Quilt Show year--are YOU ready?

Boy, I'm sure not!  I have made a dedicated effort to pick up the pace with getting UFO's finished. Having the Quilt Show is a good incentive!

I've been working hard here at the Studio, getting LOTS done!  Which is one reason why you are seeing so many Open Sews and not so many classes at the moment. We all need time to pause, take a breath and catch up with what we started. I hope that I can encourage you all to get those old projects done so you can be excited about NEW ones in the future! I've already started thinking about some fall classes to reward ourselves for getting projects done. Right? Right!

Here is my Retreat quilt from last year...all done!

Keep Calm and Quilt On

Keep Calm center

Not any fancy quilting, but it is done. And what a good feeling it is to get the older projects done. Admittedly, this was not a very old project...now the one I JUST finished...that is waiting for binding to be done?  4 years old, at least.  The one that is 10+ years old is now getting the blocks done.  10 years! That is insane!

What are some of the reasons that quilt tops become UFO's?

1. Taking too many classes to get any one done

2. I didn't like the technique

3. I didn't like the fabric.

4. I got bored with it,

5. Not enough time to sew

6. I made mistakes and got frustrated.

7. I lost the pattern.

8. I really don't like the quilt at all.

9. I ran out of fabric.

and #10. It wasn't for anything or anyone special, so why the hurry?

So, how do we fix our procrastination?

1. Attend LOTS of Open Sews to work on older projects

2. If you really didn't like the technique, stop where you are, make a mug rug, a pillow or tablerunner with what you do have finished and release that fabric into something you DO like.

3. Maybe stop and evaluate the rest of your fabric. Is there something else you can add to make it more palatable? If not, see #2.

4. Come to Open Sew, chat with other while you do the boring sewing. It does get tedious to work on the same blocks over and over and sewing with friends will make that time go a LOT faster!

5. Hmmm. Maybe forgo that one TV show....put a timer on your FB and Pinterest time.  Just 1/2 hour a day will give you progress on your projects. And if you are like me, once you get started again, it's not as hard to stick with it. But you have to START!

6. Depending on how severe the mistakes were, can you live with them?  Or as I recently found out when I spent only 25 minutes taking out several blocks that were wrong...and put it on hold for 4 years!  Over 25 minutes of ripping. 

7. See me...I might have an extra. :)  I try to keep the pattern with the project box, it sure makes it a lot easier when you did it out a few years later! LOL

8. Go ahead and finish it. Someone will love it and feel blessed to have it. It's all in the eyes of the beholder. 

9. Well, be a true quilter and find the closest thing you can and carry on. It's not an heirloom....it's not THAT critical to stop you in your place. Actually, it times like these that force me to be my most creative! Remember, quilters of the past had to work with fabric from other sources. They certainly didn't buy coordinated fabric to make quilts. So we can veer off the path ourselves as well. You never know, you might like the end result even better!

10. The hurry?  WE HAVE A QUILT SHOW LADIES!!!  What better excuse to push yourselves?

that's all for now..I did post more quilts on my Passionate Quilter blog...feel free to visit me there as well!

See you at Open Sew!

Happy Quilting, Karen