Hello there! So, you are interested in getting to all of those Un-Finished Objects. Well, the basics that most of us who do rotate started with are clearly spelled out at Shakespeare's Peddler. They did such a good job that I will not even attempt to rewrite it here. I would muck it up horribly. I will, however, do my best to explain how I do it now.
I use a chart to keep track of which projects I am actively working on, and how much work has been put into them. Here is a picture of a portion of it:
If you would like to try out this chart, just click the version you want: Microsoft Excel or PDF, most commonly read with Adobe Acrobat Reader, available free from many places on the web. (As soon as I find a place to point you to, I will do so).
How do I use this chart? I write in the title of each piece I am working on (or the person it is for, since I wouldn't want to give away a surprise), and the date I start it. Each large 10 hour block (marked with bold lines) is divided up into individual one hour blocks. This worked out best for me, since I usually only stitch an hour or two at a time. I try to stitch 10 hours on one piece before moving on to the next, but sometimes I just can't. I will get frustrated, or tired of a color, and just move on. But, I can still track exactly how many hours I have put into each piece. Each row of the chart represents 100 hours of stitching (on the full size Excel version, printed landscape). I try to scan each piece after 10 hours of stitching, and post it on my website.
So how does this help with the UFOs, you ask? Well, each time you finish one "round" through the rotation (i.e. you have done 10 hours on each piece on the list), you add a new piece. This way, you are constantly adding new (or existing, but not finished) pieces, and you are making the time to work on all of them. Now personally, I stitch pretty slowly. I try to limit the number of pieces I work on at once, otherwise I would never finish anything. At the moment, I have 9, but I might go up to 10. I have two friends with 20! And, most of theirs are quite large and complex. I simply intend to replace some as I finish, instead of adding a new one each time through.
Is that clear as mud? Feel free to email with any questions. I hope this has been a little helpful, and not too confusing.
Special thanks to Sue for letting me use her blue aida background tile. Please visit her page as well!
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