Except for one jar quilt, I haven't made any wall-hangings. DH wants me to make one for a kind friend, though, so I'll probably do that. No runners or placemats. What I have made the most of is lap quilts, and I also like to make bed quilts.

I have nade a few placemats but like you said for how inexpensive they are it is cheaper to buy them then to make them. I make a lot of lap and twin size quilts.I have made a couple wallhangings and I really plan on making a lot more wallhanging!
Red

Well, I guess I've made them all: 2 full size bed quilts for my sons, lots of baby quilts and lap quilts, a number of wall hangings (several done with my round robin group), and now our group is doing blocks that will be a square table topper for my dining room table. I've also made a few placemats, but no door quilts yet.
Teresa

I've done some of everything. I do make a lot of bed sized quilts, so now and again I like the quickness of a wall hanging. I'd like to do more of these for myself, simply to do more projects. The smaller the project the more I can make!

It's whatever works for you. If you like large quilts, then make large quilts!!

I like bed size and what I call "couch" size..a bit smaller than a twin , great for keeping warm in winter while watching tv or reading! I've only made 2 wall hangings, haven't got room for anymore, never made place mats or runners, I'd hate to put the time into one only to watch someone spill spaghetti sauce on it.I hand quilt and invest a lot of time in each quilt,usually 6 months minimum..can't imagine how some of you make so many quilts in such a short time!!

I should have said - I do make lots of baby quilts, usually 40" by 50 or 60". I love doing those as quick projects.

Mary

I'm a new quilter, so I've only finished 2 baby quilts so far. I'm getting ready to quilt a twin size top. I'm not very fond of wresteling a quilt to machine quilt it. But I do enjoy the piecing of them. I want to try smaller projects...#1 for their ease of machine quilting...#2 for the shorter time they take to make...#3 they are more in my price range for giving as gifts. I would like to make my children bed quilts, at some time in the future.

So, I guess my quilting is primarily going to be quilting things for other people, instead of myself. To me, it's what's behind the gift, what's in my heart, that's important, not the size.

Lynn in PA

I have made several sizes but prefer to make baby quilts and other small things. Have made several wall hangings. Most of them are in my sewing room. I hand quilt and have only recently tried to quilt on my machine. I find it much easier on smaller things. I plan to keep trying and DH is going to expand my surface around my machine which I think will help a lot.
Sally

Interesting thread Mary. Like you, I like to make big queen size quilts that are useful. I have nine of my own and I love to change them with the seasons. I have 6 throw size too. I hand quilt most projects. My likes change, I do mostly traditional and also like traditional with a modern flare add, sometimes abstract, I guess just about anything goes.

I have 1 wallhanging in my living room, don't do runners or placemats but do small table cloths (seasonal) for my kitchen but no fussy stuff.

I love to do charity and often put far too much work into them but heck why shouldn't they have something real pretty too!

I am amazed at what you girls call Quick Projects...nothing ever happens quick in my sewing room.
Jean

I think I have made about one of each size I can think of, from pot holder to king size in the short 18 months I have been quilting. I think I prefer a lap quilt size the most, around 60" square. I still need to make a king size for my bed, but I will send that sucker out to be quilted :).

Rebecca

It takes a heap of blocks to cover our K size bed,but have done 3 & working on 3, all K size. Made twin for the 3 Grkids,2 Q size each for our 2 DDs. Have made 4-5 couch throws & have a wall hanging in my living rm. Used to do miniatures & have 5 of them,all hung together. So guess I do all sizes.Whatever pattern appeals.Pat

I have made a lot of different size things, but mostly bed quilts, queen size. I have made 14 bed quilts and a lot of wall hangings. Lately I have found a block I like and just made one block and finished it off. I made a PP teapot for my daughter Tia that is called teapot by her friends (?) She hung it on her bulletin board and it can be used as a trivet or pot holder down the road. If you have a small space on a wall you can hang one up there. I've also started breaking out of the mold and made a denim rag quilt that was GREAT fun, fast and easy. I'm giving that to my son next month for his 18th birthday. I would say whatever size you like make that. It's all for the enjoyment.

Vicky

Most of my quilts are from lap size to king so usable is the key word for me. But I do enjoy making a few wallhangings from Linderella patterns and I have one hanging above my desk in my sewing room/office. I'm not into tablerunners or placemats either but I do enjoy making totes here and there and I do use those.

I quit counting years ago but I'd guesstimate that I've made close to 200 quilts so far and given most away and have a closet fulll of completed tops that need quilting but I still have more quilts here at the house than I'll ever use. I've been thinking about how much I love to make them but I can't keep on stockpiling them wherever I can find a place. It's getting out of hand. I've got to do something about this obsession and not sure just what. I certainly don't want to stop. I've got to sew up what I've got and give away more to charity and stop adding to the stash or something.

Kay

This is interesting I have made all lap to bed size no table runners or placemats (don,t have a table anymore) have far to many sitting here finished have given some to friends and charities have not kept a real good count on how many I have made though. Now starting to make totes/bag for a change.
Gillian.

I've also made them all. I count 6 wallhangings currently hanging in my home - 3 in the sewing room here. Oh, and I forgot the door hanging. I have about 5 door hangings that reflect the season, and change them out. I also like the table toppers that decorate my large oak dining table - if I have a big family meal there (only time the table is used for eating) they are removed, and tablecloths put down. I have tons of couch-sized quilts, and many more bed quilts than I need - only 2 beds in the house, but about 20 or so bed quilts! I also have made about 5 - 6 quilted vests (fun to wear at guild meetings) and 3 quilted jackets. I have never made, nor probably never will make - a quilted placemat. Never made a fabric "bowl" either, but I have several patterns and some fabric chosen to make a quilted bag or two. I love this hobby!

I've been quilting for about 30 years, but have been serious about it for the last 20 years. So far, I prefer traditional patterns, but I like to try new blocks and I am contemplating doing a landscape.....sometime. I've made all sizes up to king and find I prefer to make quilts between 45"/60" X 56"/70" sizes. Anything larger and I'd have to send them out for quilting or tie them.....I'm just tired of doing the larger size quilts and don't want to do them anymore. I try to do a quick pattern quilt (to satisfy my Git Ur Done side) along with one that takes a little more time and thought.

SharonG/FL

Sharon, you mentioning fabric bowls was another one of those new hot patterns that I never got either. I see the experience making them was new and different but what exactly are you going to do with them? Yeah, they look cute sitting out with something in them but how are you going to dust or clean them? I suppose there's a way but they never blew me up. Now vests are so cool! I have seen some of the most gorgeous vests ever that were quilted. Same goes for jackets.

I finished my ice pack cozy yesterday and I think it's the neatest thing and it's useful.

Kay

I've made everything from rag quilts to queen. I only have two queen quilts I've made. I give to family and charity. It's expensive to get quilts quilted so I've never attempted a king and probably won't unless someone else pays to have it quilted. I love making quilts. I think it's the idea of having something of mine past to future generations. I haven't done a wall hanging, but love to do runners for my table. I get the colors I want and get to practice my quilting. I was a crafter first and love to make things purses, needlework, knitting, crocheting, xstitch, etc. I make things with love because I want to and it relaxes me. I can't sit still and not be doing something. Carolyn

Living in FL, we don't have much use for bed size quilts, though I've made quite a few. I make wall hangings & runners a lot, too, especially for gifts since most of my family also live in FL. I have a quilt ladder in my living room where I hang the ones I don't have room for on the walls.

Donna

Quiltdiva - your second paragraph in your post could have been written by me, too. I'm so there! I've given away lots, and still they fill the closets - but I'll never quit making them!

I quilt to quilt. Final use? Not necessarily important. I used to give them away. I hang some bed size on walls now, have lots of wall hangings, but then I have a lot of big open walls to fill up.

Oh, gee, I guess I sew to sew. I sew dolls (what for? no kids here. I sew more totes than I can ever use, I've made all kinds of clothes I don't wear.) Gee, as I read back over this, it sounds so pathetic, doesn't it? Like a confession at a 12-step meeting.

Marti in Mexico

Not pathetic at all Marti. I sew to sew also, always wanting to try something different.

I've made mostly bed quilts, queens and kings, all quilted on my home machine. I have also made lots of wallhangings, and use them on my walls, made a couple of tablerunners, no placemats, a few purses and totes, and I've made 3 or 4 fabric bowls, gave them all away as gifts, so the owners can worry about cleaning them when they get dirty.LOL I really don't know why they can't be handwashed though.

Interesting thread!

I hadn't thought about how inexpensive table runners and place mats are, but what had occurred to me, is that I am drawn to more time consuming patterns. I've thought about making placemats, or pot holders for everyone at Christmas - but once I make THAT MANY pretty blocks -- I'm going to want to put them in a quilt. I think the work done on placemats and pot holders would never garner the appreciation a quilt would.

I usually make large lap to king size quilts. I have done a couple wall hangings -- and want to do more, but more "pictorial" than just a design of blocks. We don't have any art on our walls and I'm thinking I can sneak some wall hangings up before DH and I get around to ever acquiring pictures/paintings.

I am thinking I can use Steam a Seam 2 applique to make some cute pot holders/place mats/charity quilts for kids relatively fast compared to piecing, so that's "on the list" but heave only knows when...

I'm like you, Mary, I don't have the space on the walls for the hangings..I do mostly bed quilts, all sizes, and have for many years worked on Project Linus quilts...
Dorothy

Over the years I have made all sizes including placemats. I agree with the idea of placmats being so cheap but when I make them I am usually playing with a color combo or a pattern.
SO I DO NOT HAVE A SET OF MATCHING PLACEMATS THAT I HAVE MADE LOL!!!
Now I prefer to make cribs and lap sizes. There are so many patterns I want to try and I love sampler blocks.
Sounds like I have a very short attention span!!!
Rosa

When I started out, I used to just start sewing quilt blocks, without knowing for sure how big the finished quilt would be. I tried to make the biggest possible quilt from whatever fabrics I had chosen for the project.

A few years ago, someone I met suggested that I try some smaller projects for a while. Something I could complete relatively quickly. Less chance to become a UFO, I figure.

My smallest quilt so far is a 7x12" crazy pieced "tiny table topper" and my biggest is 80x80". When giving a quilt as a gift, I usually make a 60x60" size.

I have made place mats. I chose novelty fabrics that the recipients would really, really like, and that would go with the rest of the house. No way they could find those in a store!

I also make "purse pals" for gifts: tissue holders, coin purses, zippered pouches.

I have decided to make myself a set of 18x24" wall hangings. I will only need one hanger, since I will rotate them around the seasons.

I need to make myself some table runners and table toppers, to protect the wood tables.

I want to make more tote bags and purses. And quilted jackets. I only have one so far, and it used a raw edge technique. I want something more tailored.

I make what my brothers have started calling 'Kit sized quilts'. In other words, all of my quilts thus far have been JUST big enough for me, and me only. I'm always cold, so I have a tendency to wander around the house wrapped in a blanket.

However, when my brothers get married/have children, I will be there (probably with my mother) to make them a larger quilt for their weddings and make kid quilts (in bright, cheery colors!). So I guess I better work on a big quilt before then....

I have no interest in making placemats or table runners. I have thought about wallhangings, but wall space around my place is a precious commodity. Maybe a door hanging... now the wheels are turning. Heh.

~ Kit

I have made potholders, wallhangings, tote bags,twin size, lap size and one queen size. I tended to not make much because I absolutely hated the sandwiching and quilting on my home machine. My new quilting frame and mid arm machine should be arriving in a couple of weeks and I plan to make much more and larger quilts. Have really been into bags lately - tote bags, purses, messenger bags--have saved alot of patterns from the internet and library books, just need to find a good chunk of time to sit down and start one.

Melissa

Interesting thread!! I also make everything,have made kings queens,twin and 1 full,also lots for the couch.I have 2 good size wall hangings here in my sewing room alon with 2 small wall hangings.I make seasonal table runners and always make 4 placemats to go with them.I make my table runners longer than my table. I don't have any idea how many baby quilts i've made over the years,but it's been Lots!!

I also make tote bags,small pocket wallets,tissue holders,covers for all my machines and arm chair caddys.They are are those things that go over the arm of your chair,and hold your pins and needles,scraps of thread scissors etc..

My smallest quilt is a miniature where the blocks(finished) are only a 1/2 " and it takes 4 of them to make a complete pin wheel block.

I've done a watercolor,couple of landscapes,one where i painted my own sky fabric,reverse applique,etc.Some of them are in the gallery.
Kathi

I mostly end up making lap/couch sized quilts. Useful, yet small enough to finish! I made one Queen bed quilt back in 95...well that's when I finished it. Forgot how long it really took. That was 100% hand quilted & I really think I was insane at that time. I swore off hand quilting after that.

All the rest are the smaller couch sized down to baby quilts. My steam runs out fairly quickly, so if I can't piece the top within a week or 2 of starting...it may never get done. I'm on to the next new best thing.

Also, when I pick a pattern, I don't look at size. I make adj. for size later if it's too big/small.

Wow, lots of responses!

I find it fascinating where various people choose to invest their quilting efforts.

All areas are good, but I just find myself drawn to the larger quilts.

Thanks for all the responses!

Mary

I'm jumping in here kind of late because I've been away for a couple of days. I mostly make lap size quilts about 60 x 60". Since I did finish a queen size quilt for my bed, my next goal is to make quilts for all the other beds in the house (two twins). I think I would like to do some tote bags as well for gifts. I've done a few wall hangings for gifts but dont' really have room for them in my house. I guess I just quilt for the fun of it.

These days I mostly do lap quilts in the 60 x 60 range. I like designing in squares rather than rectangles. I've done full size quilts (back before there were queen and king sized beds) as well as a few wall hangings, usually to try out new techniques. My next project will be a queen size duvet cover for my very own self...unless I do my sister's lap quilt first.

jd