Sunday, June 8, 2008

UFO's and more

If you are a quilter then I know you have some UFO's around, probably some WIP's and maybe even some NESY's in brown paper bags or plastic containers.......

WHAT is she talking about?????

Well, UFO in the quilting vernacular stands for Un Finished Object. As in, "I started this quilt/table runner/wall hanging six months (or years) ago and haven't finished it yet." Personally, I'm not sure I'm ever going to finish the projects I categorize as UFO's. These are projects that, for me, the colors/fabrics weren't quite right....the pattern never did quite fit together right and all the points are wonky....the designated recipient of said project doesn't like/need it anymore...and so forth. I've tried over the past few years to pass most of these Un Finished Projects on to others to finish, tear apart and recycle the parts & pieces or to just languish at THEIR houses for now.

That brings us to WIP's. No, has nothing to do with whips! A WIP is a Work In Progress. To me it's something I've started and am wishing and hoping and praying I WILL finish in the next week/month/year/decade. I like this project. I WANT to finish this project. This project calls to me in the middle of the night, the middle of the afternoon, while I'm taking a shower, working, shopping. My plan is to finish this project.

OK, so what is a NESY? Not Even Started Yet. I have the fabric, I've picked out the pattern, I can see it in my mind BUT it's not cut out, not sewn, Not Even Started Yet. I have a love/hate relationship with NESY's. The anticipation, the eagerness to cut into that beautiful fabric, fondle the pieces, run them through the machine.....joy! But ARRRGGG! I have no time to even begin. Some NESY's are vague....I don't even have a plan yet....but I've got the fabrics all picked out and sitting together in a vinyl zippered project bag. Ahhh.....can't wait to start!

To the best of my recollections:

10 UFO's
12 WIP's
25 NESY's

How about you? I want to hear from you!

6 comments:

Carol E. said...

After one quick glance around my sewing room and other cupboards where I am storing projects in various stages, I came up with this:
UFOs 6
WIPs 12
NESYs 15

It's the first time I dared make an actual count!

Anonymous said...

What an eye opener!! :-}
UFO's 3 (gave the rest to charity)
WIP 8 (most need boaders)
NESY 31 (saving for retirement???)
and my favorite
RTBQ (ready to be quilted) 28!

Anonymous said...

Judy Palmer thinks her whole sewing room is full of NESY'S (new term to me) about 20 WIP's (also a new term) and only maybe 1 or 2 TRUE UFO's! Thanks for clarifying this for me!!! I think I lost some guilt! (not quilt)

Pam in KC said...

UFOs 1
WIPs 19
NESYs 6 or 7 (some are really vauge and I didn't dig)
RTBQ 24

I really like the RTBQ catagory, otherwise my WIPS would truly be out of hand.

Anonymous said...

I'm not going through the shame of counting anything but NESY's and let me just say, that number is in the hundreds!!!!!!!!!

MissaB26 said...

It took me a couple days to do the mental inventory, but I'm thinking:

RTBQ: 22
UFOs: 32
(and I should say, I really do want to finish these, I just keep getting distracted....)
WIP: 7
Somewhere between WIP/NESY (meaning cut, but that's all: 9
NESYs: 9

Pretty obvious what I should be doing, huh? Not buying MORE fabric.....