Hey Everyone, welcome back to Coffee Talk Saturday.

The other day in one of the groups on LinkedIn a questions was posted. This question had to do with finding the time to get your own personal projects and quilts done. Now I know that most quilters do have a few UFO’s or WIP’s sitting around or stacking up and at some point they do become a bit excessive.

One of the remarks in the discussion was excellent and I thought what a great idea. Allison learned of the idea, Power of Ten from a quilt shop in Rockwall, Texas called Texas Quiltworks. She has implemented the idea with much success. Unfortunately the Power of Ten is no longer on their website which was originally posted on January 19, 2006. Allison, gave me permission to highlight these 10 steps from what she posted in response to the question on LinkedIn.

The Power of Ten

1. Go through your backlog of projects and figure out what you want to keep to work on and give away for someone else to finish and treasure.

2. List 10 projects you want to complete – only 10. Even if you have more than 10 only 10 at a time.

3. Begin working on the first project and only for a time period of 3 hours.

4. Keep track of your time for each project as you go down the list.

5. Only work for 3 hours at a time – usually anymore is too much and a quilter is not as focused after 3 hours. If a project can be completed in 4 hrs then go ahead and do so.

6. Mark the finished project off the list and add another one to the bottom whether it be a UFO or a new project that you want to start.

7. Continue to finish projects on the list, mark them off and add new ones. Only 10 on the list at any given time.

8. Note any supplies needed to finish a project.

9. Purchase those supplies at your LQS.

10. Share your finished projects with your quilting friends, your kindred group, your guild or your family – The Power of Ten becomes real when you share your work.

I have noticed lately that my stack of WIP’s and UFO’s is getting a bit out of control. I have decided to classify my projects into two different groups. WIP’s are pieces I am working on that have not been made into a top yet and UFO’s are quilt tops that are just waiting to be quilted. I am thinking that this Power of Ten may just help me out with all of these projects or at least I am hoping so.

I’ll let you know how I go in the next few weeks but so far today it is working well.

Happy Quilting!