Now that the hussle and bussle of National Pepper Pot Day is over, let's turn out attention to The Blackberry Creek UFO Bust. If you'd like to take part, you'll find the rules very lax. The goal is to have fun and clear our shelves, boxes, drawers, and closets of unfinished projects, any kind of unfinished projects. They can be unfinished quilts, sewing projects, cross-stitched pieces, knitting, crochet, art journals, paintings, or even macrame if your UFOs date back that far.
Below is a list of the guidelines I've come up with. If you decide to join this group and fail to follow any or all of these rules, nothing whatsoever will happen. No UFO Busting Police will visit you and haul you off to crafter's jail. So unlax and read on.
1. Make a list of all your UFOs that you would like to finish, give away, donate, or discard. (This list is optional.)
2. Post your list on your blog's sidebar. (The posting is also optional, even if you decide to make a list.)
3. Get to work. (This is also optional; however, if you don't complete at least one project, you will not be eligible for the big prize drawings that will take place later.)
4. Each Friday will be UFO Busting Check-In Day on the blogs. Post your progress (if you have made any) on your blog. I will try my darnest to learn to work the Mr. Linky app. If I find that just too far above my technological capacities, I will post a list of links on my blog manually each Friday, so that everyone can visit you and see what you've done. If you do not have a blog, send me your progress photos on Thursday and I'll post them on my blog on Friday.
5. I will keep a record each time you post (or send to me) a photo of a finished project. For each project you finish, you will earn one ticket to the drawing. We'll have one drawing midway through the challenge and another at the end. Tickets will carry over from the midway drawings to the final drawing--except for winning tickets.
Note: Everyone in the group will start out with one free ticket. That way, even if you don't finish even one project, you can still have fun and a chance to win.
(It's possible that there will be other prize categories such as "oldest project finished," "percentage of projects finished," etc. I haven't worked all that out yet.)
6. The term "finished project" means a project that has no more work left to do on it. In the case of a quilt, that means it is quilted and bound. (You can, however, choose to send the quilt out for quilting.) Cross-stitched projects must not only have the stitching finished, but they must also be made into whatever item (pillow, picture, ornament, etc.) that they were intended to be.
7. The term UFO means "a project that you have begun but not finished." A pile of untouched fabric, yarn, paints, etc., does not count as a UFO. Some work (cutting, stitching, glueing, painting, etc.) has to have been done on it. Even just a little bit.
8. If you like, you may post a copy of the Blackberry Creek UFO Bust logo on your blog.
9. At the end of the challenge, December 31, 2011 (or even before if you so choose) give away, donate, or discard any projects that you don't care to finish. With the possiblity that we have some serious UFO hoarders out there, this rule is also optional. If you can't bring yourself to part with those projects that you didn't get around to in 2011, we'll understand--and we won't report you to the "Hoarders: Buried Alive" show.
10. Now that you've read the above rules, decide whether or not you want to take part in the challenge. If so, send me an email to suscleve@aol.com. In the subject line of the email, please write UFO Challenge. I will post a list of participants on my blog.




















