In my future - Fails turned into Satisfactorily Completeds!

Like some quilters, I have a lot of UFOs in my closet and resting on any free space or shelf in my quilting room. There are those quilters out there who only work on one project at a time, but that just isn't my style. You gotta go with what feels right. Sometimes I get bored working on a quilt after I do my test block. I tend to obsess about starting projects.

When I start something it is all I can think about for a while and then I say "Next?" It is the anticipation that I'm addicted to (maybe that's too strong of a word?) and that is why I have so many projects started or waiting to begin and so few finished quilts for myself.

Just off the top of my head here are some things waiting to be finished in my room:

• A wedding quilt for a friend (there's still time on this one!)



• Two baby quilts for a former co-worker's grandchildren.
• My treasured Worn & Loved Arbor Windows. I have about 20 blocks done. Bought the kit for a queen, but am thinking this will end up being a smaller quilt I can use in the living room...someday! I've also been hording the Worn & Loved fabric line.

• Lisa's Flower Garden (Hand appliqued tiny wool pieces. I have many done, but not all)
• Any number of ModaU projects (Block of the Months that I just got too busy to keep up with).
• Seaside Rose. The reason I got into quilting. The first fabric line I ABSOLUTELY had to HAVE! And yet, here it sits.

• My Halloween quilt (Started it around Halloween, and then came Christmas. Hello? Who is in the mood for Halloween quilts during Christmas.)

• Reversible quilt hanging in strips in the closet.

• A Flag Day Farm quilt (Came home from class and just decided not to go any further)
• Fuschia quilt (Cut the whole thing out before I did a test block or knew what I was doing. Rookie mistake. That quilt will never see the light of day.)

The list is not complete, but you get the picture. As you can read, some of these were justified DNFs = Did Not Finishes

But, now that I've got a little free time (meaning no huge projects looming) I can turn some Fails into Satisfactorily Completeds! (that's how we were graded back in the day.

I just finished my last teaching obligations at Main Street Quilt Co. for as while, and that opens up a little sewing time for me. Fast forward to a Sunday night in March 2012. For some reason, I had the urge to begin working on one of my UFO quilts IMMEDIATELY! It's the reversible quilt I started wayyyyy back in the 2000s, like maybe 2006? I really don't remember. It was a two or three session class that would net me a reversible quilt-as-you-go quilt. Sitting in my closet in strips - at least my blocks were sewn into rows! Out of sight, out of mind I guess. I remember seeing it several times in my sewing room closet over the years, but never had the urge to do anything about it. Kind of like that piece of fabric you walk over countless times and never bend over to pick up. Or, does that happen just at my house?
So, I got up in the middle of the night to pull it from the closet and search for the last bit of direction I would need to put it all together. 

A few nights ago I was finally able to really work on this project. I cut my sashing strips and sewed them on one row and then connected the next row to prepare for the hand sewing bit. My plan is to take this project with me on an upcoming trip and work on it as time permits.

This quilt is 8 blocks by 10 rows. I am about 75 percent of the way done. I need to sew all my rows together on one side and then hand sew the sashing on the other side. Finally I need to bind the quilt in the same manner. Machine sew one side on, hand sew the remainder.

I'll try to keep you updated on the progress and then what other UFO is up for completion! For now, I'm glad to have this one out of the closet.