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!

A Long-Forgotten UFO

In recent days, I have been slowly tackling the precariously heaped mountains of messiness in my sewing room. I have an idea of completely changing the layout of the furniture, so everything has to be cleaned up and moved out.

Well, in the midst of the mess, I came across this.

It doesn't look like much, but I assure you, it represents the beginnings of a monumental undertaking for me. (even bigger than cleaning out my sewing room!!) An ages-old UFO.

In the mid-1980s, I acquired this book. I spent hours perusing its pages, longing for some of the gorgeous quilts pictured there. It was in the mid-80s, when we were beginning our family, we were new homeowners, and new teachers, that I realized I could never afford to buy the quilts I wanted, so I would have to learn to make them. And this would not have been a stretch for me as I'd grown up around a grandmother who was forever working on one quilt or another.  (I've made frequent references to Grandma on this blog.) So, anyway, here is the one quilt that most often captured my fancy.

We have a white iron bed that was given to me when I was a girl. I slept on it growing up, and when we got married, it came with me. DH and I slept on it for a number of years before passing it down to our daughters when we got a new bed. It originated in my paternal grandfather's family, I believe. I tell you this because I always thought this quilt would look so spectacular on that white iron bed. I would adjust the size of that center panel to fit right along the edge of the mattress. I still think it would be pretty!

Here are the contents of the bag. I have basted quite a few flowers and leaves. I didn't bother to count them, but you can see I did a lot! And, if you have read this blog for any amount of time, you know how I go on about loving applique quilts, but just not having the patience required for them. I wonder what made me stop? Well, read on; perhaps the answer will become evident.

When I turned to the page with the directions, look at what I found down in the corner - a sticky note with information that I can't believe I had the foresight to record! (I amaze even myself sometimes - lol)

Cut out in 1990; basted in 1992. We were building our current house in '92, and I was preggers for Emma. Now I know why I quit working on it!

In studying this, I see that I have overlooked something. The flowers are not all dark outer petals with light center petals. If you look at the picture of the finished quilt hanging on the line, there are also a number of tulips with the opposite coloration: light outer petals with a dark center petal.

Now, when I get the mindset to get back to work on this, I wonder if I will do it as pictured, or just work with what I have?

How would you proceed?

Happy Quilting, Friends!