Top 10 UFO's for 2017

Well OF course every blog has to have a "Top 10 UFO's" list as a January Post right??   I need to pick what I want my Top 10 to be for a guild challenge.    And I'm not going to be nuts about it.   REAL accomplishable goals here Jan!   You can do it!

I honestly don't have a clue how many people actually read my blog (guess I should look at the stats page every once and while eh?).  I do it for a creative record of sorts.   So much loss in my life the last few years and very poignant moments when handling a departed friends UFO's has really struck a chord with me.  If their stories aren't told.... they just stay.... UN finished, forever.  And sometimes eventually just disappear.

Some people think that quilting is an isolation hobby.    They picture someone hidden away from the world, sitting at a sewing machine like there are shackles on their ankles.   Those that are active quilters know, that for the most part, that's the furthest thing from the truth.   There's soooooo many social aspects to quilting.  

1) Classes - some that you took because a friend begged you to do it with her, some that you begged someone else to do with you, some that you took because you wanted to expand a specific skill set or add a new technique to your bag of tricks!  Some because you just wanted to spend some time with a particularly nationally known quilter.  Some because you wanted to hit the 7 quilt shops on the way!

2) Guild Sew Days - while you COULD sit alone at home and focus on a project, there is something special to being surrounded by others that love the craft.   There are moments that you might never sew another flying geese block for as long as you live....except when you are doing them in the company of friends.     There are fellowship moments.   There are moments when you find yourself vulnerable and open up to people that you wouldn't normally open up to.   There are moments where you find companionship & comfort because your common interests brought you together.   There is laughter, there are jokes, there are "memories" that are created when for no apparent reason, everyone breaks into a familiar song.   There are tears and moments of release.  There are moments where you make mistakes and get to laugh at yourself.  There are AHA moments where everyone learns something.    There are moments where the world is peaceful, calm, loving, nurturing and the bad stuff just doesn't exist....

3) Weekend Retreat Get Aways - Now THESE are the bonding moments.   Morning, noon and night you are with your friends.   They become a PART of your projects, they become a PART of your story.

4) Guild meetings\Show and Tell - When someone else's project grabs at you so hard that you HAVE to make one, try it, do it, learn it.  Or just their story calls to you.

I could go on and on, but the point is, some UFO's are WORTH finishing.   Some have stories, memories, emotions that should NOT be forgotten.    They are scrapbooks of a quilters life!   They are our legacy.....

This was why I started the "My Projects" Tab on my blog.   Pulling things out, assessing their importance, their story.  I've been trying to take the time to add at least 2 a week.   Having a one stop visual of all that exists down in that sewing room of mine.

So here's the ones I REALLY REALLY want to finish this year.

1) Retreat Sweatshirt
2) Seasonal Halloween Sampler Wall Hanging
3) Scrappy Log Cabin Blocks
4) Thangles Mini Sampler
5) Quilters Dozen Plus BACKGROUND Quilt
6) Scraps of Time - Winter
7) Technicolor Galaxy
8) < Have to choose by the end of the month!>
9) < Have to choose by the end of the month!>
10) < Have to choose by the end of the month!>

Here's a few BOM's\Mystery's I know I am STARTING this year!

1) Leah Day - Machine Quilting Block Party
2) BOM with Kate!  (This is specific to our local quild)
3) Charlotte Hawkes - Surrounded by Scraps

Here's a few I want to get QUILTED this year!

1) Seasonal Halloween Sampler Wall Hanging
2) Quilters Dozen Plus BackGround Quilt
3) Vicki - Snail's Trail
4) Halloween Scrap Frenzy!