Oldest UFO Series - Sheryll"s

The UFOs I refer to, as every quilter knows, are Unfinished Objects. And I venture to say that most every quilter has at least one in the depths of the sewing room. Truth be told, most of us have far more than just one.

Several months ago, I asked my quilting friends about their oldest UFOs. Oh the stories! I wondered if they'd be willing to share them with me, and also, by extension, with all you readers of this blog. Several agreed, so the project began. Here is the first installment.

Today's UFO comes from Sheryll, who shared with us an elaborate applique project that she started in 2000 when she bought this pattern in Paducah, KY, at the big quilt show. The incredible detail in this gorgeous scene just intimidates me to pieces. It wouldn't occur to me in a million years to attempt a project with this magnitude of detail.

 

The length of panel above is bigger than you might think. Sheryll is holding her arms completely extended and has a helper at the end to show this top portion of the quilt. Isn't that balloon realistic?! This panel is completely done.

 

More work in progress, above. Some of this has been machine appliqued. It looks amazing. Many other parts are well under construction. Sheryll says that the small details remain to be finished on many of these sections - window panes, store signs, street posts, flag pole, and so forth.

So much has been done on this! I don't know if you can click to enlarge these images - try, if you can because the intricate details are impressive. Tiny windows, feathery tree branches, narrow street lights and fence posts - so much fine detailing. It is hard to imagine that after doing all this, you then have to go back and do even more. What an effort!

I'll bet many of you will relate to this next part. This quilt has a very special memory attached to it. Sheryll says it is bittersweet because in 2002 she worked on this while her father was very ill. She recalls sitting with him and her family as he declined and passed. Every time she thinks of this project, she recalls her father. Do you have a quilt with special associations? I'm sure many of us connect some of our quilts with big life events. 

Another recollection for this UFO: Sheryll says it took her forever to collect the variety of fabrics needed for it. Interestingly, the maker said she did the same thing (included in the pattern was a little blurb from the designer detailing her creative process). Another major stumbling block has been finding script fabric for the various signs on the piece.

She also says that when this is finished, it will be an exceptionally heavy quilt. Each piece is backed with Wonder Under; this makes the applique easier to manage, but does add weight to a quilt. For this reason, Sheryll will likely not use a traditional batting in the quilt. It will already have sufficient padding.

And yes, the plan is to finish it, Sheryll says. Someday. I will definitely bring a follow-up when she gets there!

Sheryll is a prolific quilter, and I will offer up a couple links here so you can see some of her gorgeous creations. Click here to read a post from 2015. Scroll down a bit - she has several at the end.  And this post from 2012 gives you a glimpse at quilts on display at her house. From many of these, it is evident that Sheryll does indeed like applique.

There are more UFOs to share with you; I will try to be more timely with my next installment.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Oldest UFO Series

UFOs bother some quilters immensely, while others collect them like they are no big deal at all. I myself would fall into the latter category, and have no qualms at all stacking up UFOs all over the place. 

In 2016, we Frankfort Girls agreed to do a year-long UFO challenge in which we attempted to finish one UFO per month. I failed miserably.

Not everyone failed, but enough of us did that we tried again in 2017. That year, I had great success in eliminating 12 UFO - one per month. It was supremely satisfying to have accomplished the feat. Click this link to see my 2017 completions.

Fast-forward to the present. For a few months, I have been thinking about doing a series on oldest UFOs. Since I quilt with quite a few ladies who are long-time quilters like myself, I thought it would be fun to poll my friends to see if they would be willing to share their oldest UFOs, also. Over the course of the next few months, I will bring you a diverse range of UFOs from my quilting girlfriends. I currently have two or three queued up, so let's start this little series.

My oldest UFO dates from 1990, and I can be very specific about this because in the book with this pattern, I found a note on which I dated my beginning. In 1992, I did further work on this project, according to the note, and since then, I have done nothing.

These applique pieces have been stored in this zip-bag for nearly 30 years, awaiting the day I become brave enough to finish the quilt. Every now and then I come across this buried treasure in the quilting room, and longingly think that it needs to be finished. Yes, after 32 years, I still like this quilt and have every intention of seeing it completed someday.

The entire saga of this quilt is outlined fully in this blog post from 2012. 

For those of you not interested in the saga, here is a picture of the quilt. Isn't it lovely? It will look so pretty on the white iron bed in our guest room. I need to make this a priority. This year? Next year? We shall see. 

How about you? Do you dare share with us your oldest UFO? Whether you ever intend to finish it or not, it's an interesting trip down memory lane to see where you once were as a quilter, and how you've progressed over the years.

Share with us, if you like! I would love to see what variety we have stored in the depths of our closets, bins, and  drawers. If you do any sort of social media, link up with me and I will share your oldest UFO here with ours.

Who knows? It might just spark a notion to finish an aging UFO!

Happy Quilting, Friends!