As you may have noticed from the past couple of posts, I have quite a few quilts in various unfinished states. Some quilters call these UFO’s (unfinished objects) because they languish in a state of incompletion for a long time and sometimes don’t ever get completed. A lot of quilters dislike having large stacks of UFO’s and there are drives and contests and other pushes to finish them.
Having Lots of UFO’s Can Be Part Of The Quilting Process
Though I love finishing my unfinished quilts and getting that sense of satisfaction that finishing them provides, having things in a variety of stages of completion is part of my quilting process. I don’t mind having things in a lot of stages of completion because I often work in small blocks of quilting time, often at the end of days filled with lots of obligations. Having quilts in various stages of completion gives me the opportunity to pick a project that matches the energy I have and the task I’m in the mood to do.
I usually have quilt fabrics for projects pulled and waiting to be templated or rotary cut, I have lots of bins of scraps that I use for scrap quilts. These scraps either get cut down to specific sizes or sewn together as they are into crumb blocks, depending upon what size the scraps are. I have projects with units pinned together and ready to chain piece, and other projects that need to have their pieces pinned together into units. Since what I like to do the most are the steps that create blocks, I have lots of sets of blocks that are finished and waiting to be made into quilt tops.
Bottlenecks In My Quilting Process
I have my bottlenecks in the process where things DO languish because those tasks in the quilting process are not my favorite. For some reason, cutting setting squares, sashing, borders and binding are not in my list of favorite activities so things often languish a while before I get in the mood to do that. Then things languish again when it comes to joining the blocks together to form the top. Working with the blocks and sashing to put together a whole top is a bit cumbersome because the pieces get big, but I do eventually, when I have enough blocks, get around to putting the blocks together into quilt tops.
What About You? What Are The Bottlenecks In Your Quilting Process? What Are Your Favorite Parts Of Quilting?
What about you? Where are the bottlenecks in your process? What are your favorite and least favorite parts of the quilting process?
The turtle quilt I’m sharing today is one that I have a lot of the blocks made for. I’ve put those blocks together a few or a bunch at a time as time, energy, and my mood have allowed. I have about a third of the blocks for the turtle quilt completed, so there’s more sewing to do before I start joining the blocks, but I did want to get a peek at what the finished quilt might look like, so I put them up on the design wall and took a picture to share. I’m pleased with the way the blocks work together.
I’m Motivated To start Considering The Backing For This Quilt After Seeing It On The Design Wall
Seeing the blocks on the design wall has spurred me into thinking about what I might do for a backing. I’m fond of pieced backs because they provide a second quilt, in a way. I’m expecting to do a pieced back for the turtle quilt. Questions still remain about the design for the backing – and the color. One thing is pretty sure…regardless of color or design choices, when I get ready to shop for backing fabric, I’ll turn to my bargain fabric list and visit my favorite sites for bargain fabrics.
Thoughts on backing anyone?
I’m sharing this post at the Handmade Monday #332 Blog linkup.
I’m sharing this post at The Really Crafty Linkup
I’m sharing this post at Monday Musings
