Conquering the Daunting WIP Pile with Baby Steps

Be a Quilter, Not a Quitter: Finish Your WIPs one baby step at a time.

Quilters are amazing! Quitters are not. Be a quilter, not a quitter. Quilters can take an idea, buy a piece of fabric, cut it 197 ways only to sew it back together again with other fabrics. Sew them back together one piece at a time. It’s not for the faint of heart. Quilters make something to bring joy to ourselves and others. We dream big! 

Some dreams are daunting, involve an intricate king size quilt to cover 6 kids during family movie night. Other dreams involve a simple bed size quilt to lay under on Saturday morning while catching up with your husband before games and activities scatter you both for the weekend. Some dreams involve a baby quilt that perfectly completes a nursery while dreaming of what your little one will look like. Every quilt shows how ordinary beauty is imperfect while remaining orderly — it gives us hope and makes a home feel settled.

Dreams lead to pinterest clicks searching for the perfect pattern. Etsy searches for the perfect bundle of fabric. A trip to your favorite fabric shop to spend the better part of a paycheck.

Beauty matters!  Dreams become goals.  

A quilt, not a blanket made like hundreds of others on a shelf, is a one-of-a-kind piece of our heart sewn together one stitch at a time. Sometimes, though, those little pieces of our heart are intimidating to complete. Some may be a little too big for us to manage on our sewing machine. Others may be a little too daunting and we have no idea how to quilt them. Some may be in the middle of the piecing process and we aren’t sure how to take that next step. Some may be waiting for that perfect binding fabric but the idea of sewing a tiny strip of folded fabric all the way around the quilt is terrifying. Yet, others we may have lost interest in because we found the trend isn’t as classic as it seemed in 2010.

These all are quilts in progress, the elusive WIPs or “Works In Progress” pile. I look over at that pile of quilt tops, wondering if I will ever be able to complete them – my WIPs. A few are more than 10 years old. Exactly how long can a quilt sit basted before quilting it? 22 years is my record. Consequently, I dislike feeling like a quitter. Be a quilter, not a quitter.

Every couple of years, I pulled that top out wondering how in the world I could quilt it. Overwhelmed, I folded it back up and returned it to the bin it came from, basting pins and all. Feeling daunted and unsure, I found a new pattern with new fabric I was sure I would finish. In reality, another quilt top would be pieced only to be added to the pile. Defeated, I still disliked being a quitter.

Overwhelm leads to procrastination. Procrastination impedes progress. 

A 10 year break in quilting ended in January of 2025, I decided to tackle procrastination and perfection. Finally be a Quilter not a Quitter, and finish up some of the WIPs. I finished that quilt waiting 22 years, and gifted it to my husband for our 20th anniversary. It was worth it, 100% worth it.

The idea is solid.  But exactly how does one tackle a stack of quilt tops? After 10 years, some quilting skills are like riding a bicycle. Some skills require a little more practice. Although, I spent those 10 years raising babies, making bread, homeschooling, driving kids to sports practices and games, amongst a million loads of laundry and dishes. Eventually, I found a moment to sew a little skirt, complete a baby quilt or two, sew an apron, cloth napkins, hankies, and other weekend finishes.  What else did I learn in those 10 years? Afternoons quilting in 15 minute time blocks and making a game of finishing the next step is how I know I can tackle just about any stack.

Clearly defined steps, so easy to take, so impossible to not do, leads to progress.

Knowing what step to take next, no matter how small, builds momentum to consistent progress. Knowing what step to take next fights decision fatigue that can eat up an hour at my sewing table. That same decision fatigue kicks off the cycle of procrastination and makes it easy to say no to finishing anything. Time in a busy home is precious. Instant gratification is possible, if I know exactly what step to take as soon as I pull out a project. 

What if you knew exactly what step to do next?

What if you knew the next simple, clearly defined step to take in the next 15 minutes?

Would you feel instantly gratified after 15 minutes of quilting? It’s possible. That 15 minutes may lead to another 15 minutes and soon, you are tackling what seemed to be not possible.

What is stopping you from tackling your pile of WIPs?

Do you know what WIPs you have? 

1. Gather them all together in one spot – make a list of WIPs.  Use the ‘Quilts to Finish in Baby Steps’ to help. This master list will give you an idea of how many WIPs you actually have. It’s not always easy to confront a master list of what is undone. This list is your hard big girl reality check. Sometimes you have to know exactly where you are before you can know where you are headed.
2. Figure out what step you are on with each quilt. Use the ‘Quilter’s Baby Steps Bingo Card’’, mark off your last completed step.  Find the pattern and attach it to the Bingo Card.  The next step should be simple to start and quick to accomplish – so simple to figure out that it’s impossible to tell yourself no to starting.
3. Set your WIPs and quilt pieces in stages and if possible, in a bin together – each quilt in it’s own bin or at least folded with all the pieces corralled together.
4. Set up your sewing machine to be ready for you to sit down when you have a free moment, or set it where it is easy to pull out when you can.
5. Keep all your sewing supplies at an arm’s reach from your machine.
6. Keep your Quilter’s Baby Steps Bingo card with your quilt so you don’t have to think about what the next step is to take.

Do you know how to prioritize your WIP pile?

Evaluate your WIPs and rank them. When you have a spare moment, you know what project to pull out next.

Use ‘Quilts to Finish Priority’ to help tackle what some possible priorities could be.

Take a hard look at each WIP. Do you still love it? Do you want to finish it? The WIPs that don’t make the keep pile, may be donated to your local quilt guild or thrift store.  The keepers need to be assigned a priority. This priority will make it easier to know which WIP to tackle next.

• Priority “1” Quilts:  Urgent and Important. These quilts you are capable of finishing.
  • Do any of the WIPs have a deadline?  A gift?  A new baby?  Is the deadline 10 years ago or next month? 
  • Are any of the WIPs easy to finish?  Just need the binding stitched down?  Just need to have the threads buried?
• Priority “2” Quilts: Not urgent and Important. These quilts have steps that are dependent on someone else.
  • Are any of the WIPs part of a class, a Quilt A Long, or a Block of the Month?  Is the next step scheduled?
• Priority “3” Quilts: Not urgent and Not important. These quilts will most likely be finished if you can send out the limiting factor. Pay a long armer, pay someone to finish the binding, just pay someone to finish your quilt.
  • This is the quilt that had a deadline of 10 years ago. Do any of the WIPs just need quilting? Or are intimidating?
  • Do you need help or do you need to learn a new skill to complete it?
• Priority “4” Quilts: Not urgent and Not important. These quilts have no deadline and will not bother you if they are still in progress years from now. You’ll work on these as time allows.
  • Are any of these WIPs seasonal? A Christmas quilt you only work on during Advent? Or summer?
  • Are any of these a “wish list/wish it wasn’t on your list”?
  • Are these hand piecing quilts, like a hexagon quilt, that require you to actually sit to sew?

Not perfection, just persistence

There is never a perfect time to sit down and sew. Set your timer for 15 minutes and sew what you can, where you are.  Progress only begins when you begin.  You must take that first step. Enter you email below and I’ll send you ‘Quilts to Finish in Baby Steps‘ and ‘Quilts to Finish Priority ‘.

Be a Quilter, not a Quitter, and join us to play Quilter’s Baby Steps Bingo to conquer that daunting pile of WIPs!