Thursday, December 11, 2008

12 Step Program

Ahh, I've had a query about the 12 Step Program. "When does it begin?"

Well, my dear friends, it begins in January, 2009. That gives us just under 3 weeks to continue digging and unearthing all WIPs PIPs and UFOs. (Works in Progress, Projects in Process and UnFinished Objects) Have you started?

Now is the time to unload all of those that you really are NEVER going to finish. Surely someone in your guild or friendship group is just dying to inherit your dusty rose and country blue project from who-knows-when. Or if you've got one made from poor quality materials that is not worth any more time or effort - yes, I've done it - to the dump it goes!

Or maybe your UFO is something you absolutely love, and you'd just forgotten about it. Pull it out and find a storage place that you will NOT overlook. Maybe this is the one to work the 12 step magic upon. It doesn't matter if we finish anything during the year. Our goal is to move forward and make some progress on quilts that were not progressing.

That's one thing that I emphasize, especially when talking to non-quilters. "Any progress on a quilt is progress forward. It doesn't matter how often we work on it. Every time we do, we are one step closer to completion."

They will look confused until I point out that most of the rest of my work is invisible. Washing dishes? Cleaning bathrooms? Doing laundry? It's all something that needs to be done over and over again, and the only times it gets noticed is when it DOESN'T get done. Not so with quilting. With quilting, every time I work on something, it is there to see the next time I pick it up.

So, fellow 12-steppers, prepare yourselves! We're going to make progress, beginning in January, and it's all going to be good. I look forward to hearing from you as to how many UFO's you have (anyone else want to expose that number?), and what your plans might be to move forward. Will you pick one and see it through? Or will you be doing one step on this and one step on that?
It's all a game, and it's supposed to be fun. No pressure, no pressure at all...(she says as the stacks of UFO's piled around the sewing cave threaten to collapse and bury her.) Goals are good, and have I got a goal for 2009!!!

5 comments:

Kristin said...

Well,
At last count, I have 17 UFO's. Of course, this may not be 100% accurate. I hope I don't unearth anymore. As for possible projects well, thats another story entirely.

Anonymous said...

Ha, ha! I got most of mine finished the year I retired. I had stacks of tops when we were packing everything to sell the house and go on the road. So I sent them *all* to quilters and got them finished!

Since then, I've started maybe 3 that aren't finished, but they live at my best friends house and I work on them when I'm visiting her a couple of times a year. Fortunately, I will be there at the start of January, and maybe get something finished! Yay!

Quiltedtime said...

Okay, so how many people do we have signed up for this 12 step program?

Brenda said...

Suzie,

I have 39 UFO's. I will join your 12 step program, however, I already do work on my UFO's constantly. :) I'm just trying to not start new projects for awhile.

Quiltedtime said...

Although the 12 step program hasn't officially started, it's working for me. I've already got tons of applique
done on a quilt that has sat basically idle for years.

I meant to work on it this summer with my friendship group, but I think there was a whole lot more emphasis on friendship/socializing in that group than there was on quilting. I don't think I got a lick of work done!