An old UFO finally done!

It's hard to believe that this little project has been a UFO since December of 2008...

It only took me about 3 hours to finish it while watching TV. The yarn I used is called Tweedle Dee by Moda-Dea and has a slightly shaded effect. While I like the hat, it is a bit on the small side. The Cabled Hat pattern (Patons) says it is one-size women's. I'd say it is more like a child's medium.

Glad I can move one more thing to the 'finished' list!

Stash Report for this week

All of my quilting time this week has been spent on finishing more blocks for my Joseph's Coat quilt. All of the fabric I used has already been reported. The picture above is a few of my finished blocks laid out to show how they will (eventually) look when they're all joined together.

Due to the sudden arrival of warm weather here, I have been spending much of my time getting lawns done and flowerbeds ready for planting. It's hard to believe that two weeks ago, we had some major snow and now today it is 25C, flowers and trees are blooming! Both of my neighbors are already running their air conditioning units. I've enjoyed sitting outside in the evening this week working on my applique for my Joseph's Coat.

My projects to finish for the PhD Challenge are falling behind. In order to meet the number I committed to, I will need to do at least 2 this month and 2 in June. I'm not sure if that is possible but will hopefully I can find a bit more time now to work on those.

My Pink Lemonade quilt is still hanging on the design wall. How long does it take for a project to switch from being a WIP (Work In Progress) to a PhD (Project half Done) to a UFO (Un-Finished Object)?? Is there a guideline somewhere? I've also fallen behind by two whole blocks on the Hazels Diary Quilt-along. I guess I'd better get off of here and go work on something!


WEEK 20 Stash Report
Used this week: 0 M
Used Year to Date: 17.55 M
Added this week: 0 M
Added Year to Date: 12.07 M
Net used for 2010: 5.48 M

Check out how everyone else is doing with their stash busting efforts on Judy's blog.

A Belated Happy New Year!

For some reason, Blogger is not letting me upload pictures.. please bear with me until I find a cure....

Is it just me or do the weeks, months and years seem to be going by faster and faster the older that you get?? I swear that New Years Day just happened and now, the whole month of January is over!! I'm beginning to understand now why it was that when my mother was in her 70's, her whole day was taken up by going to see the doctor and making supper.

Time stands still for no-one and I know that I need to learn to make better use of the time that is here now for me to use. There are no "hold over minutes" in real life! I find that, sometimes, I get rather bogged down with things especially if I have no clear plan in place, or a deadline of some kind to work towards. I know I have talked before about goals.. I know what I NEED to do. It seems though that the one thing I do have down pat is procrastination.

I wasn't always this way. In my younger years, I got many things done in a day or week. There was time to go camping on many weekends even though I had a full time job outside of the home and children to care for. I can recall starting to cut out a dress at 10:00 o'clock at night and surviving on just a few hours sleep so that I could wear that same dress to work the next day. Now, it seems to take weeks and months sometimes to finish even small projects. I have almost totally stopped doing any garment sewing. The closest I get now is some mending.

I no longer wear skirts and dresses much. The uniform of the day for me has become jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt unless I dress up - then its nicer jeans and a nicer top. *LOL* My closet though is still stuffed to the max with all kinds of clothes. Its another of those tasks that I keep saying I am going to do "some day". I have A LOT of those "some day" tasks around my home. I did download a "Declutter Calendar" from My Simpler Life so that I could follow the suggestions there for gaining control of the clutter and actually fight my way through my messes.

Decluttering my home is my BIG goal for this year. That includes working to finish some of the many WISP's (Work In Some Progress) and UFO's (UnFinished Objects) in my sewing room. I am also going to join along with all the others at Abyquilt to finish at least one project per month in 2009. It is good to know that there are others who are in the same situation and hopefully, we can encourage one another along the way to meeting our goals this year!

Those blasted UFO's

I have whole totes full of them. I know this because I just found another container full of tops, all of which are completed except for borders. Most have the binding cut and stored with them. I guess I was organized better at some point! lol 

I did a google search and found a site called The UFO-RPHANAGE for Quilters that has ideas for finishing UFO's as well as other topics. A couple that made me giggle were:

         "A stalled project gets a "time out". The project gets put away in a drawer or closet for a prescribed amount of time (days, weeks, months) and then is allowed to come out for another attempt at progressing smoothly. " 

Personally, I am really good at this one except that I didn't set a time limit other than "some other time"! That's how I accumulated so many UFO's! I'm thinking I need to go back and put some dates on things.

         "Start a new, small project (wall hanging, table runner or simple baby quilt), that can be finished in a couple of days. Just starting and finishing one project gets me inspired to finish some of the UFO's that have been sitting." 

This one was how I justified working on new projects... and added to my UFO's! Everyone finds different things that work for them.

Seriously, there are some very good ideas there such as:

• Set a timer for 15 min and work on a UFO before going on to your current project
• Choose not to finish the project as it was originally defined. Use the blocks to create something else (like a table runner or a tote) and put the extra fabric back into your stash.
• Get together with a group of others for a day of finishing UFO's
• Make a list of all UFO's to see if there is a pattern of when you stop working on a project.

The last one made me realize that I have a problem with borders....  I'm not sure why as most borders are not difficult. Perhaps its just having a small space to work in? 

OK - I am going back in there right now to sew the first borders onto my mystery quilt!