Sewing Room Cleanup
 

Oh my goodness, I have to publicly admit I have a serious ADDICTION to quilting and it's about time I did something about it..... by selling some of my quilts. I have just tried to have a little clean up in the 'sewing room' - pulled out at least 25 little quilts for a red/white/black exhibition I hope to have early next year. Aside from those, there are over 150 completed quilts, more than 50 quilt tops waiting to be quilted and a whole tub of completed blocks just waiting to be made into quilt tops. I also have 10 quilt tops sandwiched and pinned ready to quilt.... Ack, where to start !!!

Might have to have a pop-up shop soon to sell (or give away) some of my quilts I want rid of now.

I am not even going to try and sort out my fabrics today....I am completely overwhelmed by what I have found so far.

Does this happen to anyone else?

not quite to that extent, but yes.

Not a lot of finished quilts. Lots of table toppers and runners and LOTS of UFO's.

I give so many to charity...I do not accumulate that many....

About half of these are lap size or smaller and yes I give some to charity but many I get so 'attached' to I just can't bear to part with them. I can so easily start a project but find it harder to complete one... because I have another project that just needs to be started... all the time.

Good luck!!!!

Wow. I probably have enough fabric to complete 150 quilts (feels like it, anyway), but I'm certainly nowhere near that productive!

I feel for ya!

You are really productive. I am still at the point that family members want them faster than I can make them. I get attached to mine too, but have only been able to keep two so far.

I was right there with you last fall with over 100 UFOs! I'm almost to my halfway point now and it's been a real confidence booster to make a bit dent in the piles. I get to start a new quilt after finishing 10 UFOs and that has been very motivating. My goal is to have less than 25 by year end.

Luckily most of mine get donated so I don't have to worry about storing them!

You are very productive. I have that problem with the fabric and so my sewing room does not get cleaned....

I don't know what I would do with that many quilts either! As mine are finished they usually go to a family member - so far they don't have their fill yet so that is a good thing.

You are very productive. I have that problem with the fabric and so my sewing room does not get cleaned....

Not to that degree but I do get overwhelmed! I am an avid buyer so when you decide to sell let me know!!!LOL

After putting in a lot of heart and time into making a quilt, it can be difficult to part with it. However, I find when I make them for my family, Quilts of Valor and other charities, I find it happily satisfying to give or donate them.

I know that one of our members has posted some quilt tops on the Sale section of the board. I know she has sold many of them. It is worth a try. And, I would say you have a serious addiction.

Wow that is a lot of quilts. Open an Etsy shop and sell them to get money for more fabric. I have been working my way thru my UFO's this year too. My rule has been to finish 2 UFO's to start a new project. I have been doing pretty good with that. I have most of the easy UFO's finished now on to the harder ones. I had a wall hanging that was sitting for 2 years only needing binding. I feels good to clean all of that stuff out of my room. I have a pile of about 20 doll quilts waiting to be quilted. I plan to take a Craftsy class of FMQ and use them for my practice quilts. I donate them to Salvation Army for their Christmas doll program here. They give away 700 dolls every Christmas. Each one comes with a quilt. Their goal is to try to give each little girl a quilt too.

Just 'cause family wants them doesn't mean they are entitled. Keep what you want.

Your passion for quilting comes through loud and clear. It's a gift and good luck with your clean up. Sort your whole project into pieces and work on one thing at a time. That way you won't be over whelmed but pleasantly surprised. :)

My word, you are one productive lady!!

I have been going through my scraps and had them piled on the cutting table. My daughter came in, looked at it then gave me the mommy stare and said "It looks like some of your finished quilts snuck in and vomited on your table". That said, I have since finished 3 queen sized tops with probably enough to finish 3 more of just the scraps that have been left over from all the quilts I have made in the past 3 (yes I said 3) years. I currently have 8 quilt tops ready for the long arm (waiting on $ for batting & backing-going back to work next month) and 14 boxes of quilts (queen) in process, 6 tubs of fabric, divider drawers full of fabric... I can relate. I have about 8 queen quilts finished here. Now all the quilts have been made for "the bucket list". Each sibling, niece, nephew, daughter, grandchild will each get a queen sized quilt. There is 78 total to be made (69 done). Now anyone that sends me an invitation to a wedding, graduation etc. gets a quilt even if they have already rec'd one. Quite a few of this bucket 78 group have more than one quilt and now the children of the nieces and nephews have got this figured out to send auntie an invite. With grandchildren growing into adults, great grandkids are likely to start arriving. They might not use their queen-sized for years, but they will have them before I am gone to quilter's heaven. That's how I dispose of quilts~

If only we lived closer.

mtnma52 that's a wonderful thing you are doing for your family. My kids and grandkids are getting tatted doilys from my grandmother that passed a number of years ago. I have two cherished crocheted twin bedspreads from my husband's grandmother. I'm still waiting to have the beds to display them on, but I get them out now and then just to remember her. I'm starting to do quilts for nieces and nephews. I'm the only quilter in the family and have no time table just something I want to do.

I have yet to keep any the 7 quilts I've made. They've all gone to family or friends. I have several yards of fabric picked out/folded on bolts and set aside for specific quilts TBD. Does that mean they are UFO's? I've also participated in several I-Spy 5" block swaps. I have 200-300 blocks ready to be pieced into 2-3 quilts but haven't chosen the layouts yet. Probably a disappearing 4 patch, tumbling charms or tumbling blocks patterns.

I will only work on one quilt at a time. That gives me the motivation to finish before I start on another one.

I can't imagine having 150 quilts completed and another 50 UFOs! That's a serious addiction!

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

same here.

If you don't sell them, find a nursing home in your area and find out people who don,t have family and give them a Christmas present. They are so thrilled to have someone remember them. Who knows you might make new friends.

Ditto what Debra K said.

I rarely keep what I make...I give everything to my daughter and my friends. I do not have a cluttered room of quilts but would not mind if I did...LOL

There is a "quilts for sale" group on Yahoo groups. You might check into an ebay or etsy store.

I am not sure how you fit 150 quilts in a room. That's a lot of space they take up in addition to sewing machine/s, fabric, supplies, tables, etc. Congrats for passing some on. It really is freeing. I kind of get attached but when I see how others enjoy them as well, it is fun to pass them to the needy.-- Or Quilts of Valor would be great if you knew they really needed them!

I completely agree with caspharm you need to open an Etsy store and make some money from your hard work.

Just the 10 pinned and ready to be quilted would be enough for me. If you have a long arm I guess it wouldn't seem too much. I quilt on my DSM.

Lynnie, keep us posted on how your sale goes!

You're a very productive gal. I have 3 drawers of "to do", with the fabrics and the patterns, just haven't gotten around to them. I have a very limited family, have made several for my granddaughter, my son gets done, and we have 1 for us. Everything else I've made have been donated to shelters for homeless women/children, foster homes, and kids that are very sick, either with cancer or the likes. I wanted to make some for the "old folks" home here locally, but when I checked they told me that when the client died, if the family didn't want the quilt, they just toss them in the garbage, so needless to say, I don't donate to them.

I wouldn't want my loved ones to be in a home that is that uncaring. I would fear that their sense of value would extend to their residents.