As some of you already know I am a very newbie. Maybe 3 months since I started. I already have 4 wip's or ufo's however we want to call them.
I know we all do it, but... How do you get over the guilty feeling of projects going unfinished?? LOL
David

Ummm...., hide them where I can't see them?

I know that I will eventually get them out and finish them. If a project frustrates me, or if I am unsure of what to do next with it, I would rather let it sit for a while than hurry through it and be unhappy with the end result :D:D:D

It's not in my nature to enjoy my projects if I have too many going at once so I stick to only a few projects at a time and always finish one before starting any more. It may not be typical, but it works for me :)

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: very funny!

go buy more fabrics, so you can start more projects and will help you build up your stash of fabrics

I know I will eventually get back to them, or if I come across one and wonder "what was I thinking?" I can find a good home for them. I generally am working on about 4 or 5 projects at a time.

I take them out to the shop. "Then I have so much to do that I just don't get to them. :lol: :lol: That my story and I am sticking to it. :lol: :lol:

Actually, I don't feel guilty at all about my UFO's. They've saved me a time or two. My daughter's school just hosted a fundraising dance. Weeks ago I was asked to donate a quilt for one of the door prizes. I forgot to put in on my calendar and with less than a week before the dance my daughter asked how the quilt was coming along. It would have been panic time if I hadn't had a few UFO's sitting in my quilt room. I just went, chose a nice unfinished top and set to quilting it. So I see them as future opportunities to get me out of hot water! :mrgreen:

I'm one of the odd ones as I finish every quilt before I start another. I did try once to have a few UFO's and it drove me nuts. I'd even dream about them. Many of my friends have untold numbers of UFO's and it doesn't bother them one bit. They just keep going and going until they feel like finishing them. Each of us does things our own way and nothing is right or wrong for anyone. It's the joy in quilting and process and we each choose the process that works best for ourselves.

One thing about UFO's is if they sit too long your taste could change and you may not feel as enthusiastic about finishing it later. I have some small Christmas quilt tops that I made a few years ago and never quilted. This summer I'll get them in my quilting hoop to work on. I enjoy hand quilting and it doesn't make sense they aren't finished except that other quilts have beckoned to me in the mean time :-D

try to spend some time on them on a regular basis. I had a project that kept being moved from one side of the table to the other. I spread it out today and finished cutting the squares. Then put it back on the other side of the table.
I will now be able to start stitching it.

If having them unfinished makes you anxious, you should work on each of them regularly... I have 4 quilting projects going most times, plus I'm finally learning how to knit... 1 is a gift from a kit, this one takes the most restraint, as it has directions... then the companion quilt with the left overs from that one,that's a make it up as you go; then the pp quilt , because I like to do some hand work every day ( that's where the knitting comes in too)and I just finished a wall hanging of siggie blocks from our swap in May, so I'll start on a baby quilt for a co-worker this weekend. Depending what I fee like, that's what I work on, some days I do alittle on each, you'd be amazed how much you feel you've accomplished at the end of the week.

Quilting is supposed to be fun, isn't it? Just do what you feel like doing and my guess is, most of them will get done at some point.

I use to feel guilty .... and then the feeling passed and I started a new project! Some days I want something that I don't have to think about and others I want to work on something from the UFO pile.. either way they all pass through some kind of pile on there way to completition!

I've never felt guilty about my UFO's, I just put them on a shelf and close the door. I know I'll finish them, in fact I spent most of last year finishing up UFO's. I'm down to four now and I plan to get them finished soon. I am quilting for the fun of it, so guilt has never entered my mind.

Is it considered a UFO if you've only bought the pattern and fabric and it's sitting in your sewing room waiting for you and waiting for you and waiting for you! And lets just say, it has company, lots of company! LOL Learn to live with the guilt! Then go buy more fabric.!

I find I do get around to finishing my LIW (ladies in waiting, so much nicer than UFO) but only when I feel called to them. It keeps me from getting bored with a project if I change them up. Don't worry about it, just do what you want to do. There are no quilt police !!

In order for me to keep sane, I always have several projects working at once, if I get stuck or frustrated I go to a different one, usually I have several different levels of skill, intermediate, middle and easy so I can get my mind wrapped around one project, but I always get back to the original projects eventually :D :D

don't feel guilty. This is a hobby, and it's supposed to be fun! It happens to most of us I'd think. We get tired of something, or realize how we could have done something better, or want to change something and then it gets left as is. Sometimes though, WIPS and UFO's can save your hide, especially if you need a quick gift in a hurry!!

HaHaHaHa! I do that....but after a time I set myself a limit to get them done. I whacked out a stack of them last year because I told myself if I didn't get more to the finished stage I was going to quit sewing & quilting all together. that scared me enough to finish a bunch. Now I have a few more...time to get busy again! =) Good luck!

i'm going to pack all mine away so i can clean that rooom. I will then take one at a time and finish them.. I am not going to start another till i get these four or five that are on the table in various stages finished. I have more than that ready to go but these need to be off the tables. lmao

I'm supposed to feel guilty? lol

I just try to keep the pieces together so that I can come back to them when I am ready.

I do what I please and if I don't feel like working on something, I move on.

If an abandoned project is staring at you and making you uncomfortable, then put it in a box and hide it in the closet or under the bed! lol

I think as a women guilt is part of our lives so what's a little more guilt over not finishing a UFO :) I like to have a project ready for me when I need a quilt to finish for someone. That way I feel like I put a lot of hard work into a quilt in a short timeframe. (See how I made that work!!!) Then there is no guilt over not having it done.

I have gotten frustrated or bored with a WIP before, if its a frustration, I will put it aside and move on for awhile. Sometimes the lightbulb goes on while working on a new project, and I'll go back to it. If its a boredom issue, sometimes I hang it over the bookshelves for a couple weeks so I can see it all the time, and decide if it get worked on or put away in a couple weeks. Right now I think there are 7 projects going, one of them being test patterns for a designer. Plus a knit afghan, and three crochet projects. Of course, I am ADHD which helps... get bored? already another thing to spark my interest.

Then sometimes you have to bump other projects for necessity (its really cold here, so building quick bargello window quilts for drafty front livingroom windows... anything to warm them up!)

It depends on my mood some days want to be behind the machine, other days I like to go through stash and a book and pick out next project,others give me the rotary cutter and cut up a quilt top some days I like to spend here....

Thats what I did too. And thats what I did with a Bento Box I'm working on. I put it AND the pattern in a little clear tote along with all the pieces that are cut out and put it on the shelf. Rather do that then be so frustrated that I rush through it and it turn out like crap.

LOL Thats too funny.

Think of them as projects that don't have the highest priority -- we all need to take a break. and come back refreshed at a later time

Mim

No guilt here, thats says I'm wrong...we woman are never wrong you know that!

No need to feel guilty..you are the artist, so you can work on whatever you want whenever you want. There is no time limit when doing your "art" You will eventually finish them all. Maybe this year or five years from now. I would go out and buy more fabric to get motivated LOL

I have a lot of UFOs but I know I will eventually finish them. Sometimes I am in the middle of a project when I will have to change gears and start something else for an unexpected event or whatever is coming up that is needed sooner than what I was working on. No guilty feelings with quilting......just enjoy!

buying a new storage tote... ALWAYS makes me feel better :D

Shop some more!!

I finished a quilt in 2008 that was started in 1935. Don't worry they will get done , no time limit.

May I join the "Odd Club", quiltmaker? It just happened that for the 1st time ever that I have 2 going at once. It's driving me crazy. Two DGDs asked at the same time for a quilt. One had a bad mishap with her twin quilt and asked for another. The other went from a twin to a queen and asked if I'd make another to fit. Of course, why not!! Started one and then had to wait for backing,so started the other. It's beginning to make me a bit nutty. Not my way of doing things either. Will get them finished when I get them finished, I guess. Not worh a bottle of pills, for sure. Marge

Guilt is a word we don't use (smile). We all usually have several projects going. If it begins to bother me then I stop making new ones and go back and complete one project at a time (just finished doing that in fact). Now I am ready and excited to take on new things. You are in charge (laughter)!!!

When I first started almost 4 years ago, I went to a couple of get togethers of a bunch of people quilting, made 2 big beautiful quilts with the help of the group...then I made some small stuff on my own, one being a baby quilt with very small pieces...when I got it all pieced together, it was not very even and looked funny, I took it to a local bee that I belonged to last year and asked a seasoned quilter, "what did I do wrong?" She kindly said, your work is great, you just need to press better..well lo & behold, after all that time! Thats all it needed? I pressed it again, (after much practice of 2 1/2 years, lol) what a difference! Throw it aside! It will be waiting for you when you're ready!! I'm with Crafty Bear!!!! Build your stash, go shopping!!!

I just call them WIPs.....takes away the guilt :D

Or not. But really, does it matter so much?
I have a few UFO's that I will not finish. That's just how it goes. I won't toss 'em but I don't see myself finishing them either. Oh well.