Finish What You Start?

You may have deduced from my last post that sometimes I have trouble finishing projects. Ever wonder why I quit writing about the Lone Star quilt in 2008? That's right, I quit working on it and it's languishing as a UFO. My niece may never get her wedding gift. The Learning EQ7 series didn't stop just because of my long hiatus from blogging. I also got sidetracked and quit doing the lessons.

In January 2008, I wrote annual goals for various things, including UFOs. I located all my Unfinished Objects (UFOs) and Works in Progress (WIPs) and made a master list. Any of my WIPs could become a UFO, so I group them together. It's amazing how frequently something more urgent or more interesting pops up to sidetrack me.

Each January, I create a new UFO/WIP list and set a goal for how many I want to finish. So how have I done?

Year	# UFOs/WIPs on Jan. 1	# UFOs/WIPs finished
2008	37	13
2009	33	8
2010	32	6
2011	30	4, so far

So the number of unfinished projects on January 1 isn't going down much each year. I start and finish a lot of things each year. Unfortunately, I also start a few things each year that don't get finished by December 31.

I am slowly getting some of the true UFOs finished, though not necessarily the oldest ones. There are always Project Linus blankets in various stages of completion. There is always a pair of socks being knitted. Whatever isn't finished on December 31, goes on the list for the next year.

I've decided to pass one crochet project on to someone else through a garage sale or thrift shop donation. It wasn't my UFO to start with. A coworker bought it in an auction lot. She knitted but didn't crochet so she passed it on to me. I worked on it some and never finished it. The group I planned to donate it to no longer wants it and it's time to get it out of here.

It really is OK to not finish everything. If it no longer inspires you, you don't want to work on it and it's not an overdue gift someone is expecting, don't torture yourself. Pass it on to someone who will love and appreciate it and get the clutter out of your house and out of your mind.

On the other hand, if you love the fabric, yarn, pattern, or someone is waiting for a gift from you: keep it, pull it out and work on it occasionally and finally get it done! Sometimes spending small chunks of time move the project along until you finish it. This works best on projects you can easily get out and put away.

I dread getting out the Lone Star quilt to work on. It is a huge quilt. I'll have to move my living room furniture to clear space to layer the back, batting and top and baste them for quilting. It's probably going to take hours, days and weeks to quilt. Then there are miles of binding to stitch.

I just remembered why I love making blankets for Project Linus. They're relatively small, quick to make, and nobody cares if your quilting is a little less than perfect.

What UFOs should you get rid of because finishing them would serve no purpose? Which ones do you feel like you should finish, but you really don't want to? And which ones will you get around to someday?