My UFO Serenity Prayer

A few months ago Gemia publicly confessed her UFO's; it was an awesome recitation. I knew the only reason my own list wasn't longer was that I just haven't been quilting as long. Reading her list, The Ghost of My Sewing Future passed before my eyes, compelling me to take her lead: I too would set about finishing projects undertaken in haste and enthusiasm, then discarded with equal haste as enthusiasm faded.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
[i.e. forget it or get rid of it—and move on!];

Courage to change the things I can
[i.e. get crackin'—and finish it!];

And wisdom to know the difference.
[i.e. prioritize and quit dithering—just make like Nike and do it!].

Some of my UFO's were children's items abandoned for reasons unknown now, and probably too small to be worn even if completed. (At least quilts don't get outgrown before they're finished.) Gone from my sewing machine but not from my conscience, I bargained with myself not to undertake a new project until I had thinned the herd of whimpering little piles scattered about my house. In the past few weeks I have:

• Finished embroidering the names and dates of christenings of children who have worn the family christening gown, in time for the christening of my expected grandson.
• Finished a smocked sundress begun last summer.
• Bound and labeled my "Grandma's Sampler" quilt.
• Commissioned my sewing coach to finish the hateful Sea Island cotton knit baby gowns I undertook in a misguided moment of thinking how easy they would be to make (ever try to use a double needle on stretchy knit?). Adding insult to this injury was the sewing mate who chirped, "I wouldn't bother making those when you can buy them so cheap," (an unneeded dope-slap of reality).
• Hemmed innumerable (it seems) pants and sleeves for my short DD's maternity wardrobe.
• Finished the quilt, crib bumper pads, and crib dust ruffle for said grandson's nursery.
• Made three drapery valances to finish my never-ending bedroom make-over, after REmaking the three pairs of pinch-pleated draperies that I PAID someone to make for me. (Never mind why I didn't take them back for HIM to remake them—he was clearly in over his head with this job and I shouldn't have risked using him in the first place. There would have been no point in returning them to him—he didn't know what he was doing.)
• Finished my "Tennessee Waltz" quilt top, which needs to be dropped off for machine quilting after I figure out how to pay for it, and after I wash and join the backing strips and add my label.
• Finished a pique "Frannie" for Ella, which she wore to Mama's baby shower.
• Started the Color & Composition study with a clear conscience.

Undone:
1. Piece, wash, and iron backing, then sew label onto backing for "Tennessee Waltz"
2. Complete the pants and top I've been making for Ella for a year now
3. Finish a "Winding Ways" quilt for Lee Ann

Planning to do:
2. Make a daygown for expected grandson
3. Make a smocked bonnet for friend's expected granddaughter

Helping me with this dedication was reading one of Yvonne Porcella's books, wherein she says UFOs are no problem for her, because she simply does not begin a project until the last is completed. How she harnesses her creative stream, I don't know. But I do know I have felt less frustration and more success since I have tried to rein in my own creative drive. I'm feeling less like a novice and more like an accomplished sewer. They say nothing succeeds like success, and I feel more successful each time I succeed in completing a project.