Leaders and Enders Woes!

 Good Morning all!

Lately i have been sorting through my scraps :-(  This started because I pulled out a drawer looking for a fabric that I knew was there.  Sigh, I never should have pulled that drawer out because it started a complete avalanche of scrap sorting that I have been putting off - ignoring really in the hope that they will go away LOL!

Anyways, I pieced three more preemie quilt tops and a scrappy rail-fence (I will show that later); and, in the process I completely filled up my 2" square bin and started a rather large 2" square bin of children't prints!

I store mine in plastic shoe boxes as they are easy to store and stack; and, hold more than you think!  I mean, check this out - this 2" square box is full!

And heavy!  I had this bin down to about 1/3 and now it's overflowing again -sigh!

I packaged up my Scrappy Swoon blocks from a couple blog posts again and still need 10 16-patches to get going on the assembly of this quilt.  I was able to piece 10 while I was making the preemie quilts and rail fence - so just 10 more needed!!

While I was doing my scrap cutting I decided to pull out a couple of my other leaders and enders (L&E) projects that I have on the go.  The scrappy bow-ties that Bonnie Hunter inspired a few years ago.  And the Split Nine-Patch I started a few years ago.

I have a lot of blocks done but not nearly enough to make a quilt!!

This means I have two more L&E projects on the go after I finish the Scrappy Swoon quilt!!  Oh man!

As I was pulling down bins of projects my Christmas bin almost fell on my head! (The bins are stored on a shelf up over my head!).  So, of course, I opened it up!

Tumblers, half-square triangles (HST) and 2" squares - oh my!  Doing a quick look at this bin I see that a Jacob's Ladder quilt would be beautiful in these Christmas prints!  So, that makes 3 L&E projects I have to finish!

Long time readers may remember these blocks from my Scrappy Christmas Quilt A Long I ran sever years ago.  Well, now, it appears that I have enough for another whole quilt already cut out!!

With three L&E projects in the wings and one large one almost ready to assemble (not to mention one ready to go on the frame!) I seem to have A LOT of scrap projects ready to go! 

So, the question is - do I continue with these L&E style or just start piecing them?  Hmmm . . . . . . of course I have other projects I am working on; but, right now I feel a little overwhelmed to be honest.  Although, I don't need any of these quilts except for a trunk show that I am doing at The Quilting Quarters next month.

I need to pick one to work on next and I need to choose how to proceed.  So, do I dive in and start chain piecing or continue on??  What would you do?

Ride For Dad T-Shirt Quilt

Happy Saturday All!

We have actual sun here today!  Wahoo!  Sun just instantly lifts my spirits!

I thought that I would post another t-shirt quilt I've been working on.  I found this grouping of Ride For Dad t-shirts at a thrift store and I thought that they would make a nice grouping for a quilt; and, afterwards it could make a nice donation as Ride For Dad raises money for prostate cancer.  Or, maybe someone will fall in love with it and want to purchase it!!

I'm not sure if I want to add borders onto this or not; so, I think I'll put this on a hanger and put it into the closet for a while; or, maybe one of my awesome readers has a suggestions???

So, why am I making all these t-shirt quilts?  I want to start taking in some t-shirts to make these for other people so I wanted to get process, costs, supplies and time down so I can give accurate quotes to people.  Accurate and also fair to both of us and paying myself a wage that that will make taking this on worth it!  

So frequently I see quilters selling items or offering their services in a manner that is completely undervaluing their time and skill.  To me, this is a disservice to the quilting industry as a whole.  What we do takes skill, ability and a LOT of time.  We should value ourselves enough to be paid a living wage when we offer our services to others.  Long story short, I need it to be worth my while to work for others.

Some people will say - people won't pay me that amount!!!  That's ok - there are plenty of t-shirt quilt companies out there that will work for MUCH cheaper than I will; and, they do a much cheaper job in every sense of the word.   I figure - if this is the amount people are willing to invest in their quilt, then I am not the quilter for them.  

I could meet the much lower price.  IE use much cheaper fabric, thread batting, not use stabilizer etc, do much quicker and lesser quilting, do an inside out method to avoid doing a binding AND pay myself $1.00 per hour; but, why would I??  I wouldn't want to put my name on this, I wouldn't enjoy the process and I wouldn't want to pay for or own the finished product!!

What a long rant!!  LOL!!  Do you have any thoughts about this??  I would love to hear them :-)  Am I alone in feeling this way?