Tuesday, August 28, 2012

UFO Busting!

The UFOs have landed and they have taken over…I have Unfinished Object Bins all over the place and they are sucking my will to live!  You know that overwhelming feeling…SEW I have decided to do a clean sweep!  NO new projects until some ALL of these UFOs fly the coop!

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{For those of you NEW to quilting…don’t be alarmed!!  Quilters have tagged a unique meaning onto the term ‘UFO’. No, they're not those saucers flying around in the sky with little green men in them…(if you see THOSE while quilting then you’ve been drinking something that you shouldn’t or perhaps you have been quilting for too long and need to take a break…? )   A UFO in the quilter’s world is usually an Unfinished Object--the remnants of those quilts we start to make…but never seem to finish!}

I’m sure you'll find UFOs tucked away in the bins and baskets of nearly every quilter. And I’m sure that  we're not the only generation of quilters who have accumulated them…after all look at all those antique quilt blocks that Bonnie Hunter is always stumbling across!

Yesterday I pulled out one such UFO bin…It was marked Button Town..Thank goodness I am organized because inside the bin was everything that I needed to complete the project…the fabric, all the appliqué pieces, the pattern pieces, freezer paper and the magazine that the project came out of.  At least I’m not scrambling looking for fabric and pattern…I HATE that!  If that were the case, it would remain a UFO FOREVER!!

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Yup…it was in bits and pieces…but at least I HAD all the bits and pieces.  So I put on a new Audio Book…

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…and started stitching…

P1140556 By evening this was my Button Town…I tweaked the pattern a bit but you get the idea…

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It’s called Button Town because the windows on the houses were suppose to be buttons but I liked the appliquéd squares better.   There will be red berry Buttons on the green vines…so I can still get away with calling it Button Town. (I threw some buttons on the top vine so that you could get the idea…)  I used a lot of Japanese Daiwabo fabric in this little wall hanging…love this stuff!!  (Thanks Karen…see the grey border…from YOU!!)

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In another day or two and I will have busted this UFO!  SEW exciting!! 

I bet you have a few UFOs of your own!  Come on ‘fess up..and join me in a little UFO Busting!  Kick a few of those suckers right out of the ball park…It’s a great feeling!

Have a terrific Tuesday and Happy Quilting!~P

31 comments:

  1. I just finished a UFO project where I MADE myself finish 4 projects before I started anything new. Since I finished, I've started like 6 new projects, hence, 6 new UFO's...sigh...

    Now to Button Town...how cute! I love it! It's so cute! Thanks for sharing your work! It's always inspiring to me. Now I'm inspired to finish the 6 new projects I have going!

    Cheery wave from
    Bev

    http://44thstreetfabric.blogspot.com

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  2. Oh, I forgot...you could have button "smoke" coming out of the chimneys!

    So fun!

    Bev

    again

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  3. I made myself the same promise about a month ago.. I have not stuck to it. I have knocked out 1 of the 5 projects and am closing in on #2 but I broke down and started something new... I need rehab..

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  4. Hope you get carried away by the UFO's....hehe....sorry , couldn't help myself!

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  5. Oh! Button Town is amazing! Great design and love those fabrics! I agree with the square windows and buttons for berries too.. nice touch!

    I started my UFO projects just about a week ago. My original intention was to just get some stuff done so that there would be less to keep organized! lol! So, my bigger projects are being worked on now... mostly BOM's... but, I have to fit smaller projects in here and there or I get bored... which is why my BOM's became UFO's in the first place. My brain and hands need variety... ;-)

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  6. I love, love , love the auido books while I am quilting, also while driveing long distances.

    UFO's are not always unfinished projects sometimes they are part of learning a tecnique or figuring out how to do something or learning if you really want to go a certain direction... when any ot that is accomplished then the project is done... even if you can not put it on the bed or hange it on the wall....
    Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

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  7. And what a beautiful UFO it is too! Well done getting it put together! :0)

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  8. Way ahead of you. I have completed at least 4 UFOs this year. I have more to complete but I have also started a new scrap quilt that will be worked on when the mood hits. It is staying visible so it won't get stuck in a bin to become a UFO.
    Keep going with your UFOs. No sense in hiding things. It's nice to be able to use it once it's finished.

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  9. Great idea to mark on the front of the magazine the quilt pattern. I've looked for patterns before, and wonder what did I do with it?? A lot of times I do keep the UFO and the magazine together, but there are times when they can get separated :-(

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  10. I was planning a knitting day, but now you've got my mojo going, and instead of looking at all those UFO bins, I've actually pulled one out and am bound and determined to finish it. Now all I have to do is get a few of the many almost-finished quilt tops quilted. Know any long-arm quilters in town?
    Love your Button Town quilt. Those Japanese fabrics are great. This will be very cute when finished.

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  11. Thanks so much for this post. You've inspired me to assess my growing pile of UFOs. Yours is so pretty. You must feel great to have that one almost finished.

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  12. Look at you going to "Button Town" - enjoying your journey as you go along. LOL I remember when you started this one; I'm anxious to see it finished. I'll be happy dancing for you.

    Can't wait to see more UFO's in the 'busted' column.

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  13. Button Town is wonderful, I really like those colours. Yes, I too feel the pull of the UFO today and will do my darndest to complete what I can.
    Have a marvelous day at your machine!

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  14. You make your UFO look so easy! I swear it'll take me a week just to finish one of my UFO's.
    Great quilt. It's really cute!

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  15. I have to finish a UFO dress today! And I will, as soon as I get off the computer! LOL

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  16. Absolutely love what you did with your Button Town UFO fabrics. I'd finished a similar Button Tree Lane a few years ago. My New Year's Resolution was to alternate a new with a UFO and to keep a journal of FINISHED. I'm doing well, but occasionally I start something online like Shabby's Cottages BOM, Cheri's Alphabet BOW and Temecula's free blog sew alongs. Am keeping up with those, but am designing my own shop/store blocks for the Cottage BOMs. Today I'm working on a new vest with some Kasuri fabrics. So many wonderful fabrics...so little time. Well, my husband golfs 3-4 days a week so being retired has quilting advantages.
    Anonymous Launa

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  17. That is a really smart idea. I buy fabrics for something and forget where they are and it is a nice idea if I want something to work on, I could just pick a bin.

    Debbie

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  18. Since I am an excellent quilt top maker, my UFO's consist mostly of tops awaiting basting and quilting. I always stall at that point and move on to the next project!! Great job busting Button Town. It's such a cute project.

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  19. Now I know why you have jumped into UFO mode. UFO is a bad word among quilters especially after being to such a super GS. You may need to organize a "Quilt In UFO Weekend" with all your quilting friends coming to the rescue. Super buys.

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  20. I couldn't begin to tell you how many UFO's I have. It's kind of embarrasing actually! My current project is getting my sewing room back in order. I think I've gotten the time consuming part done so I should be sewing again soon.
    Love Button Town. It's so cute. Congrats on getting a UFO almost done.

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  21. I've got plenty of UFO's hanging around here too and I have found the only way you can get them done is to not allow yourself to start anything new until you complete them. That's hard to do sometimes especially when you have some neat project just screaming for you to start!

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  22. Paulette, your project is wonderful!

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  23. Love it!! Kick up your heels, great work!!

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  24. A quilt with a house always gets my attention. Good project and a good close to finish.

    A while back, a friend (non-quilter) asked what UFO means. He had read it on my blog. We quilters forget that some people think of a UFO as an unidentified flying object. For us, that object isn't flying anywhere. Just sitting in a closet or some other hidden away place.

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  25. Thoroughly enjoyed the Cobble Hill Fair! Amazing garage sale....you always seem to find. Always trying to finish off a few UFO's myself. Never seem to get them all tho.

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  26. I too have more UFOs than I have space! Maybe we need an UFO Swap! I'm hoping to finish some Halloween theme UFO projects shortly.

    Love your UFOs.

    SewCalGal
    www.sewcalgal.blogspot.com

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  27. Woo-Hoo for finished UFO's! This is a lovely quilt!!

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  28. This is so cute!! I've only bought one of those magazines - but it was wonderful. Can't wait to see it quilted.

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