Get it done and give it away!

Sometimes it's more important to be finished than fabulous.

My new mantra when it comes to finishing UFOs (Unfinished Objects) is:

Get it Done and Give it Away

I've decided it's better for a quilt to be snuggling a sick child or brightening someone's wall than it is for it to be sitting partially finished in my UFO cupboard.





I've been in an organizing frenzy lately. Every craft material and tool I've collected over the years has been taken out, dusted off, sorted and put back where I can find it. It's given me a whole new lease on life, and it's made me realize how many abandoned projects I have that are just waiting to be finished and given a new home.


So far in 2012 I've finished the top that I blogged about the other day, and given away a lap quilt, a baby quilt and about 30 preemie quilts. You can see pics of most of them on my Flickr stream.


Yesterday I tackled a baby quilt that I had pieced and half quilted with stars and loops at least four years ago. The spot where I had given up was painfully obvious. There was evidence of skipped stitches, broken threads, broken needles and frustration written all over this poor little quilt. More importantly there are bright colours, vibrant patterns, warm batting and a soft, soft fleecy flannel backing. This quilt was calling out to be rescued, finished and given away.

"It's more important to be finished than fabulous" I kept saying to myself over and over again as I picked out the broken threads, completed one half finished star and then did some random curvy quilting over the rest of the blanket. I quickly cut off the excess batting with scissors, trimmed the backing with my rotary cutter, leaving 3/4" all the way around for a self binding, doubled folded it over the front as I stitched it in place (no hand sewing for this baby) and voila - another finished baby quilt.


My inner critic says: It's lumpy. It's bumpy. The sides are wavy. It uses two different quilting techniques. It is not up to my standard.




My daughter says: Please don't give it to charity, I want you to give it to our Daddy's cousins who are expecting a baby.


It seems she thinks my finished quilt is pretty fabulous after all.


I'd love to hear what you are working on. What is keeping you from finishing your UFOs? Are you ready to stop beating yourself up about trying to make something fabulous?


Please leave a link in the comments to your UFOs or FOs.