2019 Maker Finish-Along ~ Clear Out Those UFOs!

Today is the very last day of 2018! I can hardly believe another year has gone by & man what a year it was! I’ve decided 2019 will be the year of “just finish it”. Why? Because I have so many unfinished, half started, maybe-need-to-let-go projects cluttering up my space! It can be really stifling to one’s creative spirit to have so many UFOs floating over your head. So, I’m hosting a 2019 Maker Finish-Along in my Facebook group to help out others that may be in a similar predicament. Read on for more details!

By the way, a UFO is an “UnFinished Object”, in case y’all didn’t know. It’s usually used by quilters or crocheters or knitters, but it applies to projects of all kinds. Since this is a Maker Finish-Along, it’s open to makers of all kinds. No matter what fuels your maker mojo, you can join in the fun!

2019 Maker Finish-Along

So, what is a finish-along & how do you participate? A finish-along is all about rounding up the UFOs floating around your maker space & deciding how to handle them. As I said above, I’m hosting this in my Facebook group, Teadoddles Makers. This will make it easy for everyone to share pictures, trials, & successes throughout the year.

Each month, I will issue a challenge to hopefully help you work through all those UFOs. All you have to do to participate is share pictures of your progress. That way everyone in the group can help cheer you on! The best part is that when you share a photo of your progress, you’ll be entered into a monthly drawing for a $20 USD Amazon gift card. Yay! : D

I decided to do the Amazon gift card so it would cover any sort of maker & I don’t have to ship it. This also makes it easier to have this open to anyone in any part of the world. If, for some reason, you don’t have access to Amazon, I will work out some other way to get you your prize. Hopefully, this will work for most people!

So, here’s a short list of how to participate & the details:

• Join the Teadoddles Makers Group & be sure to read the group rules pinned at the top.
• Monthly Challenges will be posted on the last Monday of the month here on the blog & I’ll link to that in the group. {schedule}
• Share photos of your progress in the group by the last day of the month to be eligible for that month’s prize. You can share on Instagram too using #tmfal2019, but you must be part of the group to win prizes.
• I’ll use a random name picker to pick a winner on the first of the following month. {schedule} The winner will need to message me with their email address so I can send them their gift card.

Pretty easy, right? Even if you feel like you didn’t finish the challenge, please still share your progress. The point is to make progress, no matter how small! I want this challenge to be encouraging, not frustrating. Making should be an enjoyable process & not feel like a burden. I’m hoping this challenge will help fuel more creativity for myself & others as well. I’ll be doing videos about twice monthly in the group. They may or may not be live, it depends on which one works out better. : )

January’s Maker Challenge

This month’s challenge is all about organizing your maker space. I’ve found over my many maker years – ahem – that having an organized space helps me be more productive. Now, what’s organized for one will not be the same for another!

Some people walk into my space and feel overwhelmed because I have mostly open storage. This is what works for me & it took some trial and error to figure that out. Right now, my maker space is a straight up mess from all the frantic holiday making. Can y’all relate?

January is a good time to take a look at projects & see if they will make the cut. What does that mean? Well, this is a finish-along, so we need to decide what is worthy of being finished! Here are some guidelines I go by when deciding what will stay & what will go:

• How long has this been a UFO? Chances are if it’s been hanging around for years, you probably have lost interest.
• How important is it to finish this project? Now, even projects that hang around for years can sometimes still be important. Like finishing the fixes on a quilt made by my Memaw Teadoddles, for instance. I just need to make it a bigger priority!
• Am I even interested in this anymore? Sometimes as makers we just don’t finish something because it’s not interesting to us anymore. Give it to someone who is interested! : )
• What will it take to finish this project? If your project is just a sketch & a dream, it’s probably not a good one for the finish-along. Also, if it’s going to take more money that you’re willing to spend to finish it, maybe it’s time to pass it on.

Those are just some basic & simple things to think about when looking through your UFOs. This is also a good time to assess your maker supplies, especially if you were making like mad for the holidays.

• Is something you need completely out of stock? Time to refill it, so you don’t have to make impromptu trips to the store during making time.
• Do you have too much of something? This would be my biggest problem! Time to clean out & reorganize so you can concentrate on the projects you love
• Do you need better storage solutions? As my maker space has grown, my storage needs have changed. Even if you only have a small area dedicated to making, the right storage could make a big difference.

So, those are some things to think about while you work on this month’s challenge. I’ll be talking more about these topic in my videos this month. I’m also giving y’all a project list to fill in & I’ve kept it really simple. There’s a column for the project name, supplies needed, start date, & finish date. I’m working on a Maker Challenge list as well & will share that in the group when it’s done. Feel free to give yourself a gold star when you finish something!    ; )

Alright, I think that’s about it for today. I’m going to add a tab in the menu for these posts, so you’ll know just where to look. Happy making y’all!