Summer UFO Progress

It's June 9 and I'm feeling good about making some small progress on some of my unfinished quilts this month.  I challenged my Facebook group to spend this month finishing up some of their projects that have been set aside for awhile. Lord knows I have a ton of incomplete tops to work on, large and small. To begin, I picked an easy one that I started last year. Yesterday, I finished this small hexagon quilt from our FB group hexagon  sew along from last year. 

Those small hexies are really fun to make and I do love hand stitching but, man, do they take me a long time. Even sewing them into a small quilt. First, you make the individual hexagons using English Paper Piecing and then turn them into flowers. Then I appliqued the flowers onto background squares.

I sewed the squares and the rest together by machine.

Last year when we had the sew along I got as far as putting the little top together and doing some quilting. Then for some reason I stopped and moved on to something else. 

I'm a great one for making tops and then quickly moving on to something else that catches my fancy. So close! Too much work has already gone into it to just let it go. So I started working on it again, a little bit every day. Felt really good to finally finish. 

After that, I became motivated to start another one and so layered some other little tops together with backing and batting that were in my pile. Ready to quilt. 

My little Dolley Madison Star was a 4th of July sew along from last summer. All of these patterns are in my Facebook group files.

                            

 Made a little progress! Shouldn't take me long at all now. Summer gets busy around here and I don't do as much quilting so I'm taking advantage of what little time I have right now. 

If you're joining me in this challenge, how are you doing on finishing up some of your projects? Making any progress at all? What little things do you need to do to finish up some quilts? Start there. You'll feel great once a few of them get done. Remember, if you need to, make a list of things you have to do to finish. It helps me to break things down into steps. If I focus on one little part at a time I always get more done. Read my previous blog post with some tips.

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Enjoy the weekend! Still trying to get some plants to grow in my shady back yard. I love my big tree but it does make gardening a little difficult.  Some days my tree grounds me as I sit here and read or contemplate or play with the dog(s). It provides nice shade when it gets hot and shelters the birds and small wildlife that come to visit. Then the chipmunks and rabbits eat all the flowers LOL. Yet I feel blessed to be able to commune with even this tiny piece of nature on a daily basis, flowers or not. Enjoy the weekend! 

Organizing for Finishing

If you're joining me in finishing up some of your unfinished projects, here are a few suggestions. We'll be starting this personal challenge in my Facebook group in June 2023: 

            If you can find time, organize your sewing space a little before you start. For me, getting rid of clutter makes it easier to focus on a new (or, in this case, old) project. Clear off that sewing table to make sure you have space to sew. Do the same with your cutting table. Fold up the fabric and put things away. You might actually find something you've been looking for in the process LOL.

                         

I have a small sewing space so I have to organize to make it work.

Scraps organized by color . . . .

                   

          Choose a project to finish. Maybe start with something that's not too overwhelming. Then, in the coming weeks, you may find you're motivated to work on finishing another one. Focus on one at a time to get the ball rolling.

            If you've been away from your sewing machine for awhile, maybe clean the lint out of the bobbin area and oil it if necessary. Change the needle.

        Always misplacing your scissors, seam ripper, pins, needles, rulers? Find an organizer case, box or basket to keep them in and use it after each sewing session.

Make a list of what you need to do to finish this particular project. Break it down into steps. When I work on quilts on a deadline, I always keep a little notebook listing the specific parts of each quilt I am making. For example:   

• 1.  Piece the blocks
• 2.  Sew the blocks together
• 3.  Add borders, make the top
• 4.  Quilt the top, and
• 5.  Add binding

I check or cross off each part as I finish. If you keep track of each step and break it down into smaller steps it may not be quite so overwhelming. See if this works for you. Organizing is key for me!

I like project boxes for my larger unfinished quilts.

This little hexagon quilt that was started last year just needs some hand quilting and a binding. It'll be my first project I hope to get finished.