Are You Intimidated by Your UFO's?
01-16-2014, 10:44 AM
#31
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: colorado
Posts: 231
My LQS started a UFO Club some months ago. I have gotten some much done thanks to the encouragement of the people who go. It's great we can use the irons and big tables in the classroom. We bring snacks and work on our projects. If we need help or have questions the staff is always willing to help.
01-16-2014, 11:25 AM
#33
Super Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: SW Washington USA
Posts: 4,433
I had 13 which I suppose isn't a large number compared to some but they were a huge burden on my mind and kept shouting what a poor steward of my pocketbook I was.
I took 3 years and one way or another finished them all. Except for one, which went out in a trade box this week
It is just thread on fabric and if I could start a new project I could just as easily put thread to fabric on an already started project. That has been 4 or 5 years ago and it is a wonderful feeling still to finish something and then spend some time thinking about what the next project will be.
Life is good...
I took 3 years and one way or another finished them all. Except for one, which went out in a trade box this week
It is just thread on fabric and if I could start a new project I could just as easily put thread to fabric on an already started project. That has been 4 or 5 years ago and it is a wonderful feeling still to finish something and then spend some time thinking about what the next project will be.
Life is good...
01-16-2014, 11:54 AM
#34
Super Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: soCal
Posts: 1,495
No, because I learned the hard way by having 10 once. Now I only let a max of 5 accumulate before tackling then. By UFO I mean everything done except FMQ. I do not start one thing and bounce to another. Hang in there it all comes together eventually.
01-16-2014, 01:08 PM
#35
Super Member
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Rapid City, SD
Posts: 4,961
I do have lots of UFOs. I generally pick 4 or 5 to work on so I always have something to do. This is one that I'm working on right now. I still have 42 leaves and 8 circles to applique, then attach the block borders and quilt. I don't mind pin basting my quilts, my problem is I don't have the room to do it so have to go somewhere there are big tables I can use. This one is all from my stash.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]456881[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]456881[/ATTACH]
01-16-2014, 01:42 PM
#36
Super Member
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Nawth o' Boston
Posts: 1,879
Hahaha I have two which speak to me
One says 'you never should have taken that !@#$% Judy Neimyer class, since you aren't going to correct that one segment and finish the other 999...waste of money!'
The other one says 'so you bought all these pastel Jinny Beyer FQ's and you still can't get these stupid blocks squared up and make something out of me?"
None of them want to play. They just want me to fix horrible mistakes and finish them up. I cna't open the drawer they are in without them glaring at me.
One says 'you never should have taken that !@#$% Judy Neimyer class, since you aren't going to correct that one segment and finish the other 999...waste of money!'
The other one says 'so you bought all these pastel Jinny Beyer FQ's and you still can't get these stupid blocks squared up and make something out of me?"
None of them want to play. They just want me to fix horrible mistakes and finish them up. I cna't open the drawer they are in without them glaring at me.
01-16-2014, 02:41 PM
#37
Super Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Maine-ly Florida
Posts: 3,917
I haven't bothered to count them but something tells me that when you have the largest Rubbermaid container full of completed tops and countless smaller bins full of blocks and cut "components" then you have quite a few UFO's. On the plus side, I did finish ten large quilts out of that bin (and it definitely is not empty) and have been moving some of my smaller bins along the road to a completed top. It's my fabric, my quilt projects and I don't intend to stress about them. I do plan to finish a bunch more, re-purpose some, gift some and abandon some. Quilting is my hobby and I thoroughly enjoy it. Many artists do not complete all of their sketches and paintings. Why are quilters so sure that every started project must be finished? I know you invested time and money but I'm sure you have also learned a lot on your quilt journey and maybe some started projects just aren't worth finishing for any number of reasons.
01-16-2014, 02:57 PM
#38
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Yukon Territory, Canada
Posts: 410
I really don't consider my unfinished projects "UFOs". I never do the same quilt pattern twice so each quilt I start is to try something new or learn a different technique. I have given myself permission not to finish a project if I don't want to. I may get bored with it or simply just don't care for it when the top is done. I enjoy the piecing part of quilting far more than the sandwiching, quilting and binding. Quilting makes me happy and I'm not going to ruin that by stressing over unfinished projects. If I decide that I'm not happy working on something, I just put everything together to complete it and put it on a shelf. Sometimes, I will decide that the project isn't that bad and will pull it out and work on it. Or, it will sit there until I decide it needs to go away!
Honestly, I feel similar with my cross stitching, it's about the journey to me, I enjoy the feel of the thread and the fabric (hmmmm linen), it's almost meditative. I don't stress over not finishing something.
I need to move that attitude to my quilting, I think it's because I'm daunted by the $ involved in the project, our fabric is $18.95/metre so it can be quite pricy. I am learning to let go though, I actually took one UFO and ripped the seams out...ripped. Oh it felt good!! I wasn't going to finish it, didn't like the technique (it was a modern style of stripes, 70 inches long some of those stripes were!!!!), didn't really love my fabrics once I got using them. So rip rip rip, with my bare hands LOL. Now I can cut these pieces up into squares or rectangles and use them more effectively.
01-16-2014, 03:24 PM
#39
Junior Member
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Palm Beach Gardens, Fl
Posts: 144
No. I don't allow myself to buy anything or start anything new until I finish one. I had to make one exception to that, as I am making myself a king size quilt and I had to put it aside to make the Christmas quilts for my grandchildren. But now I am working on it again and hope to finish it in the next week or so. I have a new grand baby due April 2 and I can't start on her quilt until I finish this one.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
