I have been trying to use up scraps for so long, I can't remember how I use to decide.

All of the quilts that I have made so far, except 2 of them, have been for my grandchildren (and they just keep coming. now they are called great grandchildren). I do interrupt the family quilts for friends or family members who are ill. Now making three quilts, one each, for 3 young girls (3, 12 and 20) who's father died tragically in September. Have 2 finished and am working on the third. Interrupted that one to make me a dress to wear to my granddaughter's college graduation in May. I have 2 quilts with tops ready for sewing down appliques and I have the Two Fabric Bargello in red waiting to do JUST FOR ME!!! Better get to sewing as I am 80 and who knows how many years I have left to finish or make new quilts.

At the beginning of each year I make a list of goals which includes any UFO’s and new projects. Sometimes a new project is chosen to participate in a guild challenge like the Jen Kingwell Long Time Gone that our modern guild is doing this year. I think it is easy to get overloaded on ideas (because there are so many beautiful patterns) but for me I try to stay focused on one or two at a time so they don’t become UFO’s.

My friend puts a dryer sheet in each of her plastic project bags and actually keeps them in a storage shed. She's never had a curious mouse yet.

That's what I do too. along with the pattern, or a note on where to find it, if it's a pattern that may be used for other quilts. The fabric for my stash is in larger totes, separated by color.

Going by my UFO pile or asking my husband the answer would be - she just starts them all!
I quilt for fun so I just kind of pull out what I feel like doing on any given day and work on it. Quilts take a long time to finish that way.
They can be started by an inspiring fabric, a great pattern or a method that I want to learn.

I decided I wanted to make a quilt for each family, single and child in my congregation (small congregation) but whose 1st so I wrote each of their names on a piece of paper and threw them into a basket including mine. When I'm ready to start a new project I pull out a name and that's who I make the next quilt. I've gathered the info I need for each quilt......color, style, size so when I see a pattern or a fabric I think might work for that particular person/couple, I put it on the shelf with the rest of their project. When their name gets pulled, I usually have everything I need by that time. Of course, some projects get moved to the front like if there's a new baby in the group or someone's health is at risk. Those will come 1st.

Retirement---That's when you quit your job and quilt as much as you like! I waited for it all my life and intend to enjoy it the rest of my life. When I begin to think about my NEXT quilt, it's a process of a collection of ideas from a notebook that I keep, things I see, books I read, and certainty that particular fabrics are perfect for a quilt I am thinking about.

Make a list of quilts you either have cut out or purchased fabric for and see what pops out of the list as a "to do first". You may be surprised at what sounds like fun. It also helps determine what goes on the free table at guild. Monkey be gone.

This is how UFOs are born.