"wasteful" is definitely a relative term.  Many would consider quilting wasteful - there are so many other ways we could be "spending" our time.  I was once told by a boy friend that I was wasting time by reading all those books, when I could be watching football games with him.  (hmm, dumped him shortly after and found DH who also loves to read and hates watching sports).  I guess it all depends on your goal.  If the goal is try try out a pattern and enjoy the piecing process but you don't need a finished quilt, the time & money spent finishing that top might be wasteful.  Especially if you quilt "by check" - (sorry for all the quotes in this post....).  Think of it like an artist painting.  They don't frame every canvas painted until they are ready to sell them.  

I on the other hand feel almost physical discomfort leaving something before it is completed, even if I don't like it.  It's like looking at an unmade bed or a crooked picture on the wall - or someone singing off key.  I've seen pictures of someone actually leaving a partially sewn seam in the sewing machine, nooooooo.  I HAVE to get to a Stopping Point.  And once I start something I probably am not going to stop until it's done.

Dee in TX (DBRADFOR3) said:

It's like looking at an unmade bed

but .. but .... but ... I'm airing the bed!

Besides, we're just gonna mess it up tonight when we sleep in it.

And we're the only ones who see the bedroom.

And the bedrooms aren't in the "public" part of the house.

And if you've come to see how tidy my house can be (please note that verb tense! LOL!), please make an appointment.  LOL!

Dee wrote:  I've seen pictures of someone actually leaving a partially sewn seam in the sewing machine, nooooooo.

Back in the day when I made the Jelly Roll quilts I had to leave the needle in the partially sewn seam or my bladder would have burst in my sewing room ... not a pleasant thought.   

But I also tended to sew until there was a logical place to "take a break" or reasonable "Stopping Point" as Dee puts it.

And of course the bed is always made.

Holy cow!  100+ quilt tops too quilt?!  And I thought my 10 or 12 was a lot.  

We wont ever get them all quilted as it is more fun to make them. Our daughter and her two daughters are just now becoming interested in quilt making and are starting to use the statler. Maybe they will finish for us.

Dippledock said:

We wont ever get them all quilted as it is more fun to make them.

I hear ya on that!  There are doggone few pieced tops that intimidate me and really do love the piecing.  If it doesn't have any applique (because I prefer to do that my hand), I can knock out pieced tops pretty rapidly.  And I love doing that.

Since I got my longarm (lo, those many years ago), I've hugely enjoyed being able to quilt my own tops but the PROCESS of deciding what to quilt is still problematical for me.  I'm a very good technician and can copy/replicated designs ... but come up with original designs that look attractive?  Uh, not so much.  :-)

I'm perfectly OK with that limitation; it just takes me a bit longer to do research to find something that fits with the quilt top.  It's kinda like asking at 5pm, "what do you want for dinner?" and the reply is "I dunno."  :-)

13 are ready to go but there are even more almost ready.

not as many as the bags with partially done projects  LOL!!!

probably 4 lap or bigger...a couple of small ones

Sometimes, though, I feel like if I set it aside and do something else for a while, I can be fresher and less sick of looking at something. I don't like UFOs sitting, but I also like the flexibility to move on, change up, etc. :D Maybe we should count UFOs that are not yet tops! LOL!!!