Focus on UFOs (again)

Four years and four days ago, I published a blog post about all of my UFOs (UnFinished Objects) and my tendency to flit from project to project. I'm always attracted to the shiny new project. Or someone decides to have a baby and they need a quilt (and by the way, I learned of a new baby on the way just this past Friday). Or I sign up for a guild or QBFF challenge. I'm full of excuses. Meanwhile, the UFOs are still patiently waiting for me.

Today I'm looking back on some of those UFO posts from 2009 and 2010 because I've decided to enter a UFO challenge at my local quilt shop. The rules are simple: during the next six months finish one project per month. Bring the completed quilt to the shop and get entered to win a $25 gift card. If you finish all six projects you get entered to win a $50 gift card. Hey, that's a nice incentive! Anyhow, it's rather gratifying to realize that a few of those quilts from that first post in 2009 are actually finished.

In the above picture only two projects were even worked on; they're both on the right. I did the piano in 2009. The daffodil flag I made last February at my annual retreat.

I still have all of those other kits and patterns waiting to be worked on. For my new 2013 UFO challenge I've chosen one of those projects and added 5 others. The quilt shop's rules say that I have to specify which month the project will be finished. For February through April I've picked 3 quilt tops (shown below) that are not only finished but are pin-basted-- meaning all that I need to do is quilt and bind them.

On the left is a green monochromatic quilt that was a mystery project at the 2009 retreat. I wrote about it here in June of 2009. This will be my February entry. In the middle is my table runner from the QBFF paint chip challenge we did in 2011. I'm the only one of the 4 of us who hasn't finished her quilt yet. Mine is also the smallest. So I should be able to finish this by March. (An aside--"paint chip challenge" is the most frequent search phrase that causes someone to land on my blog.) And finally a quilt I don't think I've ever posted here before. On the right is a lap throw (larger than crib, smaller than twin) made from this space fabric that I fell in love with. I will finish that one by April.

Below are three kits that I have not started. They need to be done May through July:

On the left is a bundle of four fat quarters and a pattern to make a set of four placemats. This is a souvenir from my 2012 vacation and was purchased at a quilt shop on the Olympic Peninsula that my step-MIL took me to. The middle project, for June, is a full-sized quilt that was on the far left in that original picture from 2009. It's a grouping of six Japanese prints that will be made up into a pattern called "Just Zip It." I originally bought the pattern and fabrics at the shop sponsoring the UFO challenge in 2008. The pattern has a beautiful color gradation and I think these fabrics will work very nicely together. I plan on making this the primary thing I piece at my guild retreat in late February. If I get the quilt top done there, I should have plenty of time to quilt it by June. And finally, the fabric bundle on the right will be made into a crib quilt for July. I'm sure I'll know a baby who needs it.

So there you go-- six quilting goals for the next six months. I'll also be finishing the book cover quilt for the winner of the 2012 Brenda Novak auction for diabetes research. That quilt should be done by the end of February. Also, (I need to confirm it with Brenda) I will probably offer another t-shirt quilt for the 2013 auction. Fortunately I won't have to have that done until the end of August. I hope these prove to be reasonable goals. I refuse to stress about them. If I have to drop one or two to get the auction quilts done or deal with other life issues, then I'll drop them. At most, I miss out on an opportunity to be entered into a drawing I'm not likely to win. But I do like the incentive of turning these UFOs into CEOs (Completely Executed Objects).