Imperfectly Perfect UFO

I dug out another UFO. I cannot remember when I made it, but it is more than 15 years old. It did not take long to realize why I did not finish it. I appliqued one of the funky leaves the wrong way. Ugh. I must say I did a nice job with the applique so I do think this is worth finishing. The question is how. I do not want to take the leaf off and redo it. I'm afraid the fabric will not hold up and I no longer have any of the fabrics. The blocks are not square but 10.5 " by 11." Originally I was going to make it into the square arrangement. I could put them in a row (second photo). Thoughts?

Thanks to everyone who wrote me and said that they were going to embrace being "imperfectly perfect"! You made my day.

Happy Dancing!

 Done! And in time for the Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays. It feels good to have a UFO completed. My hope is finish one UFO a month this year. Of course, I have not checked to see how many UFOs I have so I guess that will need to be the next step. It feels good to have focus and a plan for the year. This also helps as winter seems to have finally arrived making spring seem far away.

I also posted on the Ideas of Inspiration's blog.  This month's prompt is "things that you love" in honor of Valentine's Day.  I chose "found objects" even though my list of things that I love is quite long.

"It matters not who you love, where you love, why you love, when you love or how you love, it only matters that you love." -John Lennon

So here is to finishing and love! It is a great day!

Some Goals Make You Go Around in Circles

Michele, on her blog, is sharing her progress on reducing her stash and be productive. I love her "stolen" idea of having 2,013 items leave her house in 2013. I also love how honest she is being. It's inspiring.

I too have decided that I must deal with my UFOs once and for all. I will either finish them or give them away this year. I also need to decide what to do with the closets that are filled with quilts, but not sure this will happen this year. I did throw a quilt away! I took off some of the elements before pitching it. It was actually quite liberating! And before you get upset with me like my friend Carolyn, it was a small wall hanging made in the 1990s and believe me no one would want it. I did the world a favor.

This circle shaped quilt (36") was made when I was teaching one of my creativity circles. I still miss the women in these groups. Watching them grow was one of my best teaching experiences. For this assignment, we made circle quilts, cut them into wedges and everyone had to put the wedges together in any way that they wanted. I just couldn't bring myself to cut up this one, so I didn't, much to the disappointment of my group. I did make something similar to cut up so the disappointment was only temporary. Anyway, it's long past due to finish it. And to answer the next most asked question that I get, I have no idea what I will do with it once it's done. I am finding that quilting a circle shaped quilt is a challenge and I'm up for it!

Catching the cold that morphed into a sinus infection was not in the planes and certainly caused my January to go awry, but looking at what I did accomplish made me feel much better. Do you keep a list of your accomplishments?

Professionally

1. Booked two guild gigs
2. Entered SAQA's "Metaphors on Aging" exhibit
3. Completed and sent in everything for Teacher of the Year
4. Completed biz books for 2012 and started 2013

Putting Stretch Marks on My Comfort Zone

1. Participated in Shannon Ganshorn's International Postcard Exchange
2. Joined the Journal Swap through Milliande
3. Continued my journey with pottery

Christmas Gifts

1. Made 5 table runners (completed 4, one had to have binding hand stitched down)
2. Made 2 sets of cards

Things that Bothered Me But Don't Anymore Because I Took Care of Them (well almost)

1. Painted places on my oven door where paint had chipped off
2. Deep cleaned my studio
3. Cleaned my office (needs it done again so this will show up until I get it under control--one must have goals! I aspire to be a person with a clean and organized desk.)
4. Cleaned out books from bathroom cabinet--sold some, gave some to friends and gave the rest to my library
5. New shower caddy
6. New broom

Other

Made 23 birthday cards, 4 anniversary cards, 20 Valentines 

Life is good!

Santa 1996

When I lived in Houston, I belonged to a couple of bees. In one bee, we took turns making blocks for each other. Since I got the month of December, I decided on Santas. This was in 1996. I asked that the blocks be able to be divided by 3 (not including the seam allowance). I thought it would make for a more interesting quilt. Unfortunately, several people in the group didn't understand the concept or simply did not read my instructions. At the time, I found it frustrating and set the blocks aside. I don't think I realized it would be sixteen years before I got them out again. Less than a week ago, I had a dream about hanging the Santa quilt with my three year old grandson. He isn't born yet (due in January) but he sure was cute in my dream. Obviously, the blocks must have been on my mind. I dug them out of my UFO box and put them together. It was an interesting challenge and I made it work! It seems strange to be doing something so traditional.  I love looking at the blocks and remembering the people who made them. It's amazing how the blocks truly reflect their creators. Houston was such a wonderful time in my life and having this quilt to hang each Christmas will help keep those good times with incredible women alive for me. I also think it might (remember I'm say "might") spur me on to finish some other UFOs. I am not one who feels guilty about having or getting rid of UFOs. I'm happy I kept these and hope the women who made the blocks will be happy too. How do you feel about your UFOs?

Challenge Updates Plus

I have given myself "quilter's elbow," as my husband is calling it. My doctor calls it elbow tendonitis. It's nothing serious but it is limiting me on the computer and sewing machine. I have exercises to do and I'm suppose to rest. The resting part is not easy for me.

I am happy to share that Gail Pierce has finished her 1950s challenge piece (shown here)! To learn more and see more images, please visit her blog. Thanks Gail!

With Judy's Fabric Challenge, Diane Dunder has been busy. I was a little worried that I was in her head too much with my rules, but she assured me that she is remembering the one that says, "Have fun!" I love that she is just giving us a hint of what she is doing. Can't wait to see more.

Sara Kelly has also made some great progress. I also think it is good that she is letting it rest because she's not sure what to do next. It took me a while to learn how to let things rest but not to forget them and then simply create a UFO. I love all the movement is Sara's piece and can't wait to see what comes next.

On the subject of UFOs, I don't feel that we should feel guilty about having them or feel bad about giving them away. I'm a process person so the end product is always the less important part. The interesting part of me is that I have very few UFOs. So often there is both joy and sadness when finishing a piece. So how do you feel about UFOs?