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While I sat playing in my Bullet Journal, I contemplated what collection to start next.  What in my life was causing me frustration?   A pile of various sewing magazines distracted me. Because of the  beautiful quilt that was on the cover, I ran to check out my fabric stash and start a new quilt. . . STOP!  It was right in front of my eyes, literally.  My horde of UFOs were all around me. Why am I starting something new.  Consequently, it is time for me to fix this situation, time to jot down a collection of my UFOs in my “BuJo“. Rather than put off these unfinished projects any longer, it was time to ratify the situation.  Off the top of my head I came up with two pages worth of UFOs in various stages of completion. Can you relate, or is it just me?  How many UFOs do you have?

Ultimately it was all my sewing projects that I had started and not completed that started me off in a new direction.  A  journal just for sewing was in order.  ( I probably should name this journal, maybe Bob.)  I don’t know. If you have any suggestions let me know.  I will have to put some thought into it. I figure I will be writing a lot of personal thoughts into this journal, we might as well be on a first name basis. I tend to name all my objects that I spend time with. For example, my Volkswagen Beetle is named Lizzy. A nice German name,

Choosing Your Journal

Purchase your new journal with careful consideration.

• The journal should be small enough to fit in a purse, but not so small you can not fit a lot of information on a page.
• Choose something with removable pages
  • This enable you to stitch on a page.
  • You can easily add a page to a section.
• A closure,  i.e.. snap, zipper or band, keeps your journal protected.
• Journals should reflect your style, therefore a primitive look works for me.

After a great amount of searching,  I ordered one from Amazon with antiqued colored pages. (click on the picture and it will take you to it)  When if arrived it felt good in my hands, I’m sort of a touchy-feely person. it was time put my ideas into practice.

UFO Candor

I feel your horror.  How could someone have so many UFOs.  To be fair with myself, many of my projects were classes I taught.  I would have one finished sample and a set of pieces and parts used to teach the class, usually  enough to make another finished project. Also when I learned to machine embroidery, many of the embroidered items could be use to make a project. Consequently this added to my UFOs.  If you have an exorbitant of unfinished projects, no judgement will be found here. You are not alone.

A friend of mine had many projects that she inherited from a loss of a loved one, plus her own projects. Another friend likes to pick items up at garage sales. It is easy to get an over abundance of UFOs. If you need help trying to figure out what you have, leave a reply below.  Let’s help each other get something done.

Recording Your UFOs

1. Make a collection in your journal of all the UFOs you can think of off the top of your head.

   

2. Start going though boxes and shelves and find the long lost projects and add them to your list.
3. Eliminate those you no longer like or have any ambition to finish.
   • Take them to a sewing/quilting club, offer them to your friends to take.
   • Donate them to Goodwill or Salvation Army
   • Check if a women’s shelter would have a use for them
   • Church quilt groups are always looking for materials to make quilts.
   • Redesign the project, while you may despise it now, a new plan could bring a new life to your UFO.
   • Finally it is ok to file 13 your project that seem hopeless.
4. Pick a couple of your favorites and think about why you never finished them and let’s get started completing the item.

Tackling the UFOs

Hence it is time to complete those distracting UFOs

1. Label the next page in your journal with the name of your quilt or sewing project. Add the book, author, magazine plus issue number or pattern company.
2. Place a swatch of the fabric(s) you used on the page. If you have a selvage with the company that produced the fabric, better yet. Then if you run out you have it documented.
3. Record what thread(s) you used, if possible. This is especially helpful in machine embroidery.
4. Note where you left off at.
   • In sewing: what steps you have completed.
   • In quilting: how many blocks are complete, etc.
5. Make sure to record the page numbers in your index to easily find it again in case you get pulled away for awhile.  I number the first page and the balance of the project with a, b, c, etc. so that I can add a page later as my project grows. Therefore it will not interfere with my index.

Making a Completion Plan

1. What decisions need to be made before it can be completed. Any decision is better than no decision.
   • If you ran out of fabric, therefore you have a creative opportunity.
   • If you have to unsew, then you just need to do it.
   • Possibly you just don’t know what to do with what you have.
2. If you are having trouble proceeding, don’t be afraid to ask someone for help.
   • Add it to the comment section below and I will be glad to help you.
   • If you have an elementary school child or young teenager in you life, ask them for ideas. They still have that uninhibited sense of creativity.
   • A trick I once learned for when you are having difficulty making a decision; write down your problem with one hand. With your opposite hand start answering to find the solution to your problem. It’s amazing how this works.
3. Give yourself a time limit to get one section of the project done.
   • Record it on your weekly or monthly calendar.
   • Keep your goal small so you don’t get discouraged.

Ready, set , go!  It is recorded as a goal.  You now have a great chance of completing your UFO.

I’m not saying I no longer start anything new. Seems like my creativity still needs an outlet. I aim at completing two old projects before starting a new one.  I admit, sometimes I choose something simple to finish just so I can start something new. It is ok.  I am still chopping away at that pile.

Finally, you now have a plan for choosing a journal, creating a list of UFOs and being honest about what you have in your backlog (no one but you will ever see your list unless you choose to share it). Consider it your sewing diary.  In addition, you now have a plan to proceed.

Your first two UFOs are ready to complete. If for some reason you get called away from your new goals, because it is all written down, you won’t have to refigure all this information again. You have a written goal, there is an excellent chance YOU Will FINISH!

Happy Sewing