My UFO (Un-Finished Object) challenge of 2015 got side tracked a bit this year. For 2016 I've got a different approach to removing some UFO's from my collection. I would rather have a quilt done and used by someone, than have it taking up space on my shelves. Let me lay out the plan.
Finishing UFOs DOES NOT mean I don't start new things.
I am hardwired to create, and restricting myself to do ONLY old projects would suck the fun out of it for me! So if you are the same, do NOT give yourself that restriction because it will guarantee failure. And that is not what we are after here.
So I challenge myself to finish some UFOs every... single.. year...
NOT ALL of them.
Once again, setting that 'All or Nothing' restriction is a promise of a failed goal, and we are not in this for failure.
So why do I want to finish them? Because I have them, I create new ones, I finish some, and don't finish some.. Each year I faithfully figure out a challenge with a UFO busting goal and set it in motion.
This year, there is more than a goal going on, this year there is a PLAN.
Because you can NOT reach a goal without having a plan. You need to have -
- The steps needed to get there
- How long those steps will take
- and When each step needs to be completed in order to REACH that goal.
Think of it this way. If you are planning a family reunion. There are certain things that must happen, or on reunion day you will have chaos! You need things like
- A list of people to be invited
- A place booked so that many people can be together in the same spot on reunion day
- Invites need sent in time for people to make arrangements, like.. taking off work.. booking airline flights.. etc.
- Decisions need made. Will you have food, what food, where will it come from, who is paying for it..
- and the list.. goes on ..
If you don't do that task list, and know when those tasks need to be completed, the family reunion won't happen.
This is a PLAN.
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My goal is to finish more UFOs this year than I did last year.
This may not be YOUR goal. Maybe you don't care about finishing things in a certain time, that is WAY OK!
But if you want to finish things like I do, let's get our Goal narrowed down to something that CAN be accomplished. And then we will create a Plan to make it happen. They go hand and hand.
- Determine what a UFO is for this challenge. Is it only Tops? Are you counting projects that are ALMOST completed. Maybe you want to count every single project you have in progress.
- My GOAL is to complete 12 Quilts by doing the last part that needs finished. Binding, quilting them, getting the last part done so it can be quilted. I am only focusing on quilts that are CLOSE to the finish line.
- Be brutally honest with yourself and haul out your UFOs that are going to be considered
- Last year I did this and I had 17 projects. 11 of them were lap size or bigger. This year I'm still at about that same number as for every project I completed last year, I created a new UFO. This is a not a good plan.
Now you know what you have and next is to create a Plan you can accomplish. We need to get VERY REAL here. Cookies may be required.... I'll wait while you get some.. back? ... let's to do this thing!
Personally I put the UFOs in order by the amount of time they will take to finish. It's motivates me to tick them off my list!
- Binding only .. no brainier, it will be done first and I only have one of these.
- It's a top and needs quilted by Me. .. how many of these do i have, how many of them do i want to quilt this year?
- It's a top and I'm going to have someone else quilt it... what is my budget for this? how many can be done this year?
- I have some work to do on it before it becomes a finished top. I sort those in order from a little bit of work, to a lot of work. How many of these to I want to finish this year?
NOW you have the information you need to make a plan.
You might have 2 UFOs that need binding, 3 tops you want to pay to have someone else quilt for you, 2 tops you want to quilt yourself, and 5 project close to being a top. Those 5 you might totally finish, or at least make a finished top.
That would be 2 + 3 + 2 + 5 = 12 UFOs to complete
You might like to document in a planner book. Or make a list on your computer.
I've shown you some pages from the new 'The Quilter's Planner' that I have a project in! It's designed for a quilter's life, pretty darn sweet I think!
BUY a Quilter's Planner, not necessary but a great tool
JOIN ME Here for UFO encouragement!
You can read all my past posts on UFO busting HERE and there is a category on the right side bar
First Challenge show me your FIRST UFO you plan to finish!
The Tutorial on how to load a photo to my Quilt Show page
