W is for WIPs

Patchworkers often talk about WIPs. They are no more into kinky stuff than your average woman but they often have lots of WIPs.

Works in Progress. That is projects that are currently under way and upon which progress is being made.

It is sometimes hard to distinguish between these two as all UFOs were WIPS at one point. The change over from one category to another happens when you stop making progress on a project and it slips off the table and into a cupboard and then gets buried in that said cupboard..

And then there are the projects that haven't been started. Patterns may have been bought and fabric pulled from the stash (or bought) but no cutting or stitching commenced. Or there is the panel that I have for which I have purchased coordinating fabric but no final project selected. So are they WIPs yet? I wasn't sure so I canvassed my quilting friends on social media to see what acronyms they used for these "almost projects".

PIGs was one they suggested... projects in grocery bags but I don't store projects in grocery bags - besides in Australia we call them plastic bags or shopping bags so that would make them  PIPBs or PISBs and that has no ring to it. I'd have to call them PIZBs (Projects in Ziplock Bags) or PIBs (Projects is Boxes)

Then someone suggested I google quilting acronyms and I came across Silk Stitches a site that had this page devoted to quilting Acronyms including these that cover that beginning stage
.
WHIMM = Works Hidden In My Mind
WIMM = Work in my mind
USO = UnStarted Object 
PIGs = Project In a Grocery Sack
PIPS = projects in process
PITS = Project In Totes
PIW = project in waiting (waiting to grow up to be a WIP)

Some quilters seem to glory in their WIPs and UFOs in that half ashamed but very proud way. Its almost like a badge of honour to some quilters. In my heart of hearts I am a finisher. I do like to get projects completed and don't tend to flit from one project to another. But I do have some projects that seem to have stalled for one reason or another.

A few years ago I realised that I had collected a lot of WIPS and UFOs and determined to do better. Along with a 12 month fabric diet I also had a project diet. I determined that I wasn't going to start anything new and I wasn't going to buy any fabric unless it was to finish off a project that I had already started. I did make a proviso that I could start a new project if that was a baby quilt for an expected great grandchild for my mum. When you are going for 12 months there is great potential for a baby project to crop up. It did with me (my gorgeous great Nephew Logan)

I started that project by firstly going through all my crafting cupboards and getting out all my projects and writing a list of them, noting what point they were at. I then picked one and worked on it till it was finished. I would note when the project moved from one point to another - pieced, borders on, pinned, quilted, bound and labelled. It was a great sense of satisfaction to complete a project and I got through a heap of them in the 12 months I gave myself. So much so that I continued on with it for a few extra months when the time was up. After that I moved myself into "Only buy fabric for a specific purpose diet and I also allowed myself to start new projects.

I had another sort through of the cupboards in January this year and came up with the new list that is currently on my side bar.