PiedPiper

I have been commissioned by my MIL to make a quilt for my niece (her granddaughter). She wants me to make a tulip quilt, and as I am piecing approximately eleventy-million tulip blocks, I got to wondering how others approach projects like this.

Do you work on one element at a time, and keep going until you've completed all of that one; then move to the next one, etc.?

Or do you (like me) skip around from one element to another as the mood strikes you? For this quilt, I have cut all the pieces (I always want to be sure I have all the fabric I need before I start sewing), but then I make some petals, get bored, move on to making some flower centers, get bored, work on some stems, get bored, decide I want to see some complete blocks, make some of those, go back to making petals....etc. etc.

Maybe this is related to all those UFOs in my house... (Although, having said that, most of those UFOs are actually completed tops which are just awaiting sandwiching and quilting, so it's not all that bad!)

I'm interested to find out what other people's styles are!

ktbb

IT depends on how my day is going and what the deadline is. If I"m making something specific for someone, I sew till it's done. If I'm working on something for me, my stitching schedule is more flexible and I come and go with the project as my mood dictates. I rarely work from patterns any more and stop/start has become more intuitive.

toverly

You are good to make a quilt for your niece, forget the MIL. (LOL) If there is a deadline, I bite the bullet and get it done. As quick as possible. Cut everything, sew everything, assemble and quilt. Assembly line. But if I am making a quilt that I want to make. I definitely have ADD. Here there and everywhere. 4-5 different projects at a time. Sometimes I cut, sometimes I sew, sometimes a block at a time. Seldom working on the same thing all the way thru.

mea12

I like assembly line style ..sew first element the zillion times in a row and then the 2nd piece so all are done same way before moving on to stems ..at the end it’s nice to have all blocks finished at once!

SusieQOH

I rarely work on one project at a time. I get bored! Generally I piece all the blocks at the same stage (probably why I get bored)
but often I work on another project as well and then go back and forth.
I hear ya!

Iceblossom

I prefer to do all of one step at a time. So first I gather and prepare my fabrics. Then I cut my fabrics into the strips, I sew the strips together, I make whatever set of sub-units, and so forth. I much prefer to do assembly line to block by block. Yes, it can cause problems if I make a mistake -- but it's a consistent problem so therefore easy to remedy if time consuming.

It is a lot of what I call "front loading" and yes, often boring since I usually make queen sized projects but then when all the tiny little pieces are made and you start putting things together it becomes a joyous thing.

I'm currently working on a project that I can't really go assembly line. I'm at the block by block stage and it would be easier in many ways for me to work in my normal way, but this is a planned scrap layout and it gets too confusing to work on more than 4 or so blocks at a time and ultimately single block is the way to go -- but it's not the way I want.

Rhonda K

Maybe I feel like cutting fabrics, maybe I feel like ironing, stitching or playing on the embroidery machine. I can be a left-brain scatter brain on some days going from project to project. In the end, they get done.

My current quilt is quite involved with numerous fabrics, different cuts, and units to make the blocks. I have to be in brain-on mode for it.

Good luck with your quilt project!

Jordan

I usually start a project and keep going until it is finished then I work on the back and get batting and off to the longarmer it goes. I used to make some blocks then I would see something else I wanted to try and on and on. My friend called it "chicken scratching"! I would hop from one thing to another

Onebyone

I cut fabric pieces enough for several blocks at a time and make one block at a time. I'd rather have a finished block then lots of half finished ones.

Tartan

If a pattern is boring, I set an amount of time to work on it interspersed with other projects.