SBQ: WIPs and UFOs
2 May 2007
Today’s SBQ was suggested by Kathryn and is:
How many WIPs do you have? How many UFOs do you have? When does a WIP become a UFO?
As of today, I technically have five WIPs and two UFOs. The WIPs are “Fairy Flora,” “Above the Clouds,” “Poet’s Heart,” “Four Seasons Cats,” and “Old Waterpump.” The UFOs are “Stitcher’s Sampler” and “Guardian Cherub.”
As a general rule, I don’t like to have UFOs so I try to make sure that I am dedicated to finishing a project when I start it. However, I also recognize that stitching is my hobby and supposed to be fun, so when I am working on something that I absolutely can’t stand, I don’t have a problem moving it to the UFO pile.
For example, I started “Sticher’s Sampler” when I first started tackling large projects back in 2005 and it became a UFO because I simply decided I didn’t like the pattern all that much. I just couldn’t see the point of spending lots of time stitching something I didn’t like.
“Guardian Cherub” on the other hand, became a UFO not because I didn’t like the pattern, but because I decided I didn’t like the color conversion that I had created for it. I don’t have many hours of stitching into it, so someday when I am desperate for the fabric that I started it on, I will probably rip out the stitches and reuse the fabric for something else.
Of my current WIPs, “Old Waterpump” is in the most danger of becoming a UFO because I don’t really like that style anymore. Luckily, it is a small project so I am trying to muddle through it by stitching a minimum of one hour on it a month. It may be a while before I finish it, but I think by stitching just a little at a time I can probably get it done eventually.
Finally, “Above the Clouds” has almost become a UFO twice because I have made mistakes that have resulted in a lot of frogging. However, I like the pattern so much that I just can’t bear to abandon it. So instead of becoming a UFO, I call it a Work in Slow Progress because it just sits dormant for months at a time until I get in the mood to stitch on it again.
