17 months ago, I joined the UFO Club on Ravelry for the first time with seven unfinished quilts I hoped to finish with a bit of help from the challenge. The challenge is to complete one or more unfinished quilts in three months. We start over again every three months. I made myself a promise I would not buy any more fabric until I finished the current unfinished projects.
One month and two days later, I bought gradient batiks at the Denver National Quilt Festival, not in fat quarters, NO! I had to have half yards! Because that would be better than running out in the middle of a project. I justified the expense because I wasn't sure if the fabrics would be available anywhere else or after the show.
I'd broken my promise without finishing a single UnFinished Object (UFO). I promised myself I would not cut those gorgeous, inspirational, day-brightening gradients until I finished the other seven quilts.
Instead of finishing my UFOs all these months, I'm now up to 17 unfinished quilts. Well, make that 18 now...
Immediately after a thrilling and satisfying 10-day vacation to the Pacific Northwest, as in the very next day, I shot a wedding for a friend and co-worker. Needless to say, with something to the tune of 3,000 photos from the vacation and the wedding to edit and upload, I was feeling slightly overwhelmed. What did I do but shoot an awesome sunrise and balloon launch at Chatfield Reservoir, another 600 or so shots to edit, and then the second stage of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Crested Butte, another 600 more shots to edit!!! I promised myself I could work with my hand-dyed hollyhock jelly roll strips as soon as I finished the wedding photos. Because wedding photos come first, before vacation and fun shots.
I finished retouching all the wedding shots, making a video, burning a DVD and uploading all the wedding shots last weekend. But I still didn't know what I wanted to do with my hollyhock strips.
So I pulled out the gradient batiks instead.
Three hours later, I'd broken another promise and finished a rather plain quilt top. I have many ideas for the quilting to make it more attractive, but I also have about six more ideas for piecing more of those fabulous batik pieces.
These days, my goal is to finish ONE quilt before I start another. I'm still in the quarterly Ravelry challenge, but I'm not progressing much on finishing. I have worked on some of the UFOs, and most of the new projects I've begun are from leftovers I want to get rid of. I keep telling myself I can't start any more new quilts yet, and I'm going to try to stick to that. But the way these batiks are calling out to me, I'm not sure I can reign in all the temptation!
And there are still all those lovely hollyhock strips. They would just LOVE to be a quilt!
Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.
You'll get there indeed at your feed and damn, 3000 to go through? That will take quite a while
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat! Slowly making my way through the stack. Of fabric AND digital files!
DeleteI love your "rather plain" quilt. Sometimes those are the most interesting. I don't know what kind of quilter you are, but some variegated thread in a fancy pattern quilted on the white only sounds lovely to me.
ReplyDeleteHugs
Thank you, Terri! I was thinking either variegated or solids in rainbow hues, and I'm even contemplating hand quilting with perle cotton and some fancy embroidery stitches. Because, like you, I think it would look super cool!
DeleteThank you for showing the hollyhock strips - your frequent mention of them was very tantalizing!
ReplyDeleteI like the "rather plain" quilt top - I can see you doing some really creative appliqué on it, or adding some diagonal interest.
Broken promises aside, I think that if the ideas are flowing, take advantage of it! :)
You've been reading my mind, Sue! Diagonal is one of the options I'm considering! Rainbow diagonal, of course...
DeleteThanks for the encouragement! Sometimes it does feel like I've let myself down by starting yet another project, but I also like all the ideas I come up with, so better to let them fly than take a chance on never letting them happen...
you are doing amazing creative things. I'm so impressed with your skills and creative framing and shots. Don't worry about the ufo's. They won't go anywhere, and are not a sign of a negative personality trait, they are just a sign that you get excited about fabric! LeeAnna Paylor
ReplyDeleteThank you, LeeAnna! I do get excited about fabric and yarn and thread... and color!!!
DeleteYou have lovely colors you picked at least. 17 WIP is a little excessive but I have 7 of my own ... I think we all get into that sometimes. And then you see something else you just have to make so...I to have promised myself to finish all my WIP until I start anything. It's hard though isn't it? I look forward to seeing your quilts done.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Sherry! I still have a goal to finish the quilting by the end of September on at least one flimsy, and that would be a big relief, since I've made three new flimsies this quarter!
DeleteOh my!!! You had a big memory card for that week lol!! You will get there - one piece at a time. you can't rush creativity!! PS LOVE your photos!!!!
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