Close Encounters of the UFO Kind

I'll admit it. I'm obssessed. Finishing UFO's has become my primary purpose in life. Ok, well that's an exaggeration, but at least the primary purpose in my quilting life.

While adjusting my sewing room yet again (I moved the ironing board to a more convenient place, which also made the storage behind my pressing board more accessible) I dug through the UFO boxes and found quite a few more. Some are placemats and small table runners that I'll be able to finish quickly. I also had a few more antique tops than I realized. I added a label to the outside of the box for each UFO inside, telling myself how good it will feel to rip those babies off as I finish each project, and how emptying those boxes means room for more. It made my drive to finish UFO's even stronger and I attacked the hoop project with renewed vigor.

I finished it this weekend. This was a project that didn't inspire me much in the quilting process, but I really like now that it's all finished. Now to get out the coffee stain! I figure this one will be adopted by a grandchild somewhere down the road (unless Miss Ruthie claims this one, too!)

While labeling boxes I found a couple of very small projects that were pretty close to completion so decided those would be next to be finished. I finished one of them late last night (I was on a roll!) and here she is. Just a single block, but finished nonetheless. I might hang this on the wall at the head of Ruthie's bed.

My next UFO is in the hoop, this time a whole cloth mini. It should only be a few days worth of quilting and I'm already thinking about what will be next. I have the frame projects lined up and ready, I might do the same with the hoop projects as well. Something about seeing that little stack and being able to think about the next one has been really helpful in keeping me on track. By the time I'm finishing one I can hardly wait to get started on the next.

I'm so thankful that I have a nice table to set up my machine. This room was the living room, it's adjacent to our (very casual) dining room and so ideal for when we have company for dinner. The antique oak table that I use for sewing has another leaf (though the second one is rarely in) and around the holidays, the leaf that's in often is removed to make room for our Christmas tree (then the table is round.)

My machine is out almost all the time. It's put away when we have friends for dinner or when our teens have friends in for games and cards (which is becoming frequent of late, soon we'll be installing a revolving door!) My machine case is just in front of the pressing board, which can be seen in the upper right, so it's really easy for me to take down and set up my machine. You can see my regular ironing board to the left, I just moved it from in front of the pressing board as moving around the space was difficult with it there.

One thing I love about having my machine always available is if I need a quick break from handwork I just sit down and go. No set up, no tear down, I can machine sew at a moment's notice.

I promised my older kids homemade chocolate chip cookies to bring on their trip to Six Flags Great America tomorrow. I want to make a serious dent in that wholecloth mini today and I just might pick out the next couple of hoop projects. Since I'm making a triple batch of cookies, that means LOTS of 10 minute increments, just perfect for a bit of ....what else??...quilting.

And so I go.