So. There you have it. Thirty-five Unfinished and Unstarted projects. I counted them, I documented them here on the blog, and I’ve been working on them. Actually, it’s 30 projects, because I finished five of them since I first posted them. My SIL (hi Les!) asked me when I started blogging about them how I was organizing myself to get them finished since I was trying to set goals for each one at the end of the post about it… I didn’t have an answer then, but I do now! I’m a list maker. If I can see what I have to do in black and white, I am so much better about focusing on it and getting it accomplished. And I love checking an item off of a list!
The red items are the ones I’ve finished since first documenting them. Pink Christmas is a swap I am participating in. The green items are Christmas deadlines, ideally. I have been known to deliver a finished Christmas gift well into the following Spring, but these are primarily for children, so December 25 it is. My goals or “deadlines” beyond Christmas are not hard and fast, I’m not going to overwhelm myself or stress myself out just because that Kaffe Fassett quilt has to be done by May 31st. Uh-uh. This is just structure. Just a framework. Totally and completely negotiable if a more exciting idea presents itself that I want to work on first. That will be allowed. I’m anal and detail-oriented. But I’m not that anal. And I’m not completely crazy.
Last week, my friend Toni and I joined the Des Moines Area Quilters Guild which is over 500 member strong. Yes, it’s huge. We went to their Fall Quilting Retreat last week, with about 50-60 other quilters. We felt very welcome, and had a blast!
They have a Newcomers Group that meets on a different night from the regular guild meeting, once a month, and a member of the guild (there are several very accomplished award winning members) comes to speak informally and show their works of art. Last night, we had Hollie Hart, and art quilter, come and talk to us.
Oh. My. Gosh. She is my free-motion IDOL! And she was delightful, fun, funny, down-to-earth, REAL, and oh so sweet. And, did I mention her free-motion quilting? Check this out:
She does small art quilts in a broderie perse style, but the quilting, oh, the Quilting!
I know, I know…practice, practice, practice…. and now I have a goal–I want to quilt just like Hollie Hart!!!! You need to click on these to enlarge them and admire the quilting. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
One day…..
made by a brunnette 
Wow, I am so impressed that you made such a list AND shared it with us, making it official. I should do that, but I’m a little afraid to. How do you keep yourself from starting new projects you come across that are irresistable?!Those Hollie Hart works are amazing and quite fancy. I should look into the quilters guild around here.
you inspired me to go through my closet and make a list…unfinished quilts, unfinished little projects, gifts to make…(though mine is not half as organized as yours). i do hope it will help me get things accomplished/finished and not forget about things. thanks!
Holy crap! She is amazing! You have inspired me to make a list too. I’m brand new so I won’t have that many but I think it’s a great idea. Thanks!
You are just waaaay too organized. I just don’t want to see how many I have unfinished, I guess.The retreat souds like it was wonderful. Isn’t it fun to be exposed to such talent?