Every quilter has them—quilts you started but have never finished, for a variety of good and bad reasons. Your quilt UFOs (“unfinished objects”) take up space in your sewing room and cause stress whenever you think about them.
It’s time for a fresh start. Make this the year when you reduce or even eliminate that pile of old UFOs. Here’s a simple plan for getting them done:
Step 1: Gather All Your Unfinished Quilts Together
If you don’t know how many UFOs you have, root through your sewing room and assemble them all in one place. Count them and write down the number, if you’re so inclined. (I tend to skip the counting—too overwhelming.) Leaving unfinished quilts scattered around your room makes it less likely that you will finish them.
Step 2: Decide Which UFOs to Keep, Give Away, or Trash
Look at each UFO and ask yourself honestly if you genuinely want to finish this project, or if you’d really rather just make it go away. Maybe you don’t like the fabrics, or you chose a pattern that was too technically challenging for you.
Give yourself permission to not finish quilts you don’t feel enthusiastic about working on. You really don’t have to finish everything you start. Life’s too short to spend it on projects you don’t enjoy!
Step 3: Find New Homes for UFOs You Don't Want to Do Yourself
Here are some suggestions for the quilts you don't want to finish:
- Give them to quilting friends to finish.
- Swap them for projects a friend doesn’t want to finish. You finish hers, and she will finish yours.
- Bring unfinished projects to a quilt guild meeting and ask if anyone else would like to finish them. Many quilters will complete another person’s projects to donate to charity.
- Join an online forum like Stashbuster and offer to mail the UFO to any member who will finish it. These forums reach thousands of other quilters, some of whom will be eager to finish your orphan quilt.
- Cut the project into strips and use them to make string quilts. A truly ugly quilt can look entirely different and interesting when you cut it up.
- Put the UFO in a Ziploc bag and donate it to the Goodwill or Salvation Army.
- If the fabrics are not synthetic, put the quilt in your compost pile. (Natural fabrics do compost, but fairly slowly.)
- If all else fails, throw it in the garbage!
You’ll feel liberated by reducing your stack of UFOs.
Step 4: Choose One UFO to Finish Before You Start Anything New
Pick just one unfinished quilt and take whatever steps you need to get it completed. Promise yourself that you absolutely will not start anything new until you finish this one quilt. (This is the hardest part for a quilter like me, who finds starting new projects almost irresistible.)
There are many different ways to choose which quilt to finish. You may want to finish the one that’s closest to being done, or the one that looks like the most fun to work on. Or the one you promised your niece as a wedding present for her wedding five years ago. Just get one done! Even sending a quilt out to the long-arm quilter for completion counts, because it is no longer a UFO on your To-Do pile.
Congratulate Yourself for Every Quilt You Get Done
Once the quilt is finished, take a photograph and post it on your blog (if you have one) or email the photo to your friends and family. Feel free to brag about your accomplishment. Give yourself extra points if the quilt has been in your sewing room for years or fulfills a long-overdue deadline. It really helps to celebrate your success.
Repeat the Quilt-Finishing Cycle until Done
When you have finished one UFO, you get to start one new project. (Only one! Any more than one is cheating.) After that, return to your UFO pile and pick another unfinished quilt to complete. If you’re mathematically inclined, it can be very satisfying to count the number of finishes you achieve in a year.
You’ll be surprised by how quickly you can reduce your pile of unfinished projects.
Christine Mann - Christine Mann writes about quilting, home decor sewing, and creativity in daily life.
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