quilting

Quilty Confessions

December 29, 2017

Quilty Confessions time. Okay, I know I said I was taking the week off from posting. However, I have been doing a bit of cleaning and reorganizing in my quilt room and I’m ready to make a confession. Or two. Tish of Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland has encouraged us to finish UFOs in 2018. I didn’t get my post done in time to link up, but I’m going to make a confession anyway.

I have more in common with a squirrel than just a love of nuts. I once put out four pieces of bread on our deck rail. To my amusement, I watched as one of our resident squirrels came and picked up each piece of bread, each time going to a different place in the high branches of multiple trees. He wedged the bread into the intersections where branch meets the trunk. Later in the day, all of the bread disappeared from each of the trees, one at a time.

I can squirrel away projects with the best of them, wedging them in the most amusing places. I intentionally went looking for UFOs, thinking I only had a few. I found them on shelves, in drawers, in bins. I’m pretty sure there are still some hiding that I haven’t unearthed yet. See? That squirrel has nothing on me.

2017 UFOs

So let’s take a look at my cache of UFOs. Rather than describe them with name, etc., I’m just listing the numbers.

  • Large Quilts – 6
  • Mid-Size Quilts – 5
  • Small/Mini Quilts – 12
  • Table Runners – 6
  • Pillows – 4
  • Mugmat – 1

Total UFOs = 44

Some of these have languished so long, they are probably vintage by now. I will admit that part of the reason they were not finished was because of the machine I was using. It was best suited for piecing. The walking foot I used with it was not great, and free motion with it was pretty frustrating. Now that I have a new machine, with an AcuFeed foot (that I love) and a greater ability for me to learn free motion, I can get quite a few of these done quickly (heh – positive thinking, y’know!).

There are a few that I no longer love, so I need to decide what to do with them. I may use them for free motion practice. Learning free motion was a goal of mine for this past year and I found all sorts of ways to ignore that goal. Again, my new machine leaves me with fewer excuses, so we’ll see.

2017 Finishes

I have to admit, I was feeling pretty deflated after I had pulled all of the UFOs out. I had also been reading many of the posts by others listing their accomplishments for 2017 and really felt like I had finished, well, nothing. So I decided to actually tally what I did get done this past year. It was a good thing I did. I completely surprised myself. If you haven’t done a review of your past year, I’d encourage you to do it.

Here’s my tally of 2017. I finished 54 projects in 2017. Here’s the breakdown:

  • Large Quilts – 6
  • Baby Quilts – 4
  • Mini Quilts – 12
  • Pillows – 5
  • Zipper Pouches – 3
  • Totebags – 2
  • MugMats – 10
  • Woolies – 3
  • Little Girls’ Dresses – 5
  • Other Projects – 4

Of those, 22 were given as gifts or specifically made for someone. One was a commission. One was a challenge quilt for our quilt group for The 70273 Project.

I participated in 5 Quilt Alongs, and three of those quilts were finished this year.

I also participated in two blog events, 12 Days of Christmas in July and the New Quilt Bloggers’ Blog Hop. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and hope to do them again this year.

I may have squirreled away projects, but it’s been a good quilty year for me. The best reward, however, is getting to know all of you better through my blog and your comments. You have become friends, and have enriched my life. For that I am so grateful!

I might have to start a regular post called The Squirrel Diaries, dedicated to getting those UFOs done!

Here’s to a productive 2018, my friends!

Wendy

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31 Comments

  • catpatches
    December 29, 2017 at 5:49 am Reply

    Well, they say you first have to admit you have a problem before you can get sober, LOL. My first thought about the quilts you don’t love is to use them for FMQ practice. I’ve had a few of those, and if you still don’t love them when you’re done, you can donate them. Someone will love them in the end.

  • Ruth Jones
    December 29, 2017 at 8:55 am Reply

    I laughed when I saw your UFO total- I must have a similar number & immediately felt a connection…a squirrelly kindred spirit! 🤓 Great job on your 2017 finishes though! Perhaps I’ll take a look at my UFO’s & set a goal for 2018 finishes. Thanks for the inspiration…Happy New Year!

  • Vicki in MN
    December 29, 2017 at 10:07 am Reply

    You had a busy year and cranked out quite a few items!! Congrats on that. It is going to be fun to see what people make and what direction quilting goes in 2018. Good luck on the UFO finishes for next year.

  • Robin RK
    December 29, 2017 at 10:21 am Reply

    You are not alone with your squirrelly abilities. I wondered. What was the old machine and what is your New machine? I ask because I hope to get a new one this year. Thanks.

    • piecefulwendy
      December 29, 2017 at 10:29 am Reply

      Both machines are Janome. I was doing all of my sewing on a little Janome Platinum Gem. I upgraded to a Skyline S7. I did a post on it back in May or June. I’ll email you a bit more info too.

  • Kathleen McCormick
    December 29, 2017 at 10:21 am Reply

    Wendy, here’s my total of UFOs = 37. And, this does not include the knitting pile about 7. I am really going to select on per month per house (that’s 2) to try to get done. That should get me somewhere reasonably by the end of 2018. I would like to get to the point of working on one thing at a time – just have one piecing and one quilting project going. What a joke! Looking forward to all the fun we have here…happy new year!

  • norma
    December 29, 2017 at 11:14 am Reply

    I don’t think you need to worry too much – you’ve made so many lovely things this year.
    I turned a large unfinished project into table mats and think they look much better like that.
    Happy New Year!

  • Sherry @ PoweredByQuilting
    December 29, 2017 at 11:26 am Reply

    I still need to count my 2017 finishes… and current UFOs… are you counting kits that you purchased that haven’t started yet as a UFO? I have a lot of those >_< I might be a little ashamed to count considering as I'm cleaning this break, I'm having a anxiety attack that I'm never going to sew it all!

  • Louise Hornor
    December 29, 2017 at 2:46 pm Reply

    I think it’s really interesting that your numbers are quite similar between finishes and UFOs, at least for the larger items. Perhaps it’s the Law of Conservation of Quilts?

    You did get a ton of projects finished this year, though! And all your stuff is so cute, so it’s all good 🙂

  • Bernie
    January 2, 2018 at 10:32 am Reply

    Great post Wendy. Fun to hear about the really productive year you have had. I think in the past two years, Cynthia of Quilting is Better than Housework has held an orphan project adoption. Something you don’t want is offered up to someone who promises to finish it and, usually, donate it to someone or some cause. Maybe you could give some of them up? Also, FMQ practice is a great use because you aren’t 100% invested in these so if the quilting isn’t spot-on, it probably won’t bother you. At any rate, good going in 2017 and here comes 2018!!!

  • somethingrosemade14
    January 4, 2018 at 7:47 pm Reply

    Wendy you had a great year. We all have UFOs. I choose not to let them consume my happy quilt thoughts nor time. I’m happy with working on one per month, that’s doable for me. I just found out that one of our sisters don’t have any WIPs and have already told her that I sending her some of mine. Let me know if you want her address. We’re going to have fun in 2018. Love those squirrels!

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