This was the scariest part to do, so I decided to tackle it first and get it out of the way.
How many UFOs did I really have lurking, waiting to pounce on me with guilt? And which ones was I committed to finishing, and what would I do with the ones I was ready to pass along?
I dug through my shelves to find every single UFO I could. I'm generally very well organized but even so there were a handful that had gotten stashed in various places and I had completely forgotten about them.
So, here's my list. I've used "code" names for some of the items below to remove personal identifiers. The parentheses indicate approximately how old the UFO is. "New" means it was created within the last month. I then indicate the stage it's in, mostly listing the next action that needs to be taken. If I've made specific decisions already about what I'm going to do with it, that's listed. If you just see the word "decision," that means I still need to decide what I'm going to do with it--if I want to finish it, re-stash it, trash it, donate it, and so on. For most of those, that means I have to dig into the project itself to see where I left things, how close I was to finishing, how usable what remains is, and so forth. I'll do that next.
By the way, for the purpose of this list, my UFOs aren't only those projects I've already started by virtue of actually cutting into fabric. I also have a bunch of labeled bins on my shelves with collections of fabric and patterns or notes about ideas. They were "in thinking mode," so to speak. Normally I don't count those as actual UFOs but in this case, I want to get anything off my shelf that's not going to actually get done, so they've made this list.
Sorting my UFOs....
- Lo-Volume Quilt (new): Still piecing. Will finish in time to gift it in February.
- Baby Quilt #1 (new): Borders. Finish by March 1.
- Shabby Chic Jelly Roll Race (new): Decide about borders. May send out for quilting.
- Baby Quilt #2 (6 mos): Quilt. Finish by March 1.
- Autumn Jelly Roll Race (new): Decide about borders. May send out for quilting.
- Child Pillow Case (6 mos): Construct. Finish by March 1.
- Hand-dyed art quilt--flames (3 yrs): Quilting. Will most likely ditch this. It was experimental and I don't feel a pull towards finishing it.
- "Vickie's Peacock" (3 yrs at least): Quilting. Will finish eventually--no date set.
- Stonehenge Mariner's Compass (3 yrs): Quilting. Had totally forgotten this one and I really like it! Will finish eventually--no date set. May send out for quilting.
- Hand-dyed art quilt--circles (2 yrs): Decision: to quilt or embroider?
- African Star String Quilt (3 yrs): Quilting. Will finish, no date set. May send out for quilting.
- Jelly Roll Sampler (3 yrs): Quilting. Will send out for quilting this spring.
- Taupe Guild BOM (3 yrs): Quilting. Will send out for quilting this spring.
- Annie Travel Bag (2 yrs): Construction. Will finish this spring if it kills me.
- Guild Paper-Pieced BOM (5 yrs?): Decision--continue piecing or just do something with blocks I already have?
- Charlotte's Mystery 2015 (3 yrs): Had totally forgotten I'd ever started this one. It was buried under other bins. Decision--finish or re-stash?
- Crazy Quilt (in progress): Embroidery and beadwork. Will continue working on it.
- Halloween Embroidery BOM (in progress): Will continue working on it.
- Assorted Art Quilts: I lumped several bins into one UFO as none of them were actually started. They're in "idea" stage. I will most likely just re-stash everything. If the idea pulls at me enough I can find the fabrics again later.
- Pillowcase for DD (4 yrs): Construction. Will most likely re-stash and donate fabrics.
- Vicki's Rose (2 yrs): Construction. This was a UFO from a woman in our guild who passed away. I took it when one of her friends was offering her kits and UFOs to guild members. Realistically-speaking, I doubt I'd ever actually get to making it so I will pass it along again.
- Graduation quilt (4 yrs): Construction. Will re-stash and ditch the couple of blocks that got made (they're nothing usable by anyone else as I was experimenting with Fibonacci sequences and messed something else--hence the UFO status). The giftee graduated several years ago so this will never happen.
- 2015 Craftsy BOM (3 yrs): Decision. Didn't really love the colorway anyway. Will likely restash it.
- Felted Wool Project (4 yrs): Decision. Not sure it's my style anymore.
- Katerina Project (6+ years): Piecing. This UFO is the sole survivor of many "UFO purges." I designed it on EQ and still love the fabrics and love the design, but messed something up somewhere as the pieced borders really don't fit the center. So I need to do some serious problem solving. So this dang thing WILL get finished. I just don't know when.
- Embroidery applique (1 year): Embroidery. This was a quick little kit thing I bought and put together at a retreat with the intention of getting it embroidered before Thanksgiving that year. Didn't happen. I still like it, though, so it's staying on my list.
- Tote and Purse bin: This isn't really a UFO, but it's a bin where I'd stored a bunch of fabrics and patterns together. I think I'd rather re-stash the fabric so it's more likely to get used, regardless of whether I make the purse pattern or not.
- Cubby in cutting table: Another collection of fabrics and patterns that need to be re-stashed. So #26 and #27 are more organizational notes to myself than UFOs.
(With thanks to Kathy of Quilting-Sewing-Creating!)
So, if you're following along, that basically gives me four projects I want to try to finish in January and February.
- Low-volume quilt
- Baby Quilt #1
- Baby Quilt #2
- Pillowcase
Very do-able.
This week I will:
- Re-stash everything I've deemed re-stashable.
- Finish piecing the top of the low-volume quilt
- Ditch anything I'm not finishing and isn't donate-able.
- Decide where to donate what can be donated.