Corralling All Those UFOs (Part 1)

Most of us have them.  Many of us have more than a few.  They sit, lurking in the darkest parts of closets, the deepest depths of drawers, or stowed away under a bed.  Occasionally they sit out in the open, invading the solitude and creativity of our quilt studio – silently judging us and us judging them.  What am I talking about?

UFOs.

For the uninitiated, when quilters talk about UFOs, we’re not talking about unidentified flying objects.  Nope.  What we’re referring to are Unfinished Objects.  These UFOs are different from WIPS (works in progress) but may be related to PIGs (projects in grocery bags).  The term UFO indicates a project started long ago that we haven’t put a stitch in for years and have no firm date to put another stitch in.  These poor projects may be a year or two old, or older than 20 years.  We can’t seem to get rid of them, but nor are we motivated to pick them up and start again.  Either we’ve hit a mental brick wall, have lost interest, got stuck on a step, or simply became excited about a new, shiny project which caused us to stow away what we were working on and begin something new.  Either way, we’ve accumulated a few (and in some cases more than a few) UFOs.  What I hope this blog does is help you begin to understand why you have these unfinished projects, sort through them with a critical eye, and make a plan for those poor, ignored projects.

I think if we can talk about why we have UFOs, those facts will go a long way in both understanding how to handle them and how to keep from having so many.  Something got in the way of our completing the project and whatever that something was, it was strong enough or attention diverting enough to cause us to cease work on them. Sometimes we just lose interest in them.  The process could take longer than we expected or what seemed like an exciting project suddenly isn’t any longer.  But for whatever reason, the thrill is gone, and we find ourselves studiously avoiding the project.

Frustration may be another factor holding us back from completing the process.  The pattern could be harder than we thought, a new technique may be tricky and difficult, or it may seem we suffer setback after setback or interruption after interruption and finally just give up before we start beating our heads against the wall of our quilt studio.  We also could feel overwhelmed at the number of UFOs we have.  They may seem like an unsurmountable mountain we will never conquer.  It just doesn’t seem as if we will ever have enough time to complete them.

If negative associations are attached to a project, that may be another reason we have problems working on those quilts.  I have two of these projects.  One is a quilt I worked on while my father was in Hospice.  Another is a beautiful applique quilt I began in a class.  For many reasons, the class dissolved into chaos, and I left the group, tucking the quilt squares away in a tub.  I haven’t picked them up in years.   

However, by far the biggest reason I think we quilters have UFOs is what I call the “Magpie Syndrome.”  Supposedly Magpies (and their cousins, crows and ravens) like to collect shiny things.   These bits of bling catch their attention, and they’ll drop whatever else they may have in their beaks and grab the next shiny scrap.

I hate to be a myth buster, but this is an old wives tale.  Scientists have studied these birds for years and the evidence does not support the Magpie’s affinity for shiny objects.  However, the evidence for quilters liking shiny new things is definitely not a myth.  We are known to be deep in the middle of a project, but when confronted with a new, beautiful pattern or fabrics, toss what we’re working on in a box and immediately begin the new project with only a twinge of guilt to remind us of the work in progress.

If we’re aware of the reasons we tend to turn an active project into a UFO, we can avoid falling into the UFO trap.  There are several different ways to evade this trap – and not all of them include buckling down and finishing the project.  We’ll get to these a bit later in this blog.

How UFOs Affect Your Creativity

Different artists (quilters, artists, writers, etc.) often have their own explanation of what creativity is and how it works for them.  All of these explanations are valid, but what all of them tend to have in common is this: It ebbs and flows.  Sometimes you’re riding a creativity high – the fabric harmonizes beautifully, corners match, everything is square, your applique stitches are awesome, and that binding is just perfect.  Other times, not so much.  You struggle to make sense of directions, all of your cutting is just a bit off, and the fabric that matched so perfectly in the quilt shop now seems to be just one shade off.  Sometimes your creative well runs deep and at other times it’s as shallow as a mud puddle.

I like to think of my creativity as a river.  The water of creativity continuously flows in and out of this river and brings nourishment and life to the creatures living in and near the river.  This continuous flow keeps the water fresh and everything around it full of creativity.  However, if something builds a dam in this river, it can cause the river to back up and make a reservoir.  This water can become stagnant and unhealthy.  If we are in a situation where our creativity ceases to flow, suddenly our projects (whether it’s a quilt or a blog) can become an aching burden, not something which sets us free to fly.  When we cling to unfished projects that no longer bring us joy, inner peace, or that we no longer love, those UFOs can block our creative energy (the river) and lead to creative stagnation (an unhealthy creative reservoir). 

In order to break down this “dam” we need to let go of those UFOs we know we will never get around to finishing.  And we must be brutally honest with ourselves as we work through this process.  Does this project still bring us any joy?  Can we honestly see us investing our time and resources to finish it?  If the answer to these questions is no, it’s time to let them go.

Before anyone clutches their pearls, I don’t mean toss these projects into a trashcan, so they end up in a landfill.  That’s irresponsible and wasteful.  But what we all need to learn to do is to release what no longer serves us.  And this can be difficult.  When we look at the time we’ve already spent on the project, the money we’ve invested, and the creativity we’ve poured into it, it’s so easy to lie to ourselves.  “I’ll get back to it soon,” we whisper, as we shove that UFO back down into a bin and stow it away, out of sight, out of mind.  It’s difficult to admit we may never actually touch that UFO again, but we can’t turn loose of our investment in it.  To cancel out this nagging feeling, tell yourself it’s okay to move on from this project.  It’s fine to let it go.  We can pass this unfinished project along to someone else who may love it and accept the challenge of completing it.  Quilt guild meetings are great places to do this.  If you don’t belong to a guild, but you do belong to some online quilt groups, ask if someone in that group wants it.  You can haggle about picking it up or mailing it, but chances are you can find someone who will love it more than you do.  And the feeling of releasing the UFO to someone else is amazing.  Years ago I began a block of the month with Lucy Boston’s Patchwork of the Crosses.  This was one of those labor intensive, fussy cutting BOMs which was absolutely beautiful and held my attention for exactly six blocks.  I learned a lot about fussy cutting, but I also learned this BOM wasn’t for me.  I found out, through a local quilting group I met with, that there was a woman who wanted this very BOM but was too late in the sign-up process.  I sold her my finished blocks, all my tools, and about 16 additional kits I had not touched.  I honestly don’t know which one of us was happier – me or her. 

If you can’t find a taker, repurposing the materials in the UFO is always an option.  The fabric can be used for other projects or can be filed away in your stash for later quilts.  If the project is halfway or more complete, see if you can make it smaller, or simply stop where it’s at in the process, bind it, and use it as a table runner, bed runner, lap quilt, or charity quilt.

No matter how you let those UFOs go, this process opens the door for new ideas and a fresh flow of creativity. 

Next week we’ll take a look at how to pick through your UFOs and decide what to keep and what to re-purpose or re-home.

Until Next Week,

Love and Stitches,

Sherri and Felix