We're riding on the same bus! I don't have a solution other than to keep what you know you'll finish and get rid of the others. Some of the old ideas/kits don't appeal to me anymore or it's been over 10 years since the baby was born. We need to turn the page(s) and move on!

Ghostrider mentioned fear of failure. OMG that was a biggie for me!

Let me tell you I have had some epic sewing disasters!

I have periods of time when I just don't want to work on anything I have going. Since I've made myself a promise not to accumulate any more UFOs I had been really good about finishing whatever I started until I ran out of green thread in the middle of quilting the third edge of my border for the QAYG I had going. So started next project and got two different versions going. Now have made it to store for green thread and have that third side done and ready to do final end then attach border on all four sides and only binding left to do!

Sometimes breaking the quilting project down into "bite-size" pieces that can be finished in a shorter amount of time gives you that necessary feeling of accomplishment that finishing a crochet item gives you.

Sometimes, even though your quilt isn't finished, you are finished with your quilt.
I find, when I have to remind myself of this, it's often because i really just wanted to see how the colors and blocks worked together rather than have a completed quilt. :rolleyes:
And after 30+ years I've given myself permission to work this way without shame or frustration. Got to leave something for the following generations, right? :)

Jan in VA

Yes I've been thinking about this lately. I think that's my problem, I want to be creative and produce lovely things, but maybe they won't turn out as I hope and I'm not the creative person I'd like to be. I spend ages looking at pictures, patterns, fabrics and dream what might be, but don't actually do much. I frustrate myself as I need to just do it, enjoy and learn as I go, I won't be selling them and would only give to family that would appreciate the gift, not judge so really what's to worry if it's not perfect.

I think it's different with other crafts, for example knitting, I pick a pattern, a colour of wool and just knit it, I don't over think it or worry how it will turn out as know it will look near enough like the picture when I've finished so I suppose it is down to confidence too.

Mitty, it is very hard to offend me. Over time, I found that being offended by someone is really granting them power over me.

Rest easy, because I understood what had happened. I've made similar mistakes on more than one occasion!:D

all I can say is you've come to the right place.

I have a quilt kit that my DH bought for me several years ago. At first I lost it! I finally found it. I have since started a few other projects. I went through some health problems and couldn't do anything, let alone quilt. My DH calls me a "collector". I buy fabric and patterns and they just sit there. I think I miss my family when I am alone in my sewing room. This thread has opened my eyes and I am going to pick something and start on it.

Put each WIP (works in progress is more encouraging than unfinished projects) in a clear storage bag with a clearly written target date for finishing it. Be realistic about date and your willingness to work on it. If you suspect that you won't ever work on it again, give the whole bag away, along with pattern and whatever extra fabric goes with it.
I am looking right this minute at three quilt tops, two lap size and one twin size that will go Saturday to one of the quilt guilds to which I belong, along with enough muslin to make backs. The guild is meeting Saturday to tie community service quilts. I am so grateful to the guild for the opportunity to get rid of these three tops that have pricked my conscience for months. But if the tops were not going to the guild, they would be going to a thrift shop where, without a doubt, someone would think they had struck gold when they found them. froggyintexas

All of these posts are great things to take to heart. Stay easy and small with your projects and you will hopefully finish your projects!

I cannot thank All of you for Wonderful help and advice!!! There were So many replies, that I am sorry I can't thank each of you individually! This has been really helpful for me. In fact so much, that I actually started working on something tonight that I have been avoiding. All of you are "right on" with your ideas. Your comments have been supportive and even emotional! You have been great, nonjudgmental, and understanding. I have learned A Lot! I appreciate All of you. This Quilting Board is almost like family to me. It is the main thing I look at on the internet!

Way to go NewNonni!

Testify!

(What are you working on? I'm dying to know!)

I have two lists. posted right beside my machine..
l. bucket list
2. started quilts..
i make myself finish one thing before i get to start something else. or maybe two things, before i start something else....

Same problem here.......several books with intended projects, 2 quilts in progress, linen to make a set of napkins for my own use, scraps made into hexagons and stored for future project, some nice satin jean fabric for a mountmellick tablecloth, pretty sure some others lurking in drawers......

I feel your pain. I made a committment to begin completing UFO's but then saw a pattern called Falling Triangles. Now I am in the middle of sewing my blocks so they can be cut to form HST. I am soooo bad.

I saw a joke that describes me: "Today I need to dust my....oh look! Fabric!" We all get distracted by things we'd rather do. LOL! What I've learned works for me is a reward system. I spend 15 minutes doing some chore I hate doing, or have just been putting off, and then reward myself with time doing what I love doing! That works for UFOs as well. Spend a few minutes on one of those first, and then work on a project you find more interesting. Eventually the UFOs get finished.

I do the same thing. I do have a sewing room where I can leave projects out and now there is no room to walk around in there. It's a horrible problem. And I am RETIRED and will not go out to my sewing room for days and even weeks!!!! I feel your pain.

Sounds like a wonderful idea. I will try it!

A few people have mentioned keeping things together. Every time you put a not-finished quilt away, be sure it is put away with all the things needed to finish it. Pizza boxes work great for this. Used ones can be used if you line them with freezer paper first.

I put my labeled pizza boxes in a stack, so I can readily see what is in each one. Then when I grab one off the stack, everything that I need to work on that one is right there. I haven't used some of the fabric for something else and have enough of what I need. That means I can get started working right away.

Good luck on finishing a few. Deadlines work for me. We have several small quilt shows near me, and they help me finish up something to hang in them. Nothing fancy, but finished items.

You are not alone! I started making two quilts for our granddaughters beds in our house for when they spend the night. They were two and four at the time. I have the blocks finished but not sewn together. The girls are now 15 and 17, the older one graduates from HS this June and if off to college in the fall. I've decided to go small and make as many lap quilts as I can out of the blocks and finish them up and donate them someplace in time for Christmas.

Love that line.....oh, look, fabric! I've been lurking on this thread...nodding my head, yes......me too! I have a sewing cave and it is getting very messy...and I go down there to "clean" and get distracted......and it still needs to be cleaned/straightened, whatever.....UFOs are everywhere......I think this spring when I have my garage sale it will be a UFO sale.......that's the only way to resolve this......my reasoning being, if these were important to me I would have finished them, therefore, out they go.....hopefully I'll get some buyers........

I love to quilt and sometimes I have gone 2 months and don't go near the machines. I think you should do it when it is a joy for you; not because you have to. I know when I have a deadline, I hate it! I don't like the pressure. I do finish everything I start eventually but sometimes I get side-tracked. Don't get discouraged. Just quilt when you want to. It is supposed to be something happy and joyous for you. If you pressure yourself, you won't want to do it.

You are not alone. I have a bin of tops of all sizes waiting for quilting and binding. I have been working on my UFOs though and have finished some to the top being completed stage. My larger tops I send to a long-armer so they have to wait until I have the funds for the quilting. The smaller ones I want to quilt myself, but have not done any yet. I have learned from experience not to tell people I am making a quilt for them, or to promise making a quilt for them. The quilts never get done on time, if at all. So now, if I want to make something for someone, I don't say anything and don't give myself a deadline. Less stress. Besides, I love all of the quilts I make and want to keep them!!! With the exception of one top I made which I think is ugly and it is waiting to be quilted. I have no sewing room at the moment but I am in the process of making one out of a small bedroom. I have decided to be gentler with myself about not finishing things because I enjoy the process of cutting and putting tops together more than finishing them. That's just the way I am and I am ok with that. I also do counted-cross stitch so that takes up some of my time, and I love to read. I procrastinate too, that's part of who I am and I accept that. I find times when all I can do is quilt, and other times I just can't do it. It's a process, not a race. Be kind to yourself. You'll get back into it when the time is right. And just don't promise anyone a quilt as a gift. When the quilt is done, surprise them with it!

Maybe it is a beginner's thing. I, too, am more enthusiastic when I begin something than when halfway through. But, because I know myself so well, I won't let myself quit. That's where dogged determination comes in, or maybe self discipline. Just plow ahead and make yourself finish first one thing and then another. The satisfaction that comes from that will help carry you the next time.

When I first began, for instance, I loved cutting. I found great satisfaction in measuring and cutting precise pieces with a mat, ruler, and rotary cutter, which although I'd sewed for years, was new to me. Now cutting is a chore and I don't enjoy it much, because I want to get on to the next step -- piecing -- which is more fun.

It's all a process and if you approach it that way -- as a process, which has steps, from start to finish -- you may find you can complete what you start. Good luck!

Well, you have joined the ranks of quilters with numerous UFO's. I too buy patterns with the intent to finish them as gifts, even buying the fabric; but they are still tucked away. Last year when I was in a quilting "funk", I dug out two BOM from 2006 and 2007, and I actually completed the blocks, although I have not put the tops together yet. I don't really have an excuse since the BOM packages I received month included the pattern and even extra fabric to complete them; then at the end I received a pkg. with the fabric to complete the borders. Well, at least I finally made the blocks. You are not alone my friend.

I don't have a problem like yours.
I totally finish one quilt and I immediately start another. I have 35 or more quilts waiting for a home.
I have been quilting about 48 - 49 years. Really hot and heavy for 13 years. That is when I taught myself to FMQ.

In my opinion, an intricate pattern does not make the quilt. The fabric selections do. I have seen stunning quilts that were made from very simple patterns, and the color choices made them eye catching. Also, don't try to do a quilt that is too large. I have only made one bed sized quilt, and quickly learned that I do not have the time for that. All my quilts now are lap/nap quilts. I also never start a new quilt, until I have finished the first one. It takes away time I could have spent on the first, and it is a distraction. Good luck, and keep crocheting too.

You are in good company.

I have a handful of projects going at any given time but I am constantly finishing some, and beginning new. I generally have maybe 4 or 5 of my own things going at a time and then I have customer quilts come in for quilting, too. Some of my own projects are BOMs or something, so they are meant to be done a little at a time, etc. It's a pretty steady rotation though of finishing some things, starting some new things, etc.

I would try and find a quilting group (guild, quilt shop, church or retreat) where you can work on your own projects. I find I am much less critical of my own work when I hear feedback from other people. I am much more encouraged to be creative and to continue working on a project. It is easier to maintain a level of interest or enthusiasm with friends.

Mitty, I thought your post was helpful, certainly not rude, and I have to tell you, I really chuckled at your story of the Christmas tree skirt. I bought one simply beautiful Xmas tree kit project years (and years) ago. The reindeer on it was just beautiful, so I bought all the fabric paints, brushes, everything for the project. Well, the paints have since dried up, the kit is somewhere in my UFO cabinet (note I said "cabinet", lol). I never even started making it, so you are head of me; at least yours is 2/3rds done, but for me, "someday...." is the operative word.. My only plus is that I know at first glance what colors of paints I need to buy - again, ha! And your last comment, "Too bad I don't get a Christmas tree any more" really set me to giggling, because I don't either, but, maybe I can hang it over a table or something, "someday". Thanks for the day brightener. And lastly, I am a procrastinator too, sometimes I think I enjoy the "gathering" more than the "doing".

you are not alone I bought a pattern a ton of fabric and started sewing on a quilt for my favorite niece about 4-5 years ago and at the time it was a little above my skill level ive taken it out and worked on a it a few times but not in a long time, I really want to finish it but ive really gotten scared im going to mess it up so I haven't touched it in awhile and I feel really guilty lol. I also have patterns and fabrics for at least a dozen others in plastic boxes under my cutting table lol. maybe ill take it on my quilting vacation in may and try to finish it I wont have distractions but I also wont have any help either if I get stuck ???
Carla m

Shirley, we can make it a race for who finishes first. It will be like two snails running a marathon. The members of the Quilting Board can line up on the sides of the route and maybe prod us with sticks occasionally. "Go Shirley!" "Go Mitty! "No, really, GO!"

You're not alone. I've done the same thing, although I've been trying to use up stash instead of buying new fabric. I have a DWR that I started for a wedding several years ago, and the wedding is not more (divorce). Another that I started for a wedding that got delayed several times and was finally canceled. And a bunch that I started in classes, but there wasn't enough time in class to finish them. There are a couple of theme quilts that I bought fabric for but never even got started sewing, and now there's one my mom was planning but never started and she's no longer in any shape to start a quilt.

I agree, pick one of the projects. Keep working on it until you finish. You will find great satisfaction in completing it. Start small if you have a small project.

This could be me. I had about 15 UFOs, then a friend gave me another 15... I seem to have a block around actually finishing a quilt, and have spent a lot of time trying to work out why. I go for long periods not doing any sewing because I feel overwhelmed and discouraged - unless I'm starting something new (: Yet when I get going again, I love it and wonder why I don't do it every day.
I decided that the number of UFOs I could see in my sewing room was draining and intimidating me, so I bundled them all up and put them away out of sight. It helped. Now I'm working on one project, with a second coming out if the first comes to a temporary halt because I need to buy something before I can continue.
I gve myself permission not to worry about the UFOs or to think that I "ought" to finish them before starting something new. So occasionally I'll get one of them out and finish it, or I may go for something new -the only rule now is that none of the new projects join the UFOs!
But why do I just stop sewing for long periods? Haven't worked out the answer to that. I'm retired, the time's there if I want it to be, I'm happy when I do sew regularly, but I go weeks and months without doing anything.
We humans are strange creatures!

I think we all have tons of projects we start and then get bored with and move on to something else. I know I do! Have you ever taken a quilting class? I'm originally from Loveland, CO and I know there are a couple really cute shops in ft. collins that offer classes. :)