UFO club

Life is a journey, not a destination. On that journey, I'd like to get some projects finished! And that's how the UFO club got created. I have so many projects that need to be finished and I have friends that have many projects that need to be finished! We met once a month during this past year and accomplished loads. I think most people finished at least 2 or three or MORE projects that had been sitting there untouched.

We had our final meeting a couple of weeks ago and this is what got accomplished for that meeting. We've kept it pretty loose as far as UFOs go. It can be a project that you want to finish, but my preference is to dig out a half-finished project and get it done.

This was Diane's project for the month. She had an advent wall hanging that she wanted to finish and now it's done!

Diane's advent wall hanging

She put some bling on the side - I think they were glue-on rhinestones. Personally, I think she should be learning how to add sequins using her sewing machine. I happen to know that it has a sequin stitch!! A job for next year Diane!!!

The bling on Diane's wall hanging

Laura is working on her PRISM Squared quilt and the goal was to get a few more wedges finished. She accomplished that. She might have finished late the night before we met - doesn't matter - she got the work done!

More wedges completed on the PRISM squared quilt

This is what's together at the moment. It won't take long to get that finished off. 

The rest of the wedges

Ronda is working on a paper pieced Christmas quilt. It won't be ready for this Christmas, but I bet by next Christmas - she'll be putting it on her wall. The goal was to finish three more sections.

Three more paper pieced sections

As you can see by the notebook they are sitting on, these sections are small. Not only that, but she had committed to three specific sections and those were the three that she assembled!!!

Ronda's paper pieced sections

Shelly was to repair a Christmas stocking. Note that the job doesn't have to be huge in physical nature. They can be mind hurdles. Repairs would fit in that category. And this has been sitting around since last Christmas - definitely a UFO. So where was the repair needed?

Christmas stocking repaired

Apparently, Santa brought something sharp last year and it poked a hole in the toe. Now there's a beautifully HAND embroidered snowflake to cover the hole.

A snowflake to conceal a hole

I think there was a hole on the other side as well - what did Santa bring? A two-pronged fork? Anyway - bottom line - the holes are fixed and ready for Santa to fill this year.

One more hole repaired

I think she had to make this stocking. There's a story about those toy soldiers. One side of the family got toy soldiers and the other side got Scottie dogs.  Oops - apparently the side that this was destined for was the Scottie dog. Shayne is going to have to go to the "dark" side to fit in! That's why we take notes and make lists. You can't rely on your brain when you get old! It's shoved that stuff out to make room for new stuff!

Another stocking - DONE

Elaine was working on Quilter's Garden. This is the quilt from "hell" - well at least for me. There's an enormous amount of work in the quilt - tons of different techniques. BUT - the good news - Elaine has the middle section and one side bit together. That leaves the other side panel and she has a lot of that completed. There's a light at the end of this tunnel for sure.

Stitcher's Garden quilt

 Here are some of the bits from the other side panel.

The other side panel of Stitcher's Garden

This is a fabric that she found for one of the MANY borders. It's going to tie in all those colors perfectly.

A perfect fit for the border

Lynne is finishing up her Border Creek Station - Snowflake quilt.

Snowflake by Border Creek Station

The quilt is paper pieced and therefore ALL that paper had to come out. That was the job for the month and it's all gone.

The paper is removed from Lynne's quilt

Next up is to get that final border on. Some of the blocks are done - perhaps all??

Blocks for the border

Sharon finished her tree skirt. She didn't have it with her as it's sitting under her grandson's Christmas tree with presents on it. I did see the picture so we know she's off the hook.

What I love about the UFO club is that many people go further than what they say they'll work on. Susan's goal was to get the blocks pieced, but she got the TOP DONE!!!  Way to go!!!

Susan's quilt top

Linda brought a few other items for show and tell. This is a bed she made for her dog - from decorator fabrics. This is way fancy as she used a lot of small pieces. It would appear that her dog has separation anxiety as he likes to eat his beds. So the stuffing from the other dog beds is what's inside so even though the bed is big - it's light.

Dog bed

And Linda worked on this applique project in a recent class she took. That's pretty cool.

French bulldog applique

But this was Linda's homework for the UFO club. She was to get the top finished. Now she has to quilt the quilt and then add some appliqued leaves in the center.

Linda's quilt top together

This is another project that she's working on - made with half-square triangles. Interesting design - that swirl will be offset.

Linda's next UFO

I love how it starts out dark and then moves into lighter shades. A bit tricky I'm sure to find that variety in the lighter batiks.

Looking for lighter batiks

Here are my blocks for Stitcher's Garden quilt. I so want this quilt to be done! It's a UFO day today - that means I'm supposed to be working on my UFOs. Perhaps - I could just push and get the remaining seven blocks done. Something to contemplate today.

My blocks for the Stitchers' Garden quilt

There's a ton of stitching - fortunately, I'm pretty decent doing it - it's just a lot of work.

Stitching around the applique shapes

Liz wasn't able to attend but sent us photos of her projects. This is a quilt for her granddaughter's dolls. It's done and already been gifted.

Dolly quilt - DONE

This is an applique piece that Liz was also working on. Liz sure seems to have a LOT of Christmas themed quilt projects. It's a kit (or pattern) you can buy from Urban Elementz.

Appliqued wall hanging

All the stitching is complete. I believe her goal is to put this on a wooden or canvas stretcher frame. That wasn't part of the homework, but hopefully, she has it on the frame now and ready to hang up for Christmas.

All the stitching is complete

Dede wasn't able to attend and didn't have her homework done.

Ronda has been having fun with machine embroidery. These are a couple of items that she's been making. They are for sale if anyone is interested!!! I love the fact that Chewy's eyes are looking left!

Ronda's machine embroidered key fobs

Then after we had our show and tell - we had lunch.

Pizza for lunch

When we started out, we weren't sure what to do with the money that would accumulate in the kitty. Assuming any money would accumulate. Well, we ended up with $120 in the kitty and that's how we financed the lunch.

So how does UFO club work? Oh yes - it was such a HUGE success that we're going to continue on for 2020.

There were 12 of us in the group and that was a perfect number. I think most (if not all) of the group are continuing next year. Each person paid $125 for the year. At each of the ten meetings, if they accomplished what they said they would, they got $10 back. If they didn't, the money went into the kitty. You wouldn't think that $10 is a big incentive, but it was HUGE to this group! A few paid more than once, and some people never paid!

I'm going to run a virtual group for those that can't attend physically. If you're interested, let me know via e-mail. If I can get enough together - we'll have a virtual group. You'll pay $125 and then I'll monitor your UFOs and you'll get your money back if you complete the work on time.

I would prefer that we keep this to real UFOs. Projects that have been languishing in the closet for years. If you have a current project that you would be finishing anyway, that's not the point of this group. I might have to be more strict on this fact. So if you know that you already have a deadline to finish a current project - that really isn't a UFO. We'll see how it goes.

Speaking of UFOs, I don't know if any of you have been following this story. But it's fascinating and it's all about a UFO. Take a look. I'm sure that NONE of us want our UFO paraded on TV. 

On that note, I'm out of here!!!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!