UFO Quilt Dilemna
 

As quilters most of us have many UFOs to complete. I'm in that boat too. This year I am trying to finish quilts I've started unless an emergency comes up (new baby, etc.). Well my husband is a dear and is trying to help but he keeps putting together plans for new quilts that I could make. I love this but there is not enough time in the day with work, home, and everything else to even finish UFOs. What do you do? By the way his ideas are really good and he is so supportive of my hobby. I told him I would teach him how to use the machine so he could start making his own. He is my color go to person when I am stuck. Oh well just had to see if others have this too? Have a great day.

LOL,My DH is colorblind so I don't have that problem. He's helping me take apart ties for a tie quilt & doing a great job!

I have made up my mind that this is the year I would finished up my ufo's. to do this I made a promise I could not start a new project unless I pulled a ufo off the shelf and finished it. So far so good. So many were so close to finish then I lost interest or started something new. I have finished three tops so far.
I went to a retreat this past week-end. Most of the girls brought ufo's to work on. We are not alone,everyone has them. Good Luck with yours.

I would embark on the new projects with hubby. I don't stress about UFO's for several reasons:
They kept me occupied when I needed to be occupied
Most do not have a recipient or occasion attached to them
They take up less space than quilts (when the recipient or occasion has not been determined, as noted above)
If I force myself to finish them when the creative juices are beginning to flow for something else (like your husband's cool ideas), then quilting becomes another chore.
My mission is to challenge my skills, to grow creatively, to not be afraid to cut into fabric to make a test block or two.
The UFOs do get finished, but many without time constraints or a "to-do" list.

I also am not that concerned about UFO's. Someday I may finish some of them. You know, out of sight, out of mind! I always think they're a good start if I need something to whip up in a hurry. I'd work with your hubby on new projects. It's wonderful to have a supportive DH! My husband is also extremely supportive, but he doesn't usually have project ideas for me. The only thing he wants is a crazy quilt someday!

I cleared out my UFO's at the Guilds free table. The ladies who picked them up were thrilled and couldn't believe someone abandoned them. (I didn't say they were mine) It was so wonderful to not have them hanging over my head. It sounds like your hubby is really creative and would enjoy joining in. My DH plans things for me to do too, but he is merely expressing interest . They are ideas, not must do's.

So neat that your hubby is supportive, and has great ideas. You have a good thing going there~~ :)

I have UFO's that I know in my heart will never be done, (at least by me). Thank goodness Jim does not add to this list. He is very supportive of my favorite hobby. He will be taking my sister and me on the shop hop later this month. He has always told me I can buy any fabric I want. Makes me feel good.

I love making quilt tops but do not like the rest of the process. So have at least a dozen quilt tops to finish. Someday.

I also said I was going to clear up all the UFO's and I'm down to 1 top that needs quilting and some blocks that I've decided will be done QAYG (my new favorite way to quilt). My husband is so good with color and putting things together so he does help me with layouts and color choices sometimes. He is very supportive of anything I like to do and is a great all around guy. Lucky the second time around. I don't worry if there's something I don't feel like working on but I do like to clear them before there's too many of them. I finished up a 9 year project last night and a couple of months ago I finished a quilt that I started in 1997. Now that's a UFO!!!

I'm with Jennie on this one! I'm actually currently working on a couple UFO's that are more than a year old but it took me a YEAR to get back to them. Sometimes quilts just need to marinate for a while before they are ready to be fully cooked! For every UFO I've finished, I have two more waiting and two or three more ideas for quilts.... Just go with the flow of creativity and enjoy it.

Do your UFO's, but work for one hour a week on one of your husbands new project.

My vision is getting worse, so I not only am working on UFOs, I also plan to sort through my books and patterns and reduce to what I can actually get done in 5 years. I'm scanning a few of the books where there is just one pattern that I might do, but iffy. Sure my vision may stay fine for the next decade, but not holding my breath. I can quilt with poor vision, but not piece.

Men can sew. Just tell them it is just like a saw. My boyfriend in college would never allow me to do the fun stuff when we were building theatrical scenery. So when I was finally the master carpenter, I told him to sew the scenery drops. He had no sewing experience and the heavy muslin for drops was 90" wide. But I showed him some pointers and there were no tucks or waves in his workmanship. He was very proud of his work (and so was I).

I am trying to get thru my UFO pile too. So hard when looking at all the neat quilts on this board. I have one quilt will go the the LA. One getting my own quilting on DSM. The others will get a simple cross hatch that can be done quickly. This is the plan. Probably won't happen this way. It has not worked in the last few years either.

My husband does this too. He has all these ideas in his head, he knows what it will look like, but he can never describe it to me. I gave him graph paper and told him to give that a whirl. He has his own fabric stash too, but so far I've had no luck getting him to learn to use a machine (he can hand sew) to make them himself. He knows I have a ton of projects and work to do on my own, so he's in no rush. I agree with having him write down his ideas and such to file away for later.

Yes, my DH keeps coming up with really good ideas too. Then when I'm happily sewing away, he needs help with something that calls me away from my machine, and by the time I can get back to it, I'm too tired or out of the mood to sew. Right now, we just bought a used mobile home to set up for my sewing and storage areas, and it needs a lot of refinishing on the inside AND outside to get it ready to just be able to start moving into it. I'll post pics when it gets closer to being finished. Just be thankful that your dearest is supportive of your hobby!

Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Do what interests you, does his project sound fun? Intriguing? Does it whisper to you? Do you want to do that? Then go for it. My husband who has no problem with my quilting also has no intrest in it, other than asking me to make him a quilt to nap with. ( I've picked out the pattern and I'm gathering fabrics now).

I have redefined the term UFO for me UFO is an unfinished object that has a place it could/should be something I have promised someone or I something I'm making for someone in particular. If I'm just making it because it interested me or sounded fun but it has no predefined home to go to it's just something I'm working on.

All that being said I have 10 maybe 12 UFOs in differnt stages some are cut but need to be finished piecing, some need borders, some backing, others are ready for the LA, one is ready to be bound. My self imposed deadline is September

I also have probably the same amount of projects I am working on waiting for the spark of inspiration I need to decide A. where it's new home will be and B. how best to finish it. That's when it will get promoted to UFO.

I have a supportive husband, too. He looks for vintage sewing items when we're out antiquing but that's pretty much it when it comes to his participation. He likes the quilts I make.... his mother and grandmothers made quilts. And, he tells me which colors he likes, etc. He knows I'm going to do whatever I want to do and he's good with that.

I'm one that can't stand to have too many UFOs around. I had a few stacked up after moving a couple of times but this past year I started tackling the pile and now I'm down to 2, one I started and a top I bought at an auction. I joined in on the UFO challenge last year and that helped me so much to stay on task. Those gals are getting lots of UFOs finished.

My husband started out helping me by cutting fabric. Little by little he has fully embraced this craft. We now each have out own sewing machine and share the sewing room. Sometimes I wish I could do what I do alone but much more often I am very grateful for his presence. Our tastes are similar but we do challenge each other. Sure helps to have two of us when we make kindergarten quilts and Christmas gifts. Between the two of us we have six kids and seven grandchildren. I have learned to depend on him.

I have a large box with a label that says "UFO" and some day they will become quilts. My DH is fantastic with color, he is very supportive of my addiction to fabric and quilting. If I could just get him to understand "stash" I'd be a happy quilter indeed.

Do what you want to do! It's supposed to be fun, not work. Unless the UFOs present a challenge that you enjoy, leave them for awhile and do something else. You might come back to them and find them more interesting later.

Good for you finishers! I want to try to make a lot of tops this year, so I have something to pick from when I need a gift.

Well, I'd say what a wonderful dilemma, but then again, be careful what you wish for! I sometimes wish DH were more interested in what I'm doing. He is however, very supportive. I could work on a project that's going to be a gift for him, and he'd still be surprised. He rarely even asks what I'm working on or who it's for.

Rose Marie, I feel the same as you - I love the creative design of the quilt top, but do not enjoy the quilting part. Don't mind the binding either.

I decided for this year that I would finish all my UFO's whether its quilting or clothing. What I've been trying to do is finish one UFO, start/finish a new project, finish another UFO and then another new project. So hopefully I'll have all my UFO's finished by year's end.

My problem at the beginning of the year was that I just wasn't in the mood to sew at all so I wasted a couple months doing nothing. Now I have to speed it up so I'll finish by the year's end. Then of course I get side tracked easily. Yesterday instead of finishing up a project I started reorganizing my fabrics. Still not finished with that so that's 2 days out of my schedule. Oh well I only have to please myself.

There's your solution! And a hobby buddy! Teach him how to use the machine, and then immediately BUY HIM HIS OWN MACHINE (men love their own tools!) and he can make new tops while you finish the ones you've made.

I'm sure you know and appreciate how lucky you are to have such a husband! Good on you both!

I wish my husband would cut fabric or sew. He just has ideas but no help otherwise!

I wouldn't worry about the UFOs, we all have them, if my DH was as supportive as yours is, I would probably opt for making the quilts he suggests, then every so often grab a UFO or two and then finish them. I believe that UFOs are like fabric, they need to age, like fine wine. LOL. Quilting should be fun and not a chore, so do what makes you happy.

I am trying to finish up my UFO's too. I finished a lot of them last year. Most of the easier to finish ones are done. Some have been given away some are still waiting for a home. I still have a few left but I am working my way thru them. I started to feel like they were staring at me to be finished. I am not letting them stress me but I would like them gone. I am also getting rid of some of my stash that I will never use. I either make a donation quilt from it or I have taken a bunch of it to the last to charity sewing days to use as backs.

Same here...except I probably have more like 2 dozen to finish. <Sigh> Life is too short to work on UFOs...


Anita

I have an unfinished quilt hangng around - i promised my friend a quilt about 4 years ago, got a good start then got distracted. It has come up in conversation many times and now she refers to it as her shroud as she thinks thats how long it is going to take me to finish it!

My DH is colorblind, but he likes to digitize embroidery designs on the computer and stitch them out on our commercial embroidery machine. He embroidered a bunch of classic cars and car emblems on white blocks. I told him I didn't know when I would get them put together into a quilt, but he could use one of my machines to make his quilt. He actually took me up on the offer. He has been practicing by putting together some 3" blocks that I had cut. Not too bad for a first attempt.

I sometimes concentrate on UFO's then another month I will work on scrap quilts, then another month I will work on a new project. That is the beauty of quilting. I don't suffer any guilt for working on what makes me happy at that time.

My take is if the top is done, its no longer a UFO... its just patiently waiting for its time to go to the longarmer.. lol..
I do have prob a doz of wanabe quilt tops needing to be finished, ive decided to finish one of the wannabes, then work on a 'new' top, finish another wannabe then finish a 'new' one... im tackling my wannabes and my scraps so its a win win for me... ....

you have a good hubby, mines the same way.. his late mother was a quilter and me quilting reminds him of his childhood so hes my enabler, supporter, and i swear he says he loves every quilt i've made so far.. bless his heart... lol

I say do what make you happy.. if you wanna hang with hubby and do his thing than go for it.. Lifes to short to sweat the small stuff..

I like this plan. I read somewhere that any UFOs should be placed in a box that you write someone's name on. If you never get to it, when your things are sorted that person will think you intended it for them and be so happy you thought of them. :)

DH doesn't seem to encourage the making of more quilts. Although he's supportive of my quilting hobby/therapy. I seem to increase my ufo's enough all by myself. In making of the last baby quilt, for a baby shower today, I ended up creating 2 more ufo's!!! This was the first baby quilt that I was not pleased the quilt "fit" the personality of the mom/family. That's why now I have 2 zip lock bags with many blocks inside them, ready to sew together for the next quilt!

Within the last 7-8 months, I have completed numerous ufo's. Which, I'm very thankful for. My ufo piles had started to need additional storage space. They were beginning to be stored in the cabinet under the tv!

Teach him to do it. And if he likes making patterns, I for one sure would like to see what he does.:D
peace

Like everyone else, I have UFO's. I try each year to finish one, start new project, finish one, start new project. This year, my main UFO goal is to get the four quilts that are already finished (and have been for over a year) onto the longarm. These are the ones with applique or that I don't want to do just a meander or panto on - this means I need to do something that is very SCARY to me and I am terrified of ruining all my hard work. I could just send them off to someone better than me, but then how will I learn and why did I spend the money on a longarm if I am only going to do the 'easy' ones? If I finish these four quilts, I will be happy with my UFO progress. I just finished a 120x120 quilt for my daughter (on the longarm, still needs to have the binding sewn down) and that was a UFO from last year. It spent a month on the machine but only took 5 hours of actual sewing time - I was afraid it wouldn't turn out well, but everyone at the quilt group liked it and so did she.

Thanks for all of your replies. Well today we went to a quilt store and I bought fabric for a baby quilt for a friend's shower coming up April 5. While there my hubby started looking at the longarm demo they had and said if we won the lotto tonight I could go buy it Monday!! I'm happy he supports my hobby. I did buy material and my ufo will still be there but the baby will be coming soon. Thanks to all here you are so encouraging.