The monthly "Grad Club" that I belong to (grads from a local stores 'Quilt by Degree' program), offered a challenge. We are to bring a list of our UFOs plus all the PIGs we have on hand. (PIGs are 'projects in a grocery bag' and can include patterns with some of the fabric and kits.)
This list will enter participants in a UFO challenge. The details are not yet revealed, but the last time they had one, it involved points for progress made, even if a project was not completed. Of course, the whole thing is designed to keep us working and maybe even purchase more fabric in the process.
So I sat down last night and started to tally them. The UFO part was easy. Those are in bins and listed on my PhD site (see link at the right). I have about 22 and notice that some are still not posted online. The kits were easy too, as I generally don't buy them. I have only three.
It was the next category that shocked me. If I found them all (big IF - LOL), there are 37 patterns or design ideas, with all or some of the fabrics, stashed in various drawers and shelves. Thirty-seven? How did that happen? This doesn't include all the ideas in my head, nor all the books and magazines with bookmarks in them and filed in a box called 'Possible Projects' (which should be titled 'impossible' or 'am I crazy?').
I'm not going to set the ridiculous goal of trying to get all 62 done this year, but it did cross my mind. Having them written down works as motivation for me, but this would take a staff of ten. Where is that houseboy that I keep telling my husband to hire?
All joking aside, each year I'm directed and encouraged by a Bible verse (this year it is John 15:5) and some words to keep me on track for each thing that I tackle, quilting or otherwise. My attention-deficit mind seems to need this type of prompt. So the 2009 words are: Focus, Plan, Do, and Tidy up.
Enough said. I need to get busy!
4 comments:
What a marvelous post ~ good for all of us, not just you.
I have a list on the sidebar of my blog of the projects that I plan to tackle and hopefully complete in 2009.
I don't do kits so there are none of those - only ideas out of my head for which I actually have fabric.
There is a second list, too - that list is in my gestation notebook along with patterns and/or pages from magazines and/or random thoughts/quotes and/or photos of ideas... my gestation notebook helps reduce the clutter in my head and keeps all those fragments of ideas in a safe place until it is time for them to become real. I'm not sure how many are in there but it is a fat notebook :-)
Thanks for your wise words in today's comment on my blog ~ appreciate them VERY much...
Part of the fun is planning, dreaming, changing, so you wouldn't want to have to commit to all those projects you once bought a pattern for. But there is something to be said for finishing up some things. Sounds like you have just the plan for that!
To funny. I like your subtitle for Possible Projects (Am I Crazy). LOL.
I'm a listmaker from way back, and a couple years ago I made a list of all my UFOs, an approximation of when I started them, plus a list of projects I thought I wanted to do. Having it all on paper helps me to focus on the older UFOs first and prioritize what I want to do next. I'm a much better starter than I am a finisher, so the list also helps me curb that tendency to want to start something new.
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