Stashbuster

I joined a web ring today, something I said I would never do. But I have a good reason to join this one… I need Stashbusting reminders.

I joined the Stashbuster group back in 2004 because my web site was getting a lot of hits from that group, and I wanted to see what it was all about. I soon learned that they are trying to reduce their stashes and their UFOs, well some of them are.

What is a stash… oh my… piles and piles of fabrics, more than you can ever use in your lifetime, and something you keep adding to. That’s my definition of my stash. When I first joined I wasn’t that worried about my stash.

What is a UFO, an UnFinished Object. Now that interested me, a lot. I knew I had a lot of UFOs, but not how many. The Stashbuster group had a UFO challenge, and thought about joining it, maybe it would help. But it had already started for the year, and I was too busy and… well I decided to wait to join.

I lurked for a year, posting occasionally, and watched how the no-buy operated, and how the UFO Challenge went… and I decided to join it next time around.

First job was to inventory my UFOs… YIKES… I had count all my UFOs… that meant I had to find them first. At that time I just happened to be moving my sewing room from the smaller downstairs bedroom to the larger (former master bedroom) which helped in my counting. I made an inventory as I found them and gasp… I had way too many UFOs, one hundred and sixteen (I deleted the original list I was so ashamed of it, LOL!)

I immediately, well as soon as I was settled in my new sewing room, started getting rid of quilts I knew I would never finish. I managed to find homes for 15 quilts, and started the 2006 UFO challenge with 101 quilts. By July 1st I had that list down to 68 quilts, having donated quite a few more to Project Linus and several more to other charities. I worked hard and by the beginning of the 2007 UFO challenge I was down to 50 UFOs.

Now remember, please, that I design patterns. And to do that I HAVE to make samples. And most of the time those samples become UFOs, because my work on them is finished. So giving them away isn’t bad, really. However, until I make the break with them, they must stay on my UFO list… I started 13 more quilts in 2007 and only finished seven of those. And seven UFOs, which means my list stayed the same for the start of 2008. However, I found one quilt was listed twice on that list, and one quilt has disappeared (give away or just lost?) so my 2008 UFO list started at 47.

I’ve started 14 more quilts this year, and finished 5 of them, and five other UFOs, so I’m going no where fast. However I don’t feel too bad about it, since it is my business.

AND this leads me to another goal, reducing my stash. I have several new designs I am working on, some on EQ, some on paper, and some still in my head, which will help me reduce my stash. But…. it will increase my UFO list… oh woe is me….


Today’s photo, another animal we saw on our trip, while exploring the beautiful state of New Mexico. We were on a little what I would call back road here, Road 36 north of Fence Lake, and we came across a few animals grazing in a field…

When we got home Arden said they were Pronghorn Antelope!

And the red spot is a flower in the field behind this big guy, click on the photo to see a larger one.