Hello, Stitchy Friends! Here in the Northern Hemisphere it is the first day of summer, finally. And that means it is the longest day of the year. Well, Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching had the wonderful idea of doing a Longest Day SAL where she would spend time working on each of her UFOs throughout the day. (You can read all about it here.) She held the SAL yesterday (so the day before the longest day), and I joined in in my own little way.
So many WIPs. This is going to take a while.
You see, I have way too many UFOs to work on all of them in one day. Assuming I had about eight hours of free time to work on them, I could have spent about 15 minutes per UFO… So, instead I decided it would be a good idea to sort through my UFOs.
I declare these finished! Sure, they aren’t stitched totally as charted, but I like them the way they are.
It is a bit humbling and a bit depressing to see them all spread across the living room floor. The oldest one dates back 20 years, and the newest was started last month and has just a couple of stitches in it. Some of them seemed so important or special when I started them, but then somehow they just weren’t anymore.
Stuff to put away. It’s okay to give up on projects.
I put on my big girl panties and made some tough choices. That really old UFO, TW’s Magical Night, went into the bin (it was tangled up in some bad memories and it was stitched on fabric that didn’t have a square weave. Ugh!). It was joined by a few others. A couple of started kits ended up in my “to sell” pile, but if no one wants them they will go too, and a few other projects were picked apart and all the pieces put away.
Good bye old projects!
I also took time to update the Google spreadsheet that I use to keep track of my UFOs. According to my records I’m now down to 63 UFOs. 🙁 Don’t ask about the number of things I have kitted up and not started, or all the charts I have.
Clearly, I need to have a longest day every day and spend way more time stitching!
What does your WIPs collection look like? Could your stash do with a good clean out? Let me know I’m not alone. 😉
Needleworker, Knitter, Crocheter, Sewist, Paper Crafter, and more!
Hi Heather: Happy first day of summer, here in Minnesota it is a wonderful 82 degrees with a wonderful breeze, I did not do the SAL due to the fact I never stay on time with stitching, I mostly stitch in the evening.
I do not have WIPs, I am very fussy about finishing what I start, I guess it all relates back to when i was growing up, it was my Mother that kept us on cue as to finishing projects before starting another.
I do have loads of charts and books which I have been slowly getting rid of some to some friends who are not able to afford some of the charts, a good way to clean out the craft room.
Blessings
Catherine
if this is a confessional, the last time I counted I have 43, 44 if you count my really, really old one (started in 1973 or maybe it 1974). Unfortunately I really do want to finish them all one day, I just need to focus. I didn’t do the SAL mainly because I work and couldn’t justify a vacation day to stitch. But I’ll be a summer widow for a few weeks and will spend my free time stitching while hubby is away doing whatever men do when they are out the sight of their wives.
I did this last year and have never once regretted it. Stitching time us too short and precious to spend on projects we don’t love. What a great way to spend the Longest Day!
You are definitely not alone with your ufos. I have heaps. I don’t want to count them. It was the shortest day here in Australia. Looking forward to longer days…
I have a WIP that has been stalled for 20 years! I stitched part of it wrong, and I need to rip out a big section and do it again. Now the chart is so small I can’t see it well. I enlarged that chart, and still haven’t put one stitch in it for a couple of years. It is a cornucopia with fruit and veggies, and I put a section too far to the right, and can’t make the left section meet it.
You aren’t alone, but I don’t think I’m up to 63 quite yet!
What a fantastic way to spend the day! I did a similar thing prior to the Longest Day last year to make sure all my WIPs and UFOs were in one place. I currently have 10 projects that I count as UFOs. The rest are active WIPs, 10 of which will definitely be completed by the end of this year. The other four are much larger projects with long-term goals.
Oh my and I thought I had a problem with my WIPS! Good luck.
What a great way to cleanse yourself of projects you aren’t in all likelihood going to finish! I really need to do this. I don’t have as many UFOs as you, but I still have a rather large collection!
Great use of the longest day. I had a big stash and WIP sort out recently and filled a box with cover kits and charts I’ll never stitch. I’ve also recently assigned 2 UFO’s to the bin and I’m undecided about 2 others. As for wips – I have 21 active ones! I have a third of your problem. lol
You are definitely NOT alone. I go through my stash every few years to see if there’s anything that I know I won’t stitch, but I still like every single piece I have (*that* number I won’t admit to here). I have reduced my WIPs to 29 from the high 30s, but three of them are HaEDs and 8 are Chatelaines so I’ll have double digit WIPs for awhile yet. I have binned a few projects over the years – fabric is the usual reason.
I have to echo Justine – what a great idea to spend the longest day. Now you only have the projects that you really love stitching on. I only have one UFO that I don’t know what to do with, all the other projects are very dear to me and maybe I will even finish them one day, lol.