Finishing is something I find really difficult. I am about the worst person I know in the whole world for UFOs (unfinished objects), except for, perhaps, my mother - but then I must get it from somewhere!! I have so many UFOs, of all shapes and sizes, in all stages of construction, just waiting for their time to come.
A UFO - one of the many!
Appliqued circles - not sure quite what it'll be when it's finished.....
.......if it ever gets finished
I don't know why I find finishing so difficult. When I think about it logically, it makes no sense at all. I
love the feeling of finishing a quilt. Completing a quilt makes me so happy; when I've been watching it grow and develop and then it's done and on the bed looking gorgeous. Perhaps even more so, I love finishing quilts that I give to other people - watching their delight as they unfold a piece made just for them.
So why do I find getting to the end so hard? I think one of my problems is the lure of the new. There is always an exciting pattern or intriguing book or fabulous fabric which is begging to be used. And although I know it will still be there in a week or a month when I've finished the current project, I can't help myself. It's like there's not enough time to make everything I want to so I make a little bit of lots of things - and then end up with nothing!
Or it might be that I love the
sociability of sewing. I adore attending workshops and classes to sew with like-minded people so I rarely say no if there's one on offer. Or a friend asks me to join her in a new project - and again, I just can't turn them down. So then there's another UFO joining the pile.
And then perfection is a problem that I think many of us identify with. We invest so much time and energy in our crafting that we want our finished items to be perfect. But how many of us are perfect?! So, if we declare something finished then we're accepting its imperfections, whereas while we're still working on something, it might yet be perfect.
So how about you then? Are you a one project at a time person, carefully finishing everything you start? If you are, perhaps you would share some tips on how to do this? Or are you like me? Are the UFOs taking over your life?