UFO’s & new projects
As 2009 comes to a close, I’ve started looking at my database to evaluate my results. I track 5 major areas of my quilting.
- Tops quilted
- New quilts started
- UFO’s finished
- Stash used
- Quilts donated
For me, not all UFO’s are bad. Finished tops don’t bother me – I know they’ll get done eventually and I see them as a quick source of gift or donation quilts as I can quilt and bind them in a short period of time when they’re *needed*. The danger for me is having half pieced projects, those are the ones that when set aside never seem to get finished so for the last several years I don’t allow myself more than 1 or 2 projects in the piecing stage. Once I finish a top, I allow myself to start something new.
Of the 18 new quilts I’ve started this year:
- 6 are finished quilts
- 10 are finished tops
- # 17 is a hand piecing project (the Applecore started this month) that will be worked on over time
- #18 was started tonight from leftover strips from #16
And I quilted and finished 6 tops from last year so I consider this another successful year on the UFO front.
What do you track and how did you do with your UFO’s this year?
I track finished tops—once finished, even if not quilted, I move it to my completed list. I have finished 18 quilts this year and all but two are quilted. Unfortunately, I still have 2 quilts that I have yet to put bindings on that I began the year with—I think it is because I don’t like the quilts and I HATE binding, a bad combination. I have two long term projects going—scrap quilts with LOTS of little pieces; one I am currently working on and a BOM (which I am not really counting since I can only work as fast as the next block comes out. All in all, this has been a good year.
Your post made me pause and make a final assessment of my work this year. I usually keep track of my work in a spreadsheet and try to assign my projects quarterly deadlines. I also list ideas (whether specific or vague) for new projects or types of quilts I want to make, noting whether I already have a pattern or fabric in mind or in hand.
However, the schedule usually gets upended by any new projects I get excited about. That is why my goal for next year is to only work on the projects I have on hand and limit fabric purchases to things I need to finish those. We’ll see how that goes!
Of the eight WISPs/UFOs I have, only one got completed this year (two more need to be layered and quilted). Unfortunately, I also started twelve(!) new projects: two got completed, another is a gift waiting on binding, four are basted and waiting quilting and two more need to be layered with(fading) hopes that I can still get them done before years end since I’m signed up for Finn’s Year End Finish Challenge. Again, we’ll have to see how that goes!
I don’t keep a written record. Maybe I should!
Each November someone on the web challenges her blog readers to finish as many UFOs as possible before the end of the year. I jump into that and work pretty steadily for those two months on getting more completions. This year I signed up for NINE, and I’m working on # 6. I have two away at the LA quilter, and they will be back for binding before the end of the year, so I’m in pretty good shape to reach my goal.
What I don’t really keep track of is how many NEW things I start each year. And how many I don’t finish, thus adding to my UFO total.
I do have a photo album on the computer called “:Current Works in Progress”. That is as close to a list as I have. Occasionally I look at it and think….”Oh, my, which os those should I try to finish next?
Where do you keep your record? On the computer?
I haven’t kept very good track this year. Does it count if most of my UFOs are new ones?
I am not nearly as organized as you are. I track what I complete. The way I know my UFOs is that they are on two shelves in my sewing room and I know I HAVE to do something when there is no room on either of them. However, I did complete one UFO each month this past year, a challenge I set for myself, and that has kept my UFO shelves from being over crowded.
You know, I don’t track anything. I usually depend on “the spirit” to call me which at this moment is GUILT. hee!
Okay, at first I thought that I only kept a list of my donation quilts but then I realized I keep all sorts of lists. I have a list of all my nieces, nephews, brothers and sisters favourite colours and when I gave them a quilt. This is actually a book, I have lots of relatives. Then I have another list of my UFOs and what needs to be done to them. As these quilts are finished I move them over to the To Be Quilted list. Then I try to take a photo of all the completed quilts and I keep that in a couple of files on my computer.
I like the idea of your database, and think I will try this next year as a system to keep better track of my projects. Granted, I like having several going at once, I just don’t want to LOSE one!! And I would like to know how many things I have finished at the end of a year, I have never kept track of it. Great idea Mary!!
This past year, I’ve tried to make lists of tops waiting for quilting, UFOs and kits to make (I LOVE kits), and then quilts for which I have bought all the fabric. I need to get a better handle on it though, and I think a spreadsheet is a great idea. For the past two years my New Year’s Resolution has been to work on UFOs – if I finish one I can start something new (for me, gifts/donations don’t count). I’ve done okay – I have actually finished up some UFOs (most start 10 years or more ago). I have a long way to go.
That is an amazing accomplishment! The only way I track my work is by my blog, so at the end of the year, I read through it and see what I’ve done. I don’t keep track of my stash at all…I’m not interested in knowing that