I’m going on a quilting retreat this weekend, which means I need to decide which project(s) to bring to work on, which means it’s a perfect time to update my quilt to do list, which I haven’t done in over a year. In the time since then, I finished four of the eight quilts I’d planned (Baby June, Baby October, Baby September, Baby Cordelia), and a fifth one that wasn’t even a glimmer in my brain a year ago, More Mushrooms. My coworkers continue to provide me with plenty of babies to sew for, so I’m in no danger of running out of quilts to make. So here, in the rough order I’d like to get them done, is my current list:

1. Baby Boy JS. I somehow let this one slip and the baby in question is over a year old—so much for my almost-perfect record in meeting my self-imposed one year guideline. I’ve got the main fabrics picked out and have cut some pieces, but I don’t have a clear vision for the design. I’m sort of not liking the fabrics that much, but I think the parents will, so I guess that’s okay.

2. Baby Girl SC. I have the top for this one done and think I know what I want to do for the quilting.

3. Baby Boy SL. I have an idea for this one and probably most of the fabric I need in is my stash, except for maybe a backing.

4. Baby Boy JM. No clue what I’m going to do for this one.

5. Baby Girl NF. I made quilts for her two brothers, so I’ve got a place to start as far as the design goes and have some fabric on hand I think will work nicely.

6. Butterflies & Flowers. This is a commission from a relative who’s been very, very patient. So far it’s got a theme (butterflies and flowers, of course), a color scheme (blue and red with accents of yellow) and a size limit (the wall space it’s destined for is approximately 63 inches wide by 49 high). We’re going to visit them again this summer, so it would be great to at least have some fabric swatches cut and sketches done by then. I noticed that the 2007 Hoffman Challenge fabric fits the theme, so maybe I could make this a challenge entry (though if it gets in, that’s another year she doesn’t get a quilt, but when she did get it, it would have a good story to go with it).

7. Baby Boy DW.

8. Baby Girl FC.

9. Treehouse. The first of the carryovers from last year’s list. I am going to quilt this someday, I swear.

10. Calendar quilt. Carried over from every quilt to do list I’ve written since 2001, but I’m not ready to give up on it.

I think that’s plenty for now. Sure, there are other quilts I want to make, other quilts I’ve started and might someday finish, but 10 is such a nice number, and if the list gets any longer, it’ll start to remind me of my impossibly long task list at work and that’s no good at all.

Given this list, what to take to retreat? I’m thinking #1, for sure–I do need to get it done soon, and maybe the other ladies will make me feel better about the fabric. The only problem I can see is since I don’t have the whole design worked out, I might find I want access to my stash, and I definitely can’t bring all of it with me. I guess I’ll just pull the most likely candidates and hope for the best. Probably #2 as well–I might not have enough room to the side and behind my machine to do the quilting, but if can get some done on it, great, and if not, it’s not like it will have been a major effort to bring it along. I’ll have to buy bobbin thread in the right color and a batt–I think I may be out of the fusible ones and don’t really have time to pin baste before I leave. The only other one that might work is #10, though I’d have to double-check the layout before I go (I think I had it worked out, but I packed it away so long ago I’m not 100% sure, and I wouldn’t want to leave behind any pieces). For sewing after 9 o’clock purposes, I think I’ll bring along the stuff for the blocks I worked on at last year’s retreat, as I haven’t done a lick with them since so they’re all ready to go.