Unfinished Projects

[PrincessFiona]

Fess UP....what unfinished projects do you have laying around that you have been meaning to get to? I only start this topic to make myself feel better

I just started trying to organize my photos/put together albums and realized that I don't have anything since fellowship started....ummm...that means 4 years worth photos (many of which have been lost, etc ). It got me to thinking about what other projects that I have that I get started on and don't finish like...the quilt that I started for Amanda when we first moved here. I hand-quilted it and was finished with everything but sewing up the edges 2 YEARS ago..and it is still sitting in the closet waiting for me to finish it...I painted the bathroom/hallway and playroom...and still haven't done' the touchups....I have truly great intentions when I get started, but my follow-through sometimes leaves something to be desired....

Am I alone in my procrastination?

[Rapunzel]

Good grief! My list is sooo long I don't even want to start it! I am Procrastinator-Extraordinaire!!

8)

[Auspicious]

I have none. Is this because I'm so ambitious that I finish everything in a timely manner? Are you kidding? This is because I no longer start these kinds of projects.

Except when forced to: When I moved into my apartment it had no curtains. I made simple curtains for three of the four windows in an afternoon, but didn't have time for the fourth one. So, I haphazardly threw the extra material over the rod because I had to block the view from the street into my bedroom. Let me tell you, those pieces of raw material stayed hung over that rod for two and half years. I finally finished the fourth curtain as I was preparing the apartment for my boyfriend to move in.

If I can't finish it in one day, I don't start it.

Um, gee, good topic, Kris.

Just kidding. Your post makes me realize that I have a few unfinished projects myself.

A few that come to mind....I have a little, um, cookbook/cooking magazine addiction going. So, when I absolutely run out of shelf space in the kitchen, I have to organize so that I can get more books. I got rid of at least a few years of Bon Appetit by pulling out all of my favorite recipes. This is as far as I got. I need to cut them to size and put them in a 3 ring binder. I've been meaning to do this for, oh, at least six months.

I think my favorite is the cushions for our dining room chairs. Oh, that's right! There are no cushions on the chairs! I bought this beautiful upolstry (I know I didn't spell that right) fabric from Pottery Barn -- yes, this is back in the day when they sold fabric in the store. For the last seven years the pillow cushions and fabric have sat in the closet of my old bedroom at my parent's (dad's) house. Goodness, I wouldn't want to clutter up my house with that stuff! Since I don't sew and my good friend who does moved to WI, I doubt this will ever get done. Anyone interested in a really nice sage green print-ish fabric? Or six chair cushions?

And I'm sure there are others....

[Amiens]

You are not alone...

Here is a list of my unfinished projects-

A crocheted quilt that I started for Emma but have yet to finish

I bought a lamp that has "Make it Stone on it," 5 years ago, and I keep saying that I want to strip it. Matt finally went out and bought the stuff for it, now I am waiting for him to strip it.

I have a dresser that for the last 3 years I have wanted to paint.

Scrapbooking Emma's pictures, our wedding photos... it goes on.

Crystal

I just remembered another!
About 5 years ago, I started knitting a blanket for a baby gift for my friends daughter who is now 4.5 yo. Maybe I can make it bigger and she can take it to college.....

[houseelf]

I'm two years behind in scrapbooking.

I have yet to transfer any recipe to index cards...instead I open up the inside cover of a book with clippings flying everywhere.

My house is barely decorated at all...seriously...institutional white walls everywhere.

My son's baby book has a handful of entries

Nietche and Vaclav Havel sit patiently by my bed while I read Woman's Day instead.

And for the final drum roll. The NFP paper work for this website which I *promised* would be done last month has one and a half sections done...

O.K. Now I feel like an official loser.

Kelly

[PrincessFiona]

Wow!

It's so validating to know that I am not alone My husband sees my procrastination as a sort of...character defect He is the kind of person who starts one project and finishes it....and I enjoy having multiple things going on...ie..I also enjoy reading more than one book at a time. He was really hesitant to let me start the gardening projects for this very reason...he was afraid that I'd get started and then not finish.. I have been 'refinishing' our old kitchen table since we moved here...and it is still 1/2 stripped in our garage...I just didn't realize how huge the project would be until I got going on it.

kris

[SueC]

I bought an unfinished dresser about three years ago and planned on finishing it and even stencilling or painting something reallly cute on it for the girls room. I then got pregnant and didn't think I could be around the fumes so I put it off. It has now been moved to the basement and I haven't done a thing to it. I also bought a mission style telephone stand with plans to stain it to match the molding in our dining room. I put one coat of finish on it and got bored with it. That was probably more like 4 years ago. I had my parents get me a sewing machine for my birthday two summers ago and bought some really cute, girly fabric so I could make my own "hanna andersson" knock-off's. I never started either of the dresses. I also bought crochet hooks and yarn with plans of keeping my daughter's security blanket intact. I don't know how to crochet so I bought a little pamphlet on that as well. I learned how to make chains and that is as far as I got. Meanwhile "dee-da" (the blanket) is slowly unraveling and now is a one long strip of blanket with strings hanging off and is tied in knots in several places. I bought cute little pots with plans of having an indoor herb garden and that is as far as I got on that one. I'm sure if I think long enough I could come up with dozens of little projects that I have dreamt up over the years. I have a short attention span and if I can't start and finish it in a few hours then I might as well forget it.

I was saying I was going to put together the wedding scrapbook (all the cards we received, the invitation and program, etc.) this summer while it's so hot outside, but it is still staying in the box, and I can hardly bear to look at it. Probably because I remember the wedding as being all stress and no happiness...

[BonBon]

Umm....

a couple of frames that need staining for some oil paintings

a couple of shelves that need staining

shoe molding that needs to be stained, specially cut, and installed

a couple of shelves, a clock, and some wall trim that are in the process(and have been for a month) of being painted a high gloss white(which requires about 6-7 coats )

an entire bedroom furniture set that has been prepped and is patiently waiting for its 7 coats of white paint

my guest room finally got the floors sanded and I made DH put the sealer on b/c by that time I was pregnant

I coerced DH into painting the guest room ceiling because I am pregnant however, the walls are my responsibility and I've had the paint now for about 5 months

trim in guest room is being painted white, got about 1 coat left but can't bring myself to do it

need to make own wedding album since photographer screwed up

I must have about 5 cross-stitch kits that have been languishing in a drawer for 10+ years

and now I've got a nursery to contend with

oh, and I have 6 pots with dead plants and some new ones that have been sitting on my kitchen floor for a month to be repotted

Sorry for the length, but I hope it makes you feel better!!! 8O

[BonBon]

oh, and how could I forget....

the hanging baskets in the front of the house that are dead, with new flowers that have been patiently waiting to be potted for well over a month...

I bought these huge pots to put on the patio with pretty flowers to put in them...around Memorial day...still not done

I also bought about 50 impatiens to plant out back... also around memorial day...they are getting quite large. wonder if I'll ever get to it??

Does anyone live in NY and want to come help me get things done???

I bought these huge pots to put on the patio with pretty flowers to put in them...around Memorial day...still not done

I've got that too, only I'm afraid to go onto my back patio after I saw the size of the spider that was crawling on the window out there. I could see the individual hairs on its back!!!! I also found a large scorpion in the plant trays when I went out to water yesterday.

[PrincessFiona]

procrastination

You guys are so awesome...I'm so relieved to not be the only one with so many projects to finsih.

I DID dig my sewing maching out of the closet the other day and try and get it working...it's been so long that I couldn't get it all threaded . Hopefully I'll finish Amanda's quilt before the baby is born.

kris

[Rapunzel]

I am up to my ears in projects now! My 13 year old brother in law is staying with us for the summer and we are to keep him busy. Sooooo, we're about half-way done completely redoing the kitchen (ripped up carpet- who puts carpet in a kitchen?!, steamed off wallpaper, painted, painted, painted, put down a new floor, took some of the cabinets down and moved them to other walls). We still have to replace the counter-top and tile the back-splash as well as put down trim around the floor among many other tiny details in that room. We've spent the last three days steaming the wallpaper off of the girls' bedroom and I just finished putting three coats of white paint on all of the trim (and we're talking LOTS of trim in this old house) and doors. I now have to tape everything off and paint the walls pink. Hopefully their room will be back together this weekend because I have to paint my son's room next week (and the bedroom closets). I literally have my next three weeks planned out for me and hopefully all three of the bedrooms, the kitchen (with storage room, walk-in pantry, and butler's pantry), and the stair hall (an 8ft wide 35+ ft long area) will be done at the end of these coming three weeks. Man, I'm tired just reading what I typed.... (and we still have the dining room, sun room, and family room as well as a second stair hall to work on after that!)

A project that I have intended to do for a very long time is redo all of my children's baby books - but that will have to wait until the winter. I do feel very guilty not having even begun that task yet.