What to do when your #MAKENINE is all Finishing UFOs

As detailed in my previous post about organizing my stash, I have a lot of UFOs.

So, as I make out my 2019 sewing goals, I wonder whether I should focus on finishing UFOs, or using up stash?

Ha-Ha!  Of course I should finish things!  How silly of me--thinking that I can "bust some stash" by starting new projects.  Clearly, I have a big problem with finishing.  No more starting, unless there is some commensurate finishing, too. 

#MAKENINE2019

The instagram hashtag #MAKENINE is pretty prevalent this time of year: creatives and crafty folks plan out nine things they are committing to in the coming year.  If I look at my UFOs, I have at least NINE quilts (most of them larger than baby quilt size) that I can work on.  They have been started (farther along than the "dreaming/planning" phase).  But they are not yet done done.  And they need a little oomph.

Finish NINE ufo quilts in 2019

Here they are, in order from my Insta post committing to them in 2019:

1.  AAQGO charity quilt
Top clomplete; quilt basted; started to be tied.  (Will I continue tying, or try and quilt this myself?)

2.  Relaxing Round Robin
Top complete; quilt basted.  Intend to machine quilt and big-stitch embellish.

3.  Red/Black baby quilt
 Sooo close to done: finish big-stitch quilting/tying; binding is already complete.

4.  "Instant" baby quilt
Same as #3 (so close): finish big-stitch quilting.

5.  Drama t-shirt quilt
Top is not complete; at least 6 more blocks to make before design step.

6.  Circles BOM
Quilted and bound!  Needs big-stitch embellishment only.

7.  Woven BOM
Quilted: needs binding, which is already prepped.

8.  Minkee-backed squares quilt
Top complete; needs basting and straight-line quilting.

9.  Quick Curve sampler quilt
Blocks made and sashed; needs pieced borders; will be longarm quilted (not by me).


Analysis: if there's a pattern here, it's that the quilting step trips me up.  I don't sit still well for tying or big-stitch quilting, I don't have a longarm, and my sewing room tends to stay cluttered enough that clearing out space for quilting on my domestic machine takes a level of effort that makes me avoid it.  Plus, FMQ still scares me. 

And then there's the allure of the new and shiny: given any excuse, I will choose to work on a new project with surprising zeal and stick-to-it fervor... until it gets to the large & unwieldy stage.  My challenge is to keep this grid of nine quilts in front of me for 2019.  And maybe try to finish one of these in January, to give myself the momentum needed to push on.


Did you plan a MAKENINE in years past?  How did that work out?  Any hints for sticking with it?

Dog-gone Good T-shirt Quilt Idea

Saw Shelley's memory quilt project using Elizabeth Hartman's Dogs in Sweaters pattern on The Carpenter's Daughter Who Quilts blog (go search around her blog - she has made memory quilts from at least a dozen different patterns!)

While it's a great idea, these sweater-sporting dogs are tricky

This is my ONE doggo from that pattern.  Made with my quilt guild's challenge fabric from 2017, but still not completed quilted.  Fifty-plus pieces in there, for those keeping count.

Perhaps a simpler dog could be used?

This dog was the Block of the Moment for my guild, also back in 2017.  Pattern for a very similar block is available here from Quilter's Cache.  Super cute, and great to use up scraps

So, somewhere down the internet rabbit hole, I saw a block made by Emily Herrick (posted on her Crazy Old Ladies blog) that made me really think this schnauzer was a possible shape for a t-shirt quilt.

I felt like, if I could adjust the proportions a touch, this could be done! I needed a bigger canvas for the sweater/t-shirt.  But still want it to be recognizable as a pup.  Whaddya think?

Courtesy of EQ software + my brain

Yep, I think I can do this!  I'll have to try a prototype soon...

(This digression exploration prompted by the recent Xmas fabric/UFO organizing, and the realization that 3 of the offending bins are primarily made up of t-shirts waiting to become quilts.  3 bins!  For reals.)