Another UFO Bites the Dust

Never in my life have I made a resolution in January that I have remained faithful to for eleven months, but I can say proudly that the November UFO is now a finished quilt top! I am so glad, too, as it makes me very happy to gaze upon it. I will let you know right up front that you are going to see lots of pictures of this one!

I am calling this quilt Dusty Trails for the plan all along was to have a quilt that looked reminiscent of quilts from our pioneer ancestors. Over the years, I stored away several fat quarters and yardage of selected fabrics that seemed suitable for this quilt, and I think I hit a home run with it, don't you? I am glad to finally have this top finished.

The history on this quilt has been recounted here before, but I can briefly repeat for you. I saw a store sample displayed in a now-closed quilt shop in Portsmouth, OH, about 20 years ago. I just loved it, so I bought about 5 or 6 FQs of the fabrics in the sample. I made up a pattern to imitate the one in the shop and then made about 9 Broken Dishes blocks. Who knows why I stopped there, but I did. For the last two decades, the blocks and the remaining fabrics have lived in a tub here in the sewing room. I added fabrics occasionally - especially if they seemed in the same historic time period I had in mind - roughly the time of the Oregon Trail pioneers. (Thus the name - Dusty Trails.) Click here to see the first few blocks I made and the additional fabrics I added to the collection.

Last Tuesday and Wednesday I constructed the quilt and added the borders. Ta-da! November UFO finished!

The border fabrics came from my stash, and I made 4 more Broken Dishes blocks to use in the corners. the whole quilt just came out so great - I am giddy with delight at how it looks. Sometimes quilts show their age, but this one seems just as fresh as the day I dreamed it up oh-so-many years ago.

Here we are, now, with just one week of November left, and then one more month of 2017 left. Wow. I  have big plans already taking shape for 2018, but first I still have the December UFO to knock out; I am definitely going to see this New Year's resolution through to the very end.

Finally, I have linked with Beth at Love, Laugh, Quilt and her weekly Monday Making.

Happy Quilting, Friends!