UFO Challenge 2026
 

Happy New Year!!! Welcome one and all to the UFO CHALLENGE of 2026. I trust you have finished vacuuming up the confetti and put the streamers in the trash along with the empty champagne bottles. The new diet has started and so will our 2026 UFO Challenge. I will be hosting this year while our Happy Lab takes a one-year break.

Our primary purpose is to encourage each other to complete our pile of UFOs that are taking up space and not creating any more UFOs. Wink, Wink.

So, peruse your sewing stash, bins, boxes and secret hide aways and take a count of UFOs that need your attention this year.

*You define UFO as you wish. It could be 10 years in the making or 6 months old. You chose.

*A UFO is considered a completed UFO when it is ready to use. That means quilted, bound, if needed, and ready to use or gift to someone else.

*You can redistribute or return the fabric (UFO) to your stash and no longer have that UFO. You can consider that a completed UFO.

*If you gift the unfinished project to a person or guild, it’s considered a finish for you. It is no longer on your UFO list. Whoo hoo!

*This year we are only considering quilted “objects” vs knitting, crossstitch etc. The UFO needs to have 3 layers (top, batting, backing) and quilted. So, if you have a quilted pillow cover, a set of place mats, purse, clothing /jackets, or a vest that meets the above criteria, it counts as a UFO. Of course a quilt of any size counts.

Don’t be embarrassed by the number of UFOs in your care. We all have a pile of UFOs otherwise we would not be looking at this post!

Our goal is to make our lists smaller. Perhaps you can make it a lot smaller.

*You do not need to do the Challenge Proposed below You can join us at any time and work at your own pace to reduce your pile of UFOs in 2026.

Now if you want to accept an additional challenge just for the fun of it……

Choose 12 quilts/projects you would like to finish. Number them from one to 12. On the first of each month, I will pull a number 1-12. Look for that number on your list and that is your challenge quilt for the month. Finish the item from your list and post a photo so we can cheer you on.

You can post your list on the thread if you wish. It is not required. If posting it will keep you moving forward, post.

For January the number is 9. So, number 9 on my list is Red/Green/Large Print Mystery from 2025. I need to complete #9, and post a pic by the end of the month.

Now comes the second part of the challenge. What you don’t complete will have a commutative effect. For example. If I don’t get January’s UFO done, in February I will need to complete my January number and February number to meet the challenge. The person(s) who complete their entire list at the end of 2026, will get a small gift from me. Plus, you will have the satisfaction of having 12 UFO’s completed and “out the door”. Sound like fun? I hope so. Make your list and begin working on your number 9 We love pics, lots and lots of pics so we can cheer you on.

Happy stitching everyone and may many UFO’s disappear from your sewing space.😊 I hope to see you and your finished UFOs soon.

Yay! Glad to see this challenge back for another year. I love the touch of the random to keep me going.

I'm in the process of reassessing my UFO's and listing all the kits I have that I haven't even started. I did finish a LOT last year, and I'm not sure if I still have 12 to go! If so, I'll be listing them and doing the numbers, but if not, I'll consider that month a month to start one of the kits!

Oh, and I've got a pesky Bonnie Hunter mystery to work on for a while, too!

Looking forward to seeing everyone's completed projects!

I don’t think I have 12 quilting UFOs, but I have an unfinished queen size quilt-as-you-go quilt that I started for myself over 15 years ago. It’s going to be a doozy, but I’ve never actually finished a bed-size quilt for myself, and I’d like to get out done.

Okay, I'm ready for this 2026 UFO challenge. Not sure if I'll partake in the challenge but I will post my finished UFOs. Now to go and make a list of what I want to finish this year.

Thank you MUTeach for hosting. My 2026 list:

1.Comfort Quilt #1 Layer, quilt and bind
2. Pumpkin Seed kit make blocks, layer, quilt and bind
3. Wool Friendsheep blocks are completed. Sew together. layer, quilt and bind
4. Purple strip quilt Layer, quilt and bind
5. My Snowman kit make blocks and sew together, layer, quilt and bind
6. Wool tape measure kit complete handwork / small bird runner bind
7. Comfort Quilt layer, quilt and bind
8. Comfort Quilt layer, quilt and bind
9. 12 Placemats for Cheer Center using orphan blocks make and finish
10. Delaware mini quilt kit make and finish
11. Complete 16 QAYG Halloween blocks, back and bind
12 Comfort Quilt layer, quilt and bind.

This thread is a great way to keep me motivated and moving forward. Apparently I need accountability - LOL Since I will be away for half of January, I'd better get a move on.

I'm planning on getting my UFO list done in the next couple of days, so count me in! I enjoy hearing about other's success.

Here is my UFO list for 2026. I about fell off my chair weeping when I pulled the first number, #9, for the January challenge. It is one of my most disliked quilts. Oh, I was so tempted to cheat and rearrange my list. A friend suggested I should just get it done right off so I could enjoy the rest of the UFO finishes. I guess I will work on my attitude and follow her lead. Tee-Hee-Hee!2026 UFO List

1. Yellow and Red Mystery Quilt (2015)
2. Pinwheel from Marti’s fabric (2008)
3. Black and Gray Cats (donated blocks, 2010)
4. Farmer’s Wife (2015)
5. Museum Quilt (2025)
6. Coffee and Cream Boom Blocks (Spring 2024)
7. Marti’s Red and Turquoise UFO (2022)
8. Marti’s White and green UFO (2022)
9. Red/Green/Large Floral Print Mystery quilt (2025)
10. Piano Keys Quilt (2011)
11. Exchange Blocks (2022)
12. Mystery UFO found in Bin (Donated to me by a friend several years ago)
13. Turquoise Boom Block #2 quilt
14. Exchange Blocks (2025)

This is going to be so much fun! I just can't commit to any sort of big plan to finish things right now, but I do love seeing all of the finished projects! Go UFO Team! :-)

Well, I have my projects for this year lined up and 1st on the list is to work/finish the Forest Floor by Wings in a Prayer. Again it will be custom quilted but I'm not going to kill myself trying to get it done by the end of the month though I should be able to do it.

I was able to add another small quilted project to my 2025 list done though. I quilted some upholstery fabric to cover a couple of dining chairs I had refinished and as I had cut a large enough piece of fabric, I was able to quilt it and make a runner out of it for the top of the curio cabinet also in the dining room. So I guess I could say that's project #15 done for 2025.

Have only a couple queen size quilts to make and/or quilt this year and the rest of more oversized lap quilts. Good luck to all with their projects for this year.

My first finish of 2026. Well at least the blocks are finally together. I made the blocks a few years back. And there they sat, waiting for inspiration. I still have triangles left but they will wait for the next inspiration to strike.

I’m starting a new plan: anything I make has to be completely finished by the end of that year. So this top will need to be quilted and bound by the end of this year. I’ll let you know how well this works.