fabric, I had to make it into a dress (skirt, slacks....etc.) by the next payday or I shouldn't have bought the fabric. (teachers are only paid once a month) Money was short, and that was my thought process. I think that maybe I changed that rule to the one-quilt-at-a-time rule when I retired and started quilting.

At any rate, we are all different and I am quite happy making only one quilt at a time. I have no UFO's, no kits waiting, nothing in the "ready box," just a wonderful stash of fabrics I like. One at a time makes me happy. I also have no hints on how to help someone become a one-at-a-time quilter. Sounds like some sort of behavior modification thing, and I know nothing about that. I am a serious creature of habit. :)

Just do what makes you happy. :) That's what I do.

Dina