Mrs Sew and Sew's Quilting Blog: Off to School I go????

No blog posts for a while. I have been sewing, but not as much time in the summer.

But guess what???

Tuesday the kids go BACK TO SCHOOL!!!!!
That means I will have time to think and to SEW

Yesterday I found myself unexpectedly waiting for a child for a whole hour and I didn't have any hand-sewing with me....oh sad, sad day.
Well actually it didn't turn out to be such a sad thing, I did have pen and paper. As I sat there thinking about all my many, many started but unfinished projects I thought, gee, I need to be sent to "Finishing School", a place where there are rules, deadlines, etc that would force me to stay focused and get my work done. That led me to deciding I could do this, I just need to come up with the rules, dates that things are due, guidelines etc.
So here they are:

FINISHING SCHOOL RULES

I WILL:

1. Have a FAB 5 list. One of these MUST be a hand-sewing project. I can ONLY work from this list of 5. I must finish one of these to a TOP before I can add in another project. Quilt tops in line for quilting don't count as one of the FAB 5.

2. Quilt at least one QUILT TOP each week. I have an overflowing plastic tote of tops waiting on quilting, if I don't have a newly finished one I will choose one of these.

3. Have a FINISH by each FRIDAY. A finish may be anything made with fabric that is FINISHED. Quilt, wallhanging, table topper, hot pad, pillow, apron, etc

4. Make a QUILT BACK within 7 days of completing a TOP.

5. Get the TOP QUILTED within 15 days of completing TOP.

6. Save patterns for any BOM I want to make. If I start one it will count as one of my FAB 5.

7. No more than ONE NEW PROJECT each month. The point after all is to finish what I have already started.

8. Quilt projects DO NOT have to be completed as originally planned, they can be modified, made smaller, made into an alternate project, combine with another project, etc.

9. Make a CHALLENGE quilt each quarter. For example...use test blocks, orphan blocks, scraps, ugly fabric, etc.

10. NO BUYING FABRIC! Yes, as well as having many, many unfinished projects, I also have lots and lots of fabric. Well you can never have too much fabric, but I need to use up some of what I have. So I will buy NO NEW FABRIC unless I NEED a SPECIFIC fabric to finish a current project on my FAB 5 list. Batting is NOT fabric. Also fabric received from gifts, scrap donations, wins, trades are legal. Just no BUYING new fabric.

Exceptions:

Since this is "school" #'s 2-5 may be waived during my kids school breaks.

During my quilt retreat week in October I can work on other projects besides the FAB 5

My kids school doesn't start till Tuesday, but I'm antsy to start. I've made my FAB 5 list and I'm going to start following these rules TODAY! Yikes, that means a Finish by Friday, I going to go have to look at that tub of quilt tops!

Here's my Starting FAB 5 list: