Quilt Tops Count
 

Yesterday I decided I would pull out all my quilt tops and take photos of them and count them to see how many I had.

I was totally shocked when the count came to 72 !!

Going through them I even found quilt tops I couldn't even remember sewing. Many are hand pieced and are large quilts, some over 25 years old but in excellent condition. Many have the backing fabric and/or binding already with them.

Many of them I won't get around to quilting so I will sell them or donate them so they can be quilted and given away. As I was counting them and the count got so high, I thought about an article I read recently about a gentleman whose wife had passed and left a whole pile of quilt tops and he learned how to quilt to get them finished. Not sure my DH would be that inspired though.

Here are some of the older ones and these are all hand pieced.

Wow that's quite a few. I am afraid to count mine now.

Very nice quilt tops.

If you don't want to keep the lovely red/white/blue quilt-tops you posted, they would qualify to be donated to the quilts-of-valor effort; they will find someone who will long-arm them for free and get them passed on to worthy veterans in need. Its such a noble cause too.

Beautiful trip down memory lane with you. Hope they get quilted and into use!

Love your hand pieced oldies and the William Morris motto in your post. Glad to hear that someone else has more quilts than I do! Have a dozen waiting to be quilted when my daughter gets her new (faulty)machine fixed and running!!

That is a lot of tops. Love the ones you've shown so far.

Great tops and good luck getting them done.

Amazing, wonder how many unfinished projects I have.....

After we moved to a small flat I realized I had to seriously downsize my hobby stuff so I gave away all my unfinished quilts. Most of them were partially quilted and the rest were held together with rusting old fashioned safety pins! My new resolution is to completely finish one quilt before I allow myself to start another.

I donated 19 tops this year to a group that quilts them for battered women. I thought I was bad about stacking up tops!!!

Ha ha Lyn, my grandson always asks, ok grandma how many quilts do you have upstairs and what are you going to do with them? Not sure, never counted them. I'm sure not 72 but they are accumulating. I just can't seem to give them away, they seem a part of me. lol

nicely done

Finding all those beautiful tops must have been like a trip down memory lane!

What a treat to see some of those older fabrics in such pristine condition. I especially like the navy fabric next to the neutral in the first quilt.

great tops!!!

Your quilts are lovely. I have quite a few too, but only about 20, I think I need to finish them too.

This was my thought as well. All the tops posted are quite lovely.

72!!! I have probably that many still in the fabric totes, yet to be sewn or even cut out. At least yours are done and such a beautiful job of piecing. Am sure that my husband won't be inspired so I had better get busy.

I have 3 that need quilting and it bothers me. I admire your laid back attitude. It's better than constant obsession to leave nothing undone. Those are so pretty, I can't imagine forgetting them.

They are beauties. BrendaK

Lovely tops. They deserved to finished off and enjoyed as they were intended.

I hope we get to see pics of the others, too! :)

I was just thinking the same thing.

Beautiful work! You have a good plan for dealing with them.

I'd love to help finish them off and donate them. I love to quilt, but don't have much money to buy fabric.

Nice quilts.

These look like they are ready for QOV (Quilts of Valor) donation.

Those are nice quilt tops!

I say it's time for you to stop piecing & start to finish those 72 tops! :) I have one top unfinished & it's driving me crazy that I can't seem to get the last few blocks made to get it sandwiched & quilted. Your quilt tops are beautiful.

I like 'em all, just send me one, I'll finish it, but not returning it, lol!!!
hugs,
dj

In the beginning, learning how to quilt, I had to push myself hard to finish a quilt. I love doing the patchwork. I love to design I love the patterns. Finishing the quilts always seems like 'work'. It doesn't on every quilt but especially in the beginning. By pushing myself I developed the habit of getting most of them done. I will always have a number of UFOs' around just because I do.
Your quilts are beautiful. I am especially fond of the lover's knot. This pattern has special meaning to me. Donating them to be finished is a great Idea.

Wow! I don’t know if I am brave enough to count. Definitely, a memory lane trip

Beautiful work!!!

Wow, when I had eight to be quilted, I freaked out. I quilted them all, and I promised myself I'd never do that again. I'm quilting one of my latest quilts right now, and I have two more to go. I won't be doing anymore piecing until those three are finished. I really like the idea of donating the tops to organizations that quilt them and then donate them. I'd do that for the tops you don't have special attachment to and then get busy on the rest. This is one of the reasons why I do a simple meander on most of my quilts. It's faster.

I don't worry about unfinished tops going to waste, someone somewhere will want them
I did think about what my needs and goals were though, and started making a lot more complicated tops with much smaller pieces, since it is the patchwork I love, I don't care if I ever quilt another quilt ;)

Oh my goodness, you have me beat. i am now putting two together. front and back in order to use them up.

Very nice quilt tops. You have a lot of tops to get done for sure.

I love your quilt tops. For sure they should find good homes where the owners will treasure them. I don't have any unfinished quilt tops. Sometimes the quilts hang around for a while unbound, but I am very avid to take my finished tops to the quilter when I finish them.:D