Make Your Minutes Count Twice!
If it's ripping or hand work, keep it by the phone and work on it every time you are on the phone.
Keep ripping or other hand work by your favorite evening chair. While listening to the news, music or talking on the phone, keep your hands busy by ripping or stitching! (I find this an especially helpful way to get ripping done, which is usually what puts a project on hold for me).
Keep ripping or other hand work in your car. During unexpected wait time you can rip or stitch while you wait!
I keep a couple of projects in my purse, in plastic bags, so I am always ready for waiting time at doctor appointments, sports practice, the hair dresser, the 'they do all the work' car wash, vet appointments, etc. Those few minutes of "found time" can really add up!
I do projects during my lunch hour at work, with a timer set to remind me of the time,and get several quilt tops done a year with just that few minutes each day. It also helps refresh my mind from the morning's events so I am better able to tackle the afternoon. [Niki Note:check with your supervisor if you are going to be doing this at your desk to prevent any problems at work.]
Small Ways to Find Time:
If it's something you just cringe over...set the kitchen timer for fifteen minutes, and work on it 'til the timer dings. When it dings, stop. If you can do this once a week(or more often as you gain momentum) it will soon get it past the cringe stage and back to a work in progress.
One or two days a week, get up 30 minutes earlier (or go to bed 30 minutes later), and work on the project. Set a timer so you don't accidentally lose track of the time.
Keep it by the sewing machine, and every time you work on a current project, before leaving the machine do something on the UFO project too.
I leave it on the sewing machine table and tell myself I can't work on what I want to until I have sewn at least a quarter or half hour on the UFO. Once I get past the boring, annoying or don't-know-what-to-do-next stage, I find that I go ahead and finish it. If I put it in the cupboard (out of sight), it never gets finished.
Get Friends or Other Quilters Involved:
Get input from other quilters. I took two of them to one of my quilting groups (a small group) and we all had input into each other's UFOs. A couple were traded or just given away, and it has energized me quite a bit. Another Quilter writes: I show the project to a quilting buddy and ask for their ideas and suggestions. Sometimes a new perspective brings just the right idea to get me going again.
Trade UFO's with a friend and do one another's. Sometimes just the 'change of scenery' is enough to energize both of you to finish the project in a surprisingly short amount of time.(A variation is to get together and make an afternoon or evening of it, things go much easier with company!)
Join or create a small sewing group of friends or acquaintances, and get together one or two days a month. This dedicated time will help you work on your projects, and you have the input of others if you get stuck.
A regular night out for quilting. On Wednesday nights I meet with a group of ten quilters and we work on our own projects. Instead of working on something current, I have begun to take my UFO's.
Is basting keeping you from finishing a project? Get a group of quilty folks together for a Basting Party. Consider making it pot luck. Just make sure that everyone stays to help baste until everyone in group gets a minimum number (usually set ahead of time to one or two)done. Then if a few others want to stay and do additional basting for one another there are no hard feelings later. Also consider using spray basting glue to speed up the process.
Set up a 'Retreat Day' with a/some quilting friends, where you can all go and work on your project. Make it a pot luck, and have a place where interruptions by family are minimal. (Call it a 'class' if that helps you create space and time). My friends and I go to a camp twice a year for the entire weekend and bring everything with us that we want to someday finish (or start). Into the third day when it's time to leave we have such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment.
Consider asking your local quilt shop to donate classroom space for a monthly 'UFO Retreat Class' along these lines, also a pot luck type event. Charge a minimal fee of $5 or so, or fat quarters, cut fabric, or finished blocks for their own charity quilt program. They are likely to have a few sales of thread, fabric, or other items needed to finish projects, it generates lots of good will among customers, and it is a great way to use up a night when they would not otherwise have a class (in our area Friday night worked great because we could work from 5 or so until 11, and be cleaned up and out the door by 11:30pm. Later, they developed an afternoon class for those who didn't want to drive at night).
Another quilter wrote that her local quilt shop's retreat class was so popular that they had it twice a month, and often still had the maximum number of attendees possible.
Another variation: A local quilt shop has a "Quilting Overnighter" every August where we arrive at 7:30 p.m., bring a pot luck dish, have dinner, then sew all night. We have the option of making a new quilt with instruction from the shop owner or bringing our own UFO projects.
Motivational Techniques:
If it's something you just cringe over...set the kitchen timer for fifteen minutes, and work on it 'til the timer dings. When it dings, stop. If you can do this once a week(or more often as you gain momentum) it will soon get it past the cringe stage and back to a work in progress. [Niki's Note: This is listed twice because it works so well for more than one reason!]
One of the things I do to get back into my UFO'S is to decide to give a project (finished) to someone for a gift. Most of the things I finish are for gifts. I can justify sewing all day on a gift, but have difficulty sewing for myself.
After finishing a UFO, reward yourself with a trip to the ta dah ..... FABRIC STORE. 8-)
Weighing your choices. I think about the yuckiest, most awful chore I need to do in my house (i.e. defrosting the freezer, cleaning the oven, etc.) and decided if I would rather do that than work on the UFO. If the chore wins...the UFO goes up for adoption.
I've also used the "Carrot & Stick" method - 15 min UFO time = 15 min of new quilt time.
Make a pact with yourself that you cannot start a new project until you finish an old one.
Make a pact with yourself that you cannot buy fabric for a new project until one old project is completed.
A stalled project gets a "time out". The project gets put away in a drawer or closet for a prescribed amount of time (days, weeks, months) and then is allowed to come out for another attempt at progressing smoothly. [Niki's Note: If you're going to try this, two suggestions...have one designated spot for time outs, and write an appointment with yourself in your date book to review the time out projects, so they don't become out of sight,out of mind projects!]
I've been told by my friends that my method for finishing UFO's is the strangestthey have heard, but it works for me. I start a new, small project (wall hanging, table runner or simple baby quilt), that can be finished in a couple of days. Just starting and finishing one project gets me inspired to finish some of the UFO's that have been sitting. Of course, my DH is very skeptical of this routine ;-)
Delegate Your Sticking Point:
Is basting the project together what is holding you back? Find a long arm quilter who will baste a quilt for you, usually for a minimal flat fee. If that idea doesn't appeal to you, consider using a basting gun or spray glue to baste your quilts much quicker.
Is it the quilting that is holding you up? Consider sending your projects to a long arm quilter to get this step out of your hair and get those projects done!
Is it binding that is holding you up? If you can't accomplish it using one of the methods listed above, consider trading with another quilter who doesn't mind the binding, but is not fond of rotary cutting her next project (for example). Or consider paying someone to finish this step for you.
While these suggestions do involve paying or bartering with someone, often you will find the dollar amount to be well worth the positive sense of accomplishment as projects consistently get off the to do list and on the 'Done!' list, as well as a lack of stress, guilt and other negative effects on you mentally and emotionally in the long run. :)
Redefine Your Projects:
Look at the project with a critical eye. Is is something that you can revamp and turn into a finished product more easily than the original plan? In other words, instead of sewing those 16 inch blocks into a top, make them into pillows for gift giving. Add some strips to the sides of 12 inch blocks making them approx. 12x18 and make them into placemats!Turn that partially pieced top into a vest or tote bag, or make it a baby quilt or lap quilt size instead of a full bed quilt size.
I made a list of all my UFO's and then gave myself permission to not finish some of the projects I had started. I put the pattern back where I store my patterns and the fabric back on the shelf. If I had completed blocks, I just sat them aside to donate to charity quilts. Boy, was that ever freeing!
Something that worked for me recently (and was immensely satisfying) was down-sizing the UFO to something I could complete. I had started a small wall hanging (intricate paper pieced stars). I was trying to make it as a present for a friend who liked the pattern, but I hated working on it. I averaged one block every six months for 2.5 years and then wised up. I was never going to get the 16 blocks made that I needed for the arrangement my friend had liked. The 5 blocks I had only sort of went together. So I decided to make a bag instead of a quilt, and I used a bunch of coordinated fabrics in plain squares to alternate with the blocks. The end result was really nice, and I gave it to our guild for our show auction, since my friend would never have used a bag like that. It was such a sense of relief to get those blocks out of my house.
Turn them into a new project. I went through my sewing room several months ago and put together all the things I would never finish or just got bored with. In Quilter's Newsletter a few issues ago, they had an "abandoned blocks and unfinished projects" quilt. This is what I did with all the blocks that worked. I just stuck with the things that went together best and put the others into another container. I have not finished this quilt yet, but it is quite a good size, and I love it. Life is too short to make too many of the same blocks!! Don't throw out your work, make it work!! I have had to add some blocks and lots of fillers. Great stash/scrap reduction too.
Eliminate the Boredom Block:
I usually have about five projects going at the same time, because if I have just one going, I sometime get bored. I set goals on each project. Such as:
Project #1 Draw all the pieces on freezer paper that are needed for that project.
When that is done, I move on the Project #2
Perhaps it is sewing all the nine patches together then on to Project #3
Read three chapters in a book. Move on.
Project #4 do embroidery work in a certain section of the project.
It keeps things rolling, I see progress happening and I am not bored.
I tried your idea of the timer and it worked like a charm! Many of my UFO's were cast aside because of some small problem (requiring ripping) or perhaps a boring step. I have a tendency to quit if I get bored, but allowing myself the chance to stop with a timer did the trick!
Evaluate Your Projects:
About a year ago I made up a list, in chronological order, of all my UFO's. While I was making this list, I also gave myself permission to not finish some of the projects I had started. I put the pattern back where I store my patterns and the fabric back on the shelf. If I had completed blocks, I just sat them aside to donate to charity quilts. Boy, was that ever freeing!
Or just decide that it is not worth finishing and donate it to a Children's Quilt Project sort of organization.
Another thing I have done is to get all the UFOs out and look at them and decide what is holding me up. Then I make a list with all the UFOs and what needs to be done to finish them. Having a list to look at always makes me happier and makes it easier to work on the projects, because I know exactly what needs to be done next.
More Complex Ideas:
A stalled project gets a "time out". The project gets put away in a drawer or closet for a prescribed amount of time (days, weeks, months) and then is allowed to come out for another attempt at progressing smoothly. [Niki's Note: If you're going to try this, two suggestions...have one designated spot for time outs, and write an appointment with yourself in your date book or on your calendar to review the time out projects, so they don't become out of sight, out of mind projects!]
Make a list of your top ten projects to finish and then spend one hour on #1. The next time you have a chance to quilt you spend one hour on #2, etc. Once you get through all ten, you can start a new project (as a reward, not a UFO) and add it to the bottom of the list. Then start back at the top of the list and rotate through them again. Having the new project at the bottom is a nice 'carrot' to encourage you to work through the list. When you finish one of the original ten, you can reward yourself by starting another new project if you like. This idea is certainly adjustable, by choosing the amount of time you dedicate to each project. Some quilters do as much as ten hours per project, to get serious progress done before moving to the next project on the list, but for others this can create burnout. Choose what works for you!
Make a list of your UFO's and what needs to be done on each one. Then look over the list as a whole to see if a pattern emerges. Do you repeatedly get stalled at a particular step of the process? Is it the repetition of a process that causes a road block for you? Are you someone that likes to learn a particular technique, but then doesn't care to do enough of it once learned to complete a quilt or project? Is it that the fabrics you are working with no longer appeal to you? If you can see a pattern perhaps you can find a solution or solutions here to help you solve it.
If you have ideas to share to help other quilters finish their UFO's, please send an e-mail and share them. Thanks! -Niki
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