I hate to beak this news to you. Even after you stop working...you still will not have enough time.

A friend gave me this idea - write all the names of the quilts/projects you want to do and put them in a jar. Then draw one out and that is what you do. Cutting in line is allowed but this has really helped me to start working on projects that I have gathered fabric, pattern, thread, etc., for.

I've been stewing with this question myself lately. I have groups of fabric I have collected without specific projects in mind, so one of the challenges is to find an appropriate quilt to suit the fabric out of one of the gagillion quilts I've pinned on Pinterest. I get overwhelmed into immobility! Of the fabric I have, I get worried I'm not going to make the right choice and waste the fabric that I love. So stressful... On top of that I like to kinda design my own and am trying to learn EQ8, but it isn't happening fast enough to suit me. :( OH the trials! :D

this is me too......for all the good it does....LOL :D

I keep a couple boards on Pinterest.. One is All about stash... which is quilt ideas that I could make from my stash... Usually pretty scrappy, and colorful. The other is The Short List...which are the ones that I really want to make, have all the fabrics and patterns for, or are needed for a class project, graduation, or other occasion.
I often deviate, or have a squirrel moment where I jump onto a new idea without any consideration to The Short List, but that's the fun of quilting!

Staying at home doesn't work! I know this because I'm in the same predicament!! Now I have to make a quilt for someone else first, so I have a little more time to decide!

I keep a running list in a pretty journal that I assess monthly and revise goals if necessary. It really helps me focus. I do “interrupt” myself for baby quilts and guild or board challenges in which I have decided to participate. I have been retired since last June and while I can’t say the day doesn’t get away from me sometimes, I still sew for longer uninterrupted periods, and finish more projects, because I sew when I am more awake and the light is better.

Although I am a very organized and methodical person in my work life, when it comes to making quilts I tend to be highly distractable. My treat to myself is to hit the fabric store and buy myself a length of fabric. That may be the start of my next project that I have to start right now. Sometimes I'll see a quilt posted here and I think "I have that fabric - I could make that!" so I dig out the fabric and start that right away. Or I'll see an interesting color combination on Pinterest, or a kit on Craftsy and I have to do that right away. The UFO's proliferate.

I have a bucket list folder on my computer, various quilt books and magazines with flags sticking out of them, and a lot of ideas saved on Pinterest and I just browse them until something calls my name. Or, I see a fabric I love and try to figure out what to do with it. Or, if I need to make a particular kind or color of quilt for some reason I do some googling until something fits. Or, I get a blast from my own past and actually finish a UFO, often making slight changes that resolve whatever drove me away from the project originally. It's a decidedly whimsical process, and I like it that way.