Scrap Quilt Update

Posted on July 1, 2017 by prairiemoonquilts in Quilts

Well, today is the first day of the second half of 2017.

I thought I’d check in and give you an update on those 25 scrap quilts I’m planning to finish by the end of the year!

It’s evident that I’m going great guns at piecing, but I have no time to actually quilt my own quilts once the tops are finished. This is highly discouraging, since a large part of the reason for purchasing a longarm machine was so that I could quilt my own quilts. I’ve kinda let the customer stuff take over!

I have 42 quilt tops in my to-be-quilted pile, but while my customer backlog is still in the double digits, I don’t feel right taking the time to work on things of my own, unless they have a firm deadline, which these scrap quilts do not.

Thirteen of these 42 quilt tops are true scrappy quilts, so if I could finish those, I’d be over halfway finished with my 25 scrap quilts for the year. They also don’t need fancy quilting, so once I can justify a little bit of quilting time for myself, they shouldn’t take long.

Here’s the only scrap quilt I’ve completely finished so far this year:

It’s my first version of the Scrappy Irish Chain quilt by Jesse Fincham. This used up a lot of my 2 1/2″ squares I had cut, and even the background fabric came from my stash.

(You can see four other scrap quilt tops I finished and get the information on the Scrappy Irish Chain free pattern by checking out yesterday’s post.)

Here’s some pictures of a few other scrap quilt tops I have ready to be quilted.

This one is Scrap Jar Stars from a free tutorial by Amber at Gigi’s Thimble. I used up a lot of red and blue print scraps making this one. It’s been done for a long time, just not quilted yet . . .

This one is a 36-Patch from a quilt-along/free tutorial by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts. This one used up lots of fun scraps, and I’ve had it finished even longer than the Scrap Jar Stars quilt. Will it ever get quilted?

This one is also from a tutorial by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, called Straightforward:

I’ve made two of these in different colors. I just made these two this past January, so they haven’t marinated quite as long as some of the tops I have in the pile!

So that’s just a sampling of the scrap quilts I plan to finish by the end of the year. The other 12 quilts are all very close to becoming finished tops, and if I can just have another productive retreat like the last one, I might get them all finished.

It will remain to be seen if I can find the time to squeeze them into my quilting schedule!

I also had a goal of making 50 pillowcases this year, and so far, I’ve managed to eek out 9 finished ones. But our guild is having a pillowcase drive soon, so I hope to step up my efforts on those pretty soon — meaning, after my nearest looming deadline is past!

Did you make any quilting goals at the beginning of the year?
How are you coming along on them, now that we’re at the halfway point?

14 responses to “Scrap Quilt Update”

  1. Mary H. says:

    You should designate a day for your very own Longarm Retreat at home. It’s probably the only way you’ll be able to quilt your own tops without feeling guilty.

  2. randy says:

    I think leaving your self last is a way you simply will never get those tops quilted. You are really your most important customer. You have taught me so much about tackling things in bits and pieces. Setting a goal of one personal quilt in on the first and third Mondays. Leave the binding Just get a plan. We are back making the central Maine quilt. I got the salmon swimming up the Penobscot to spawn…I have learned so much since we started the quilt blocks.

  3. Meloney says:

    I’m behind on my UFOs, but I’m up to date on the ones I have had to start. I have so many things I’d like to get done. We shall see if July is better than June. I’ll be gone for a few days this coming week on a GS trip, so that will mean I need to take my hand work with me. Maybe I can finish that one table runner I’m making.

  4. Crystal says:

    You have been busy…I love scrappy quilts. I set aside one day a week just for me…to work in any project that I want…guilt free!

    Crystal in Cedar City

  5. And what a beauty your finished scrap quilt. Yeah for Shelly. I committed to working on 17 WIPs for 2017 and am happy to report I have worked on 9 of them and made progress. Some I’ve even finished.

  6. Barb Bevell says:

    Love your quilts!!

    Do you realize if you scheduled one of your quilts in each week, you’d have 25 done by the end of the year? (Not counting this week?) you could do that. You are a customer, too. Your pile will go down and you’ll feel good about it. Your customers can wait a day or two more. They won’t know any different. Just do it!

    • Marlene Clausen says:

      I was going to suggest pretty much the same thing. If you have a stack of customer quilts, put one of yours every 5th? 10? top and treat yourself like you would any of your other customers. Your customer has a name, she gave you one of her precious tops to be quilted, and expects it finished in a “reasonable” amount of time. If you bind quilts for your customers, then do that, too.

  7. Gayla Pappenfoht says:

    These are beautiful! I love them all….

  8. Lyn says:

    I love your scrappy quilts, nice and bright and cheery. I currently have around 100 quilt tops waiting to be quilted, I don’t have a long-arm machine, just do all my own quilting on my domestic Janome. I can piece 2-3 for every one I can get quilted and bound. It is never-ending but I love what I do and one day they might all get quilted…

  9. Darlene says:

    Your quilts are beautiful thank you for sharing. Thank you for inspiring me!

  10. Firmly set aside one day just for your quilts each month. If they don’t need fancy quilting, you could get 2 done on each day. =) I know how hard this is – I didn’t do it either, and after ten years of business, I didn’t have ONE quilt I quilted. =P

  11. Rose Marie says:

    I agree that your work is important……but so is making a living. Set your priorities by what is practical first. I have to go to work a few hours a week because I committed to it. And the money makes my quilting possible. So balance is necessary. But having a few things done is also necessary to artists…….you must feed that part of your soul also. I’m no help, am I?

  12. Dar in Mo says:

    After reading your intro to this post, I must admit that you might be might long lost sister! I have exactly the same problem as you do with why I got a longarm and now have trouble getting my own done because “customers come first”. At least I don’t think I have as many finished tops “waiting to be quilted”, but my UFO list is slightly under 80 now. (It started out at over 150 about 7 years ago), so I’m making progress there. I did the 50+ pillowcases for 2 years running, so took off this year. Looking forward to meeting you in person when you come to St. Charles in August.

  13. katie z. says:

    I’m doing great on my goals, but that’s how I work. I am highly motivated by ticking things off the list, and I don’t have a long arm with customers waiting for me to quilt their tops!

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