Basting Spree

DH will be home in about an hour, and boy, did I stay busy while he was gone! He helped me layout the first quilt after we set up the basting tables.

Quilt top #1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

All of these are now basted, and the first one is almost half quilted. I don't pin baste as closely as I used to now that I have a machine with a larger harp. Where I used to shoot for a pin every 3-4 inches, I now shoot for a pin every 6-8 inches. I do pin closely on the edge, but the middle I don't, especially when I'm using 100% cotton batting since the fabric clings to it so nicely. I actually still have some pins left. I have four jars of pins, and I emptied three of them and went into the fourth. With DH coming home, I took down the basting tables, and moved all the living room furniture back into place. I'll be basting a couple smaller quilts, but I can do that on my cutting table in the basement. 

When I started basting, quilt #2 wasn't assembled, and I hadn't pieced the backing for quilt #3. I did those things while I was taking breaks from basting. I could have finished a couple more big quilt tops and basted today, but honestly, I think basting some smaller quilts makes better sense. One of the big quilts I had planned to baste needs borders, two of those are already cut, and the pieced border is partially assembled. The thing is, I've misplaced the cut borders. I know I haven't used them for anything else. I know they are in my sewing room, not the fabric room, and my guess is they are at the bottom of a pile. Rather than tear my sewing room apart looking for them, I'm working my way through the piles instead. I've found piles of quilt blocks I had completely forgotten about. Cooler weather is absolutely my favorite time to assemble quilts, so as I find piles of blocks, I'm assembling them into quilt tops. I've got three quilts worth of rows slung across my ironing board right now! 

I was thinking about why I have so many stacks of quilt blocks, and I think I've figured it out. In 2022, we we gone from home for three months. Before we left, I stuck was I was working on aside, and worked on deadline stuff when I got back. In 2023 we were gone for four months. Before I left I stuck what I was working on aside, and when I got back worked on deadline stuff. Last year we were home all year, but my priority was quilting UFO's and I finished 40 quilts. This year has been non-stop, and in total we've been gone for four months over three different trips. 

I do still have deadline projects, three of which are now basted! I have to make a baby quilt for a November baby, but I'm thinking it might be Christmas before the baby gets it. I still have Christmas projects to make for my family. In the midst of those projects, I'm going to be tackling the stacks of blocks all over my sewing and fabric rooms. Some of them are neatly in project organizers, but my goal is to assemble as many quilts as I can while the weather is cooler. 

I want to keep basting quilts as I have pins available too. I pieced a backing for a smaller quilt today, and I cut the batting for it too. I need a year (or more) to play catch up. That said, piecing is my favorite thing to do! So how do I slow down the piecing and start getting caught up on projects? I'm planning on tackling that from a couple different directions. I have a few piecing heavy projects that I've been wanting to do. I have two sampler quilts on my list, and those always take longer because all the blocks are different. I think 2026 is a good time to start those.

Scrap quilts are always something I allow myself to start otherwise the scraps take over. I'm thinking string quilts and crumb quilts are going to slow me down as well. Those require a LOT of piecing, so I can get lots of piecing in, but not make the blocks for that many quilts. 

If I can keep a stack of quilts basted, and consistently FMQ an hour per day, I will make progress on the backlog. I'm not sure how much travelling 2026 will have. We have at least one big trip planned, but a couple other options are on the table as well. Our plan is to stay at home for the winter. I'm not sure how likely that is with both my parents having health issues, but for now, I'm going to plan like we are staying home for the winter. Working on the things I prefer to do in cooler weather is what's important right now, because cooler weather doesn't last long in southern Arizona.