Okay; it's February 3rd and time to report on the progress I've made with my UFOs. I have actually taken this whole thing to heart, and am determined to improve my "finish rate." Not that I'm lazy, actually, but my quilting is sort of like having an endless array of great snacks in front of you when you're watching the Super Bowl. First you try some onion dip, then the wings look pretty good, oh, how about some chili con queso, gosh, who made this guacamole? You get the picture. A little bit of everything, and then you wonder why you're hungry when the whole thing is over....but now, who wants dinner?
First off, here's what I've done.
1. I opened just about every drawer and container that had a partial project in it. I got a big, clean Sterlite container from the basement (they used to hold the grapes after we pressed them, but that's a whole other story). Into that container I put every project I could find that had some real chance of being finished (by me!). I found the matching fabric for borders, or backs, or took note of what I needed so I could shop for it.
2. I put the blocks, partially finished wallhanging, you name it, on the wall, and took a picture of it. Since just about everything I've actually started had some hope of seeing the light of day at some time (I loved the pattern, I loved the fabric, I liked the challenge, or I liked how easy it was), these are the ones I decided to start with to try to complete.
3. Meanwhile, I kept organizing my fabric shelves so that I could more easily find things that I wanted; I put all my scissors together, all my color pens and paints together, all my rulers together, and reorganized my sewing threads. I really do operate better when I know where everything is and I have a clean surface to work with.
4. So, as of today I have done the following:
----I found the perfect sashing for the indigo and cheddar churn dash blocks on my road trip to Pennsylvania with Margaret. That is what had kept me from finishing the top. Plus, I got enough for the borders, too. The blocks are completely finished with the sashing in place, and I just need to cut and sew on the borders. I've had the backing fabric forever, so this will be RTQ (ready to quilt) in no time.
----I unearthed my Dazzling Dresden green/red blocks, cut out the fabric for the circles, MADE the circles, and appliqued all of them on ('cept one, 'cause it's some weird size, how did I do that?). I sat down with my pencil, my graph paper, and my brain engaged and drew out the alternate blocks that I had been thinking about for 8 months or so. I put a sample together, liked it, and have all the fabric cut out for these 12 blocks. Still a lot to do, but I'm enthusiastic again because I passed another milestone.
-----The contemporary fabric top that is only half-finished startled me; when I took a photo of it, I realized I like it just the way it is. It's getting some borders, and that will be a lap quilt in no time.
-----So far, my only disappointment has been my black/brown and red wallhanging. I finally forced myself to cut the borders, sewed two sides on, and realized "I Hate these borders!" Maybe now I know why I couldn't get this done. They overwhelmed the center, didn't have a good "finish" or join point at the corners, and just looked double-ugly. So, today, I did the "frog" stitch - rip it, rip it, rip it (say it fast three times and you'll see why it's the frog stitch!) Anyway, back to the drawing board, this looks pretty good so far, but it's incomplete. I know it; just don't quite know what to do with it.
Anyway, I've been having a great time; feeling good about myself (smug, actually), and then today I opened three drawers where I keep some of my "scraps to big to throw away" but what to do with them. Oh, goodness; I just unearthed a whole new series of "what do I do with these." We'll decide on that in the next "issue."
Got to go; my last series of explorations have left me with a fine mess on my cutting table........I'll post some new pix so we can do the "before" and "after" comparison.
