The Saga of a UFO

When a UFO comes out of hibernation after 20-25 years it's hard, exactly, to recall why it was sent to this quilter's purgatory in the first place. In studying the parts and pieces in the tub marked "Beige and Burgundy Nine-Patch," I believe I can make a few assumptions.

Apparently, I was okay with things through the making of the small 9-patches. My troubles appear to have surfaced when I started making the double 9-patch blocks. Nothing seemed to be square, or even, or sized right, making the matching of intersections dang-near impossible. 

This is one of those less-than-stellar blocks. What an aberration! No wonder it and its wayward mates spent so long in time-out. I shake my head in shame that I was responsible for such shoddy work.

While pressing all the blocks, my mind worked on how I could salvage the mess and come up with an acceptable finish.

The tub still had quite a bit of workable materials in it. Lots of partial blocks, strips, and yardage. This was promising. 

I made more blocks using the already-cut fabric. Here is a block that measures out exactly as it should. How could those old ones have been off by so much?? I don't dare fathom a guess.

My next step was to determine which of the pieces of yardage I would use as setting blocks. I auditioned two - this one is the same as the light fabric in the 9-in-9s.

 

The second choice won out - this beige print. And I went ahead and made the rows I could make with the newly sewn 9-in-9s, setting aside those wonky blocks, still not sure how to deal with them.

 

And as it typically happens, I had my eureka moment in the midst of making my quilt top.

Make a second quilt. So simple! I had ample background fabric with which to work, and that is how I have proceeded. Below is a picture of the two quilts to come out of one UFO tub. The top quilt is made with wonky blocks. The lower quilt is made with the correctly-sewn blocks. See the size difference?

I would have made myself totally nuts if I had tried to force all the blocks to work in one quilt. Utter madness! The aggravation is not worth it. Since I had plenty of fabric to make two quilts, I have taken the path of least resistance.

And it pleases me ever so much.

I am not stressing at all - the newer blocks are made painstakingly correct and fit nicely with the setting blocks. The old block have all been trimmed to a uniform size, and I am making the best of their imperfections.

The "correct" quilt is ready for borders, and I have pulled out a feathery Brackman and Thompson fabric to serve. I will finish off the "wonky" quilt and bring you the results of both soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!