so many quilts...sew little time!

Fabric, like fine China, will have patterns or prints that get discontinued. When I first started learning to quilt, I read in several magazines and blogs that if you find a print you really, really, really like, then go ahead and get 3-4 yards. Otherwise, when you go to find it after you've finished your current project (which could be 3 months to 2 years down the road), the store will no longer have it. So for a while I did that. And since I'm also a clearance rack shopper, I found some pre-printed quilt tops that I really liked (you just quilt the material as is instead of cutting it up into shapes). And if you can get a quilt top for $1 - 3 (as opposed to $8 - 10), then who in their right mind wouldn't? If you use your imagination, I think you can realize I have a nice little stock of material.
In addition to jaw-dropping prints and too good a deal to pass up quilt tops, I've also accumulated about three boxes of scraps.To a quilter, scraps are remnants of fabrics that are not big enough to be made into clothes. Two boxes came from my Grandmother, and one from a friend. Earlier this year I took an applique class, and for the required fabric I went to these boxes to see what I could salvage. After the class, I decided I had enough similar fabrics on hand to actually piece the majority of a twin-size quilt top. I'll have to post pictures later, but I'm a little over half-way appliqueing all the 6" hearts onto the squares. Hopefully after the June run-off election I'll be closer to 3/4 finished with the top.But now that I know how to applique, I have several other quilt ideas I've stashed material for in the past that are running around in my head. I've determined Bobby's quilt is NOT coming out of the frame until it is finished, but new quilt tops can be worked on during road trips or other times when I have to sit and wait on things. PLUS, I've found the blog of a Christian lady in Raleigh who does beautiful machine quilting for people. So if I find myself needing to do a quilt as a present but not having time for the actual quilting, I can check into hiring her to do it.

But here's a few of the quilts that I'd love to tackle:The bug quilt

I know you can't see inside all the jars, but each jar is made out of different bug prints. Variations of this quilt have jars of different sizes, jars tumped over with a bug coming out, and jars of fruit or vegetables. I've collected material (both bugs and veggies) for this over the years, and want to sketch out some various pantry backgrounds so it looks more like they're on a shelf or in a cabinet.

The fan quilt:

Above are two variations of the fan pattern. For my oldest niece's graduation present, I'd like to use this pattern in bright batiks, but connect the fans in a continuous flowing pattern from the top left side to the bottom right side. With the curves of the pattern, in my thoughts that should create one large squiggly line. I like the border on the quilt above, and I think that would be a nice finishing touch to such an obscure, off-centered design. She's finishing her sophomore year, so that means I only have 2 years to get this one done. (i.e. It's next on my list.)

The Texas Lone Star

My grandmother did this quilt for someone and I thought it was one of the most beautiful patterns I had ever seen. I've also seen this at a few quilt shows, and I love the repetitions, variations, and HUGENESS of the finished project. Bobby bought me a book for Christmas that shows variations of this pattern. I know this particular quilt won't be started for some time, but it is definitely on my "must do at least once" list.

I also have two pre-printed quilt tops that I'd like to quilt or cut-up and re-design.

If my hands could work as fast as my brain, I'd be in business!