UFO Sunday

 a few of my project boxes

If you are a crafter of any sort you probably have more than one Unfinished Project (or unfinished object, hence UFO). I am certainly no stranger to that concept.

I would say my crafting "passion" (aka obsession) began in high school when my mom taught me how to sew clothing. I didn't sew a lot but did make some baby outfits for a boyfriend's baby nephew. In college I started cross stitching then I graduated college and needed Christmas decorations for my first apartment.  I ordered (from a catalogue, because we didn't have the internet) a huge box of Christmas crafts and decorations from Annie's Attic. My very first quilt project was in that box and I had no idea what on earth I was doing. I managed to get the small pillow made but the little quilt wall hanging wouldn't be completed until about 20 years later.  That box also contained a latch hook rug Christmas tree skirt which has made every move since 1989 (at least 8 times) I'm not sure why I haven't gotten rid of it. I think I don't want to admit defeat on not completing it.

From there I moved on to scrapbooking and I became a Creative Memories consultant for more than 10 years. I loved teaching and attending workshops. I love the many scrapbooks and family memories in those books. Sadly, as with so many others, when I switched from film to digital photography I became really bad about actually printing all of those memories much less getting them into scrapbooks. I haven't given up on them.

customer quilts waiting their turn

Enter the world of quilting. In about 2008 I discovered quilting, partly (well mostly) thanks to Alex Anderson's HGTV show Simply Quilts. I began by finding a quilt shop not exactly near where we lived at the time and discovered their Block of the Month program. It was a Thangles program and it was $5 to join and when you brought back the completed block the next one was free. Of course I haven't met a quilter who could make just one block a month and be satisfied. There were many other projects started and most completed during that time. 


That brings me to my current state of UFO's. I will list on a separate page all of my UFO's and their status. For this year 2020 I have decided on 4 projects I want to complete. I do give myself some grace on getting my own projects finished because I am a longarm quilter and make t-shirt quilts for others. I could technically consider those as projects complete, but nah.  

Santa in the Forest UFO

My four quilts for this year are 1) Santa in the Forest. So far this year I have designed and made the Santa block, sewed the rows together, made the inner half square triangle borders and outer piano key borders and attached. I am currently in the process of making light bulbs that will be appliquéd on with the green "string" bias strip. 

Long Time Gone

Stars of Love

2) Long Time Gone. This is a Jen Kingwell pattern I have been working on for a few years. I am close on this one, it stays on the design wall. 

3) Gossip in the Garden. This is a kit I bought and started a few years back. I don't remember why I paused on this one. (not pictured)

4) Stars of Love. These are blocks given to me by my wonderful friends in a couple of stitch groups. About five years ago I went through a rough patch with my children and my husband took a job out of town and we were to move but the house wouldn't sell. It's a really long story, but I love these and need to make one more block to fill in that empty space. I planned a fancy sashing that is going to take some time but am determined to finish it before I really do move this year. 

With so many UFO's I am determined to not begin anything new this year. I can hear you laughing from here. I have already committed to a block swap with a stitch group and a Laura Heine snow globe quilt. So much for that...

This week won't see much progress on these, taking a trip with my youngest son and high school theater to Louisville, KY as the trip nurse for 5 days.

How many UFO's do you have (you can guess)? How do you store them and keep track of them? Always looking for ideas. 

Happy Crafting!