Tuesday, September 8, 2009

WIPs, UFOs, and Time

Do you ever feel bogged down and overwhelmed by your projects?

Last weekend I went to a quilters retreat which was absolutely wonderful! There were about 35 of us who attended. We ate and laughed and even managed to do a bit of quilting.

Anyways...the week before retreat I spent my time trying to figure out what I wanted to work on while I was there. Within a few days I had pulled out more than a dozen projects I wanted to work on...at least half of them were brand new projects while the other half were pulled from my ever growing WIP (work in progress) and UFO (unfinished objects) piles.

I have come to the conclusion that I must have a quilter's version of ADD. I see something I like and then decide to do it. I start the project and then I see something else I like and decide I want to start that. Do you see a pattern? This is not to say that I don't complete things. Because I complete a lot. When I teach a class, I have to make a sample quilt for it and I schedule maybe a dozen classes a year so those ones get done. But somehow when its just for ME, I lack the focus to stick with a project from start to finish.

Another I have come to realize is if I did one quilt from every book I own and a quilt from every pattern I own, it would take me several lifetimes to complete them.

I want to be a FINISHER, not a starter! So as of today I vow that for every new project I start, I must complete two WIPs or UFOs first. If I cannot motivate myself to complete a particular UFO, I will pass it on to someone who will. ( Watch out Donna!)

Wish me luck!

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