Yesterday two of my local quilty friends, Andrea and Lee, came over to help me get prepped and start moving my scattered quilting stuff to my new space in the basement. It isn't quite done yet, hopefully by the end of the week. But the closets are in and were ready to be loaded. So load and fold and inventory we did.
I love my fabric, but I must finally admit that I do indeed have enough. I've really got to use more before I buy more. Or find it a new home. But I've known that for a while. What was more.shocking to me was the amount of quilt tops, WIPs, and intentional quilts that I had.
O M G
Instead of burying it all back in bins and ignoring that I might perhaps have a problem with starting and not finishing quilts I decided to actually inventory all those piles. And because I believe in full disclosure of my faults here is a full listing of all the projects awaiting my attention. I've numbered them for full effect.
Quilt Tops - Ready for Quilting
1. Anniversary Quilt
2. Cosmos Blocks
3. Wine Gums
4. Improv Sampler
5. My version of Checkerboard from Sunday Morning Quilts
6. Slaveship Quilt Inspired by The Book of Negroes
7. Gum on Concrete, my version of Splash from Sunday Morning Quilts
8. An old Amy Butler quilt top I picked up a sample sale
Quilts - Basted and Started Quilting
9. Girlie Quilt
10. Low Volume Circles
Works in Progress
11. Mid Mod Bee - Blocks to be assembled into a top
12. Unscripted Bee - Waiting for a couple of blocks, then to be assembled
13. Hand Pieced Diamonds - always ongoing
14. More Cosmic Burst blocks - I have a whole other set of blocks for a baby quilt
15. Voiles - Still cutting and piecing every now and then
16. Name quilt for my daughter - haven't done anything since this post
17. Chandelier quilt - was so close, then discovered a big mistake and have never fixed it
18. Mountain Meadows - have made no more blocks since
19. Liberty Circles - I make a handful every now and then but I'm still not assembling the top
20. Blue and green Christmas Tree quilt - I cut the pieces last year then promptly put them away
21. The alternate pink/black/white blocks I started when working on the girlie quilt
22. Respite - a project started in a Bill Kerr design workshop
23. Pieced Stars - a BOM I started years ago when I wanted to do some precision piecing breaks when doing a lot of improv
24. Japanese Curves - Fell in love with a Japanese fabric and a curvy pattern, took a class, never finished
25. The Water Quilt
26. Maple Leaves
Class Samples (Pieces I work on while teaching, as examples)
27. A values quilt in neutrals
28. Green/Yellow/Orange Improv blocks
Intentional Quilts
29. Sympatico and Organic solid stack
30. Lucky Penny Bike Path
31. Some vintage feedsacks intended for Amanda's quilt from Fresh Fabric Treats
32. Turkey reds, blues, and whites for a striped project
33. A collection of screen printed and low-volume favourites
To cap all this off, as Andrea and Lee were leaving the mail arrived, and in it was a fat quarter collection of Architextures, my friend Carolyn's new line.
O M G
!
21 comments:
God forbid anyone should do an audit of my basement/stash palace. I really want to see that indigo Book of Negroes quilt made up - love those prints.
whoa! And suddenly I don't feel so bad about my WIP's (surely not more than 10 quilts in various stages of progress...) Thanks! ;)
YAY!! I get to show my husband this list and he is never allowed to complain about my pile of 7 WIPS and mini stash.
Just remember that this is all for fun, so you do what you want when you want and enjoy it! And now you have the space to store it :-)
E
Been there! Done that! I edited and I really am trying to be a good girl. lol
my fabric room shares space with 'stuff' that I either need to (finally) put on Ebay or just haul it off to the Goodwill (but this is the GOOD STUFF!)
On to my fabric staff (that isn't even sorted into any kind of order)
Quite frankly, this room scares me more than just a little! 0.0 I only wander in when I NEED something (like thread) *grin*
Good on you Cheryl for getting your room sorted out!
You're my kind of quilter!!!
Gosh, I've been quilting for 20 years and don't have as many UFOs as you do! Thanks for making me feel so good!
And your book looks awesome. I've only seen peeps of it on quilters' blogs, but the pictures look great. Keep up the creativity!
I've only been quilting for about 2 years and I already have noticed that I rather start stuff then finish stuff. I think that is normal. Don't be so hard on yourself. You have lots of time to work on these projects and still be inspired to make new projects. By the way I love your book Sunday Morning Quilts.
Lol, Cheryl!
I came to a similar realization when I moved into my studio...somehow having had it scattered in various bins, boxes, closets, and things had me not quite realizing how many WIPs and how much fabric I had.
The good news is that having it all sorted and in one place has made it much easier to use up!
Now that you've done the inventory you need to decide what to do with them all (finish them, bail on the project, trade it with someone, etc.)
Pat Sloan has a terrific 12 point system for being HONEST with your WIPs - check it out!
And good luck of course.
Wow, just a few UFO'S lol Hope you manage to get through this lot. I love your cupboard, I just squeezed painted bookcases inside my cupboard, wish I had thought of this.
That is an impressive number, it is a good thing you are going to have some more quilting space! And you are so lucky to get the Architextures!
I have no problem with decorating with unfinished works. I have several unfinished quilt tops hanging around my studio and it looks intentional. I also have loads of fabric that is no longer my style but that is accidental.
Well, the good news is that you always have something you can be doing if you were to ever have time to get bored…?
At least the clear-out gives you a chance to refocus and see what you've got going on. All those orphans get attention again. And thanks for making me feel better about my pile of WIPs and intentionals… But I'll probably be adding Architextures to my stash, too. It's far too pretty to resist.
I like to think of your list as pages in your quilter's portfolio. It's brimming with good stuff.
I know how you feel, Cheryl. I just recently took an inventory of my WIPs and UFOs. I have something like 30 quilts in the mix in varying degrees of doneness.
This makes me feel so much better. I have 29 projects in a list just like this, and it's nice to know I'm not alone haha! Writing the list has really helped me sew with the intent of finishing something, rather than starting new projects. Hopefully it will be useful for you as well; its a great way to keep yourself accountable.
I'm afraid to count my quilts waiting to be quilted. if only I could afford to have someone else quilt them. Have to admit I'm a starter more than a finisher and definitely a hoarder of fabric. 2013 will be more goal driven to use and finish.
The other day my husband finally figured out that I have a lot of fabric! For so long, he just didn't notice, and now it's like, "STOP!". So, I guess I'm on a fabric diet, too. Sounds like it's time for you to get those WIP finished up! It was nice for you to have help organizing.
Mylanta!!!
How fun to have friends come and help you out with a daunting task like that.
I love that you listed all your WIPs here and let us see what your inventory is like. I love reading other peoples lists! Perhaps I'm just nosy? Perhaps you would like to join me for finish it up Friday some week? (ok, now I'm just being cheeky!)
Have fun with those projects and remember that finishing is FUN!
Cheryl.
I can't work on more than 2 projects at a time (in my professional life I start and finish everything on a time line) as it leaves me feeling scattered.
Last year my friend Jackie (Birds on a Wire designer)decided she had to cut down on her ufo's because I had inspired her. I believ she has gone from 44 to 12 left to complete - all started with a list and the stage that each quilt was at. Now she has inspired me to be more creative.
Good luck and enjoy the process.
Bernie
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