Deborah, I have heard a lot of ladies worry about these issues...how to afford fabric post retirement and also what happens to your stash if you die. First of all, I love having a big stash. It gets my creative juices flowing. I get a lot of joy out of collecting the fabrics, too. I do a lot of improv so a big stash really helps there.

Many guilds donate the stashes of members who have passed on to the younger quilters who cannot afford fabric. Last year in one local guild a young woman got up and thanked members for putting fabric out on the free table at meetings as free was all she could afford. She was making really lovely quilts from these cast-offs. So your fabric will find another home.

On the subject of UFO's...I am totally guilty of being a starter and not a finisher. There are three reasons why I keep generating tops and filling my UFO cupboard:

1. I get really jazzed by something I see or dream up and just have to start it right away! I actually like having a few projects on the go as I tend to get bored with only one. I like to switch it up.

2. I find I start a project, often in a workshop to learn a new technique and find I do not like the class work I bring home. I have learned to walk away from projects like that...ones I do not enjoy. Pieced work unfinished goes into an orphan block basket. It's big...

3. I got my piecing skills refined wayyyyyy before I learned to free motion quilt. Quilting is a completely separate skill set, and I did not want my really beautifully made tops being quilted up badly. So I am now refining my free motion skills so I can get the work done from start to finish. But...that means I have a lot of tops waiting.

I call mine WIPs (works in progress), instead of UFOs because that way I can console myself that I'm still working on it. I also work small so I don't have a big investment in my projects so a lot of the time I just consider them a learning experience and move on. Life is too short to spend your time working on something you don't like.

Well, I have more UFOs than know what to do with, but I can't blame sandwiching, basting or quilting because I take my completed tops (with pieced backs) to a long armer.

My excuse is a short attention span and the glitter of the new. Why keep working on the same old project when there are so many other patterns/techniques/colors to explore? I am guilty, but feel no guilt (quilt guilt?) This is my hobby and I make the rules! (Actually, there are no rules.)

I am relatively new to quilting so I don't have UFO's. I have pieced 5 quilts in the past year and a half but sent them to my cousin to quilt them, so I am not doing the whole process. I recently made a lap quilt for a Christmas present and did the entire process so that was a first for me. My problem is that I have fabric and pattern for a quilt for my grandson waiting for me to start. I have made 3 quilts since I purchased it. Now I refuse to start anything else until I make this one. For the past week I have had plenty of time to start it but nope! I have read the directions, watched You tubes for similar patterns, ready to start but nope! I guess I don't have UFO's, I have UTB - Unwillingness To Begin!