I have more than a passing acquaintance with UFOs. Not the sort navigated by grey skinned aliens headed for Roswell, but those projects which we all have regardless of whether we talk about them. Quilts started in a class or after picking up that new pattern at a show. Maybe we just experienced the creative nudge to try something different so with great anticipation off to the fabric store we went in search of the “perfect” material from which to construct this next great masterpiece.
And yet – there they sit. Perhaps on a shelf neatly folded, it’s fabric and instructions wrapped around the partially constructed top. Maybe stuffed into a box and slid out of sight under a work table or buried amidst an avalanche of fabric swatches.
Recently I resolved to face these incomplete projects with objectivity and new eyes. I would not bow to the feelings of guilt for not having assembled them fully or lament the funds spent on their components. Instead I would try to see the reasons behind these undone objects and then take action.
The first bundle I opened was a collection of fabrics and a few blocks tied together with a strip of muslin. At one time a friend had commented that instead of a bug jar quilt I should make one for myself with fruits and vegetables. How did that comment become “I MUST do this” in my head? The colors don’t appeal to me anymore and would look garish in my kitchen. I placed the bundle into a bag – I will post on the Guild’s message board that it needs a good home. I am sure another member will be thrilled to get them. More bundles emerged into the light: these colors were wrong, the baby I intended this for is now nine, I never did like this technique / pattern / fabric.
I did find two projects that still sparked my interest enough to finish them, so I have freed them from the back of a shelf and into baskets next to my desk. This weekend I am going to work on one …. unless I find a new pattern at a quilt show.
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