Thank you to all who commented on the Holiday Favorites Blog Hop. It sure was fun. Remember the giveaway I had of two Christmas pillow covers? The giveaway goes to Kelly, with comment #15.
Kelly, who was also part of the blog hop, had a great post last week with pictures of Christmas cookie decorating with her grandchildren. I am sure the new pillow covers will fit right in with her great Christmas decorations. Kelly was also the blogger that showed us how to make a "snow" scene with salt and small Christmas items in an old jar. (Here) Congratulations Kelly, on the win!
This is my last post of 2019, and I am looking forward to a very productive 2020. I have put new eyes on my many UFOs. My age has made me realize that if I don't work on finishing them, they will not get finished in my lifetime. And I do want to see them finished - and by me.
So after putting the Christmas decorations away in the basement, I gave a long hard look at the UFOs down there. There are shelving units on one wall of the basement, and lined up on them are shoe boxes, cardboard boxes, and bags with projects in them that I have stopped working on for one reason or another. Yesterday, armed with index cards, I made out a card for each UFO. The card has this information on it:
Name of project
What shelf it is located on in the basement
What kind of project it is (full quilt, doll quilt, pillow, other)
What season of the year I was planning on using it in
What method needs to be done next (applique, embroidery, piecing)
I was preparing myself for the dreaded total number......which is one of the reasons I've been delaying getting this information down on paper. I figured it would be close to 40 or 50 UFOs. It was, but then some more were found in the quilt room, and some more in the family room. But it was not the discouraging reality that I thought it would be, because I do love all of them, and now have a clear picture of what I have and a plan to get them finished! Very satisfying. And the number is just a number.....nothing to be afraid of.
Also, I have less interest in starting a new UFO now, while these are refreshed in my memory. I have the index cards in a little dish by my handwork area, and am enjoying looking at them, and sorting them in various ways. I will keep them here to remind me to focus on my goals.
I selected 12 of them that are at least 85% finished, and will be working on one each month during 2020. It will be wonderful to get 12 projects completed. So at the end of 2020, I will have only about 50 UFOs, which is what I was guessing I had right now. And in 2021, I will choose 12 more to finish, and so on. Feels great to have a plan.
Happy New Year to all of you, and may 2020 bring us all a successful quilting year. I'm looking forward to seeing what is on your design wall! (Next week I will have something on my wall - one of my UFOs that is almost finished.)
Please provide a link back to this particular blog post from somewhere within your blog post. I thank you for doing so.
Kelly, who was also part of the blog hop, had a great post last week with pictures of Christmas cookie decorating with her grandchildren. I am sure the new pillow covers will fit right in with her great Christmas decorations. Kelly was also the blogger that showed us how to make a "snow" scene with salt and small Christmas items in an old jar. (Here) Congratulations Kelly, on the win!
This is my last post of 2019, and I am looking forward to a very productive 2020. I have put new eyes on my many UFOs. My age has made me realize that if I don't work on finishing them, they will not get finished in my lifetime. And I do want to see them finished - and by me.
So after putting the Christmas decorations away in the basement, I gave a long hard look at the UFOs down there. There are shelving units on one wall of the basement, and lined up on them are shoe boxes, cardboard boxes, and bags with projects in them that I have stopped working on for one reason or another. Yesterday, armed with index cards, I made out a card for each UFO. The card has this information on it:
Name of project
What shelf it is located on in the basement
What kind of project it is (full quilt, doll quilt, pillow, other)
What season of the year I was planning on using it in
What method needs to be done next (applique, embroidery, piecing)
I was preparing myself for the dreaded total number......which is one of the reasons I've been delaying getting this information down on paper. I figured it would be close to 40 or 50 UFOs. It was, but then some more were found in the quilt room, and some more in the family room. But it was not the discouraging reality that I thought it would be, because I do love all of them, and now have a clear picture of what I have and a plan to get them finished! Very satisfying. And the number is just a number.....nothing to be afraid of.
Also, I have less interest in starting a new UFO now, while these are refreshed in my memory. I have the index cards in a little dish by my handwork area, and am enjoying looking at them, and sorting them in various ways. I will keep them here to remind me to focus on my goals.
I selected 12 of them that are at least 85% finished, and will be working on one each month during 2020. It will be wonderful to get 12 projects completed. So at the end of 2020, I will have only about 50 UFOs, which is what I was guessing I had right now. And in 2021, I will choose 12 more to finish, and so on. Feels great to have a plan.
Happy New Year to all of you, and may 2020 bring us all a successful quilting year. I'm looking forward to seeing what is on your design wall! (Next week I will have something on my wall - one of my UFOs that is almost finished.)
Please provide a link back to this particular blog post from somewhere within your blog post. I thank you for doing so.
14 comments:
Not all of the 12 unfinished projects may take a whole month to finish and you'll be able to double up! Can't wait to see what you're working on. Happy stitching in 2020!
I am impressed, Judy! You bravely searched through your studio and stash to find UFOs, identified, and prioritized them. But I'm also impressed that you've put the Christmas decorations away already! You've set an ambitious goal. I look forward to following your blogposts to see the progress in 2020. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year Judy! Sounds like a great plan to get some UFOs finished in 2020!
Good luck in keeping with your plan. I saw another quilter approach her UFOs with a Dave Ramsey process. Complete those that need the least amount of work. I don't like UFOs myself, therefore, I only have one. I do, however, have a couple "in progress" ;)
MelvaLovesScraps(at)NolanQualityCustoms(dot)com
that was a very good idea - we make quilts to enjoy seeing the end product right! sometimes we might wonder why we started so many if we don't finish them - do we just loose interest - do we have a short attention span etc. I wonder - I used to years ago work on one at a time until it was finished - then seeing so many fresh ideas on blogs changed that and I'm never happy with one at a time but want to start 10 or more!
Happy New Year! I like your idea of using index cards and keeping them handy. I am using a spreadsheet and discovered I have a lot more projects purchased but not started than I dreamed that I had.
I bet I have that many as well. Some of my problem is remembering them, so I like your idea of keeping the cards nearby. good luck
Cute pillow covers, lovely of you to give them away. I'm also eyeing the bulging Hoosier cabinet that many UFOs live in and plan to have a "Clear the Hoosier" self challenge that may last a few months. Many of my projects got stuck at some stage and went into Time Out, but need to move along! I see lots of quilting in my future :)
I am working to be like you. I actually finished 41 UFOs this year because so many of them were small items. But, they are off my list. I reorganized my list and it is at 200. Again, many of them are small ones, so I'm OK with that. Good Luck in your plan being executed exactly as you wish. Happy New Year!
I read this with great interest...it's iteresting to me to see how many UFO's a real quilter would have in progress. I don't have many starts...under 6 to finish, and less than 10 to quilt, however, I have built a stash of patterns that beckon me, plus my cross stitching stuff. Luckily one of my daughters likes to do both so she knows she will inherit the works. Having such a goal as yours for the year is a fabulous one and takes the pressure off. Enjoy them all and I will love seeing them as they appear. May 2020 be the most marvellous year for you, Judy!
Thanks for hosting your weekly link-up! Although I don’t always comment, I do always stop by and take a look at the design walls. I will be continuing to work on my stack of UFOs in 2020 as well - look forward to seeing yours!
Thank you so much Judy! I am sure the grandkids will love them too!
As far as UFO's go if I really don't love them anymore, I donate them to our guild's auction. I am happy to let someone else love it and finish it!
Happy New year! January is a time for me to take stock of my quilts that need finishing. I usually stall out on making the backings!!
Great job on getting the cataloging done and coming up with a plan to start getting those finishes. It seems there are several of us where the word "Finish" seems to be our mantra for our quilty year. Good luck with your goal, if you need moral support just reach out cause I'm in the same boat. Happy New Year! Wishing you lots of good progress on your goal this year.
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