Not a lot going on here!

Yep, lack of posting means lack of quilting. I'm in an April rut just like I was in a January rut. I think part of the problem is starting "short term" projects without thinking them through enough, and then realizing they are more work than I thought and feeling bogged down.

Well a few weeks ago (on time, although I neve got around to posting about it...) I finished the top for the Connecting Threads Mystery BOM.

I like how it turned out. Personally the lavender border called for in the pattern seems too wide to me - it dwarfs the actual meat of the quilt in the center. I added the different color for the four corners which I think helped.

I have no idea what to do with this top. I have definitely reached the stage in my quilting career where I am making more stuff than I need for myself. I think I have three options:

1. Give the top to my guild for charity - the advantage here is that I don't need to bother to finish it
2. Give it to a friend - how do I pick who? I thought about just posting on facebook asking if anyone wanted it but that could lead to favoritism or something (or what if someone I'm not actually that close to says they want it?)
3. Start a little etsy storefront and sell it at cost. 

I like the etsy idea for future quilts, because quilting is expensive and it would be nice to make what I wanted and not stress about costs because I would be recuperating them. But even if I tried to sell these quilts at cost, I'm not sure anyone would want to pay for them. I don't think people realize how darn expensive quilting is!

For this one, I got the fabric really cheap so I could probably post it for $40. (I'm guessing about $20 for the batting plus I would need fabric for the backing and binding, the fabrics used in it cost less than $10 total). But would somebody want to buy a quilt that isn't perfect? This definitely has some wobbly lines and such.  I just don't know! Also, is it worth the time and effort to buy the batting, make the binding, quilt and finish it, just for 40 bucks? Hmm, probably not.

So, what do you do with spare quilt tops?

Okay, onto what I (should be) working on right now...

I am moving over the summer, which is coming up soon! We have already started to sort and get rid of excess stuff from around the house. My goal between now and then is to finish ALL my UFOs and not start any new big projects, because I would just have to box them up anyways.
If I end up with spare time, I want to get pieces cut and prepped for hand applique and EPP projects for the period during my move when my quilting supplies are boxed up.

Okay so here is my personal countdown-to-move list:

1. Charity wholecloth - I HAVE to finish quilting this thing! I think my initial design was way too ambitious...I've only gotten to that navy blue and white area.
   
   
2. Quilted Jacket - This is going to take a good amount of time...I need to piece the sleeves, then probably do some decorative quilting on the whole thing, then assemble. 
   
3. Block of the month...well here is a thought. I was planning on doing quilt as you go. But frankly that sounds stressful and maybe too ambitious for a project that I just need to go ahead and finish up. I haven't cut up the batting at all.  I have cut up the backing pieces. But maybe I'll just make a quick pieced back. So I think I should go ahead and pick some darn sashing (it's hard to find a color to unite all of these) and just quilt this like a normal quilt. Sometimes you have to scale it back....
   
4. Stairway to Cat Heaven #2...this is another one I don't know what to do with. It was a commission that kind of failed. Should I finish it and post on Etsy? Finish it and give it to someone? Not sure...
   
5. Layer cake bargello. I started this without a plan. It's fun. I figure once I complete the center bargello I'll do a fancy border with blocks.  There is no time rush on this and it folds up small so maybe I don't have to finish it before I move. However, I might want to be yardage from this fabric line while it's still available.

Those are all the main ones. Guess I should get going!  Just writing them down and thinking about them helps me wrap my head around what I need to work on next.