Cre-active Club

We (almost) all have UFOs/WIPs and we all feel different about them.   Some of us enjoy the process of piecing but have no interested in the quilting process, some of us get excited with the next pretty line of fabric, clever pattern design, some of us (myself) are slow makers.  All of this is OK, it’s part of the creative process.

Now, most of us have some projects that we will really like to finish (I am not speaking about the wedding quilt for your twice-removed-cousins who have divorced since you started it, or the baby quilt for your co-worker’s baby who has graduated since then, or the quilt you started with this fabric that now you wonder what were you thinking when you bought it…).  Some projects are special and need our love.  So this year, we would like to give you a bit of nudge to finish some of them.

The concept

You’ll be asked to:

• Pick up 6 projects that are very close to your heart and you are yearning to finish.
  
• Write each project next to a number on the attached document; make the list pretty, add doodles, colours - it is not a something that should nag or haunt you, it’s proof that your life is creative.
  
• Put it somewhere visible in your sewing studio, in your crafty nook, in your planner, on the fridge… anywhere where you can see it and remind you that quilting is a wonderful passion.
  
• Take a picture of it and send it to me (carolinejanny@hotmail.com) by the end of April or before May’s meeting. I’m going to make a list of the participants and their projects.

What will happen next?

1. During May’s meeting, we will pull a random number between 1 and 6, you will go back to your list of lovely projects and start working on the project listed next to the drawn number. Easy!
   
2. From there, you have 2 months to work on your project, post some pictures if you want to, bring it to show-and-tell during the Guild meeting if you feel like it.  At the end of the 2 months, we will draw a new number and it will to be the next project you will work on, and so on for the next 12 months.
   
3. As you finish a project, the list will be updated and we will have a prize drawn every 2 months amongst the participants who have finished, and have presented their lovely finished projects at show-and-tell.

Some easy rules

To qualify,  your projects must have been started in some ‘fibery' way: one block already made, or the fabric already cut, or the top almost finished and in need of quilting, or only the binding needing to be sewn - it’s entirely your choice.  Shall you feel that 2 months to sew a binding is excessive, your can combine 2 projects into one entry.  If you think that finishing a whole quilt in 2 months will stretch you too much, then put this project under 2 different entries, giving you 4 months to do it.

The whole idea is to have something which is manageable for you and to get you to some finishes.  Should you join the challenge, I know I am, we will be around to support and encourage each other.  We all love to ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ at each other quilts, so let’s do this.

And if you still have too many UFOs by the end of the year, you might want to ask yourself how do you feel about them?  You love them, they provide insulation!  You feel bad about the ‘wasted’ fabric, then it might be time to pass them on to somebody who will enjoy finishing them (the Guild Auction is coming next month).  Remember with all UFOs, WIPs or finished quilts you learnt something and you brought creativity in your life and in others and this is a beautiful achievement.

Remember

• Print the list,
• Pick your projects,
• Fill the list,
• Take a picture and send it to me carolinejanny@hotmail.com