Why is my project list so long?

Elaine wrote a post the other day about what stops us from moving forward.  It was inspired by this post from Anne Sullivan at PlayCraft.

The two posts got me to thinking about why my list of Quilting Projects is so long.  So I went back to look at the list.  There are currently 52 projects on the list (it will be 54 by Sunday night as I'm taking two classes this weekend).

1.  SQUIRREL!

There are 52 (almost 54) items on the quilting projects list because something else came along that grabbed my interest and took me off another path.  I've been trying this year to move projects along.  I picked a few at the beginning of the year that I wanted to progress and some of them have been moved along. I also said I wanted to get some finished and I have including one that was started about 1996/7. 

My design wall earlier this year.  There are atleast six different projects up there.

I cleared the cutting table off for something and put things on this little table and started working through the stack. I'm not sure the stack looks much shorter today but atleast things are progressing.

2.  Logistics

There are 20 items on the UFO list waiting to be quilted.  Two had enough quilting to go into a quilt show but I started adding more to one and planned to add more to another.  Three are basted  waiting for me to quilt.  A few years ago dad cut a hole in my table and made a tray so the machine is level with the table top which makes machine quilting wonderful.  When I start to machine quilt something, everything else goes on hold.  No piecing happens.  So its a question of which is my focus at the moment -- piecing or quilting.  I've started to go to a longarm studio to machine quilt some things so that has helped make progress.

This little wall hanging has wanted to be quilted for years.  It finally happened this year at the longarm studio as I wanted to play at quilting from the front.  It was a good size to fit at the bottom of the quilt I had gone to quilt.

3.  Decisions need to be made

There are atleast 3 items that are stuck at should I add a border to this?  They've all been in this state for years.  I did finally make a decision about two that were here earlier this year and they have now been quilted and finished.  There's another stuck waiting for me to figure out how to put it together.  Its a swap and one block is significantly larger than the others. There's a BOM that turned out to not include all the fabric required to complete it which irritates me no end and I am still trying to figure out what to do with it.  Eventually I'll decide its time to just get these done and make a good enough decisions.  But probably not until the ones waiting to be quilted are done. 

This sat for years waiting for a decision about borders.  Yes or No.  If Yes which colour.  Limited choices as there wasn't much fabric left. Decide it was time and finished it. 

4.  Moving On
 I suspect that if I was to go into each box and make a serious evaluation of what to do with it, some would not get finished as originally planned.  Looking at the names of the projects, they all still make me smile (even the one that irritates me) but I'm not sure I want to commit the time to completing the original plan.  I'll make those decisions when I pull the boxes out and decide to work on the project again.

5.  Time
Between working full time and other commitments there's limited time to quilt.  I make the most progress when there's a deadline or when I'm really commited to achieving a goal.  Whether its a note on the Boogie border for this weeks goals or a monthly or yearly goal, some form of deadline really helps to move things along. 

Its been fun/interesting to look at the project list and think about why its so long.  The good news is its moving.  Things come off and things go on.  Its the nature of  a fun hobby I think.  Do you have a list?  Have you thought about why things stay on it?