Friday, April 22, 2016

Once Again - My Big UFO



I was showing a friend the handquilted "QUILT THAT WILL NEVER BE FINISHED". I opened it on my bed to show it and I left it there to be put away later.  When I looked at it I realized, for the second or third time, that most of the blocks that are within the border are finished.







This is one block with  sashing on the left. Everything was quilted in the ditch and there are concentric circles in the center of the block and 3 overlapping circles in the sashing rectangle to the left of the block.










This narrow strip is one sashing strip and the 4 patch cornerstones on the right and left. This is one that has not been quilted.


This is a secondary pattern that emerged when 4 sashing strips  come together at the cornerstone.















Four blocks with one secondary block.


There are five blocks and 6 or 7 sashing strips with cornerstones still to be quilted. Even with my arthritic hands I think this is doable. If I get that much finished I will quilt the border by machine. I know, absolutely, it will not matter at all to the person to whom I promised this quilt in 2001.







This quilt is from the first year I was in the "Friendship" block exchange group and I requested 2 twelve inch blocks from everyone and asked that all of the pieces in the block be a different fabric.
There are 25 colored patches and I think 20 neutral prints. That was a pretty bold request for someone new to the group. I may have also added that I would be happy for any left over scraps for the sashings.  In my defense, I did ask the shop owner where we met if she thought it was OK to request that block. She said (direct quote) "Sure".

I knew I would not want to piece 25 blocks but I proceeded to start to hand quilt  every single seam in the ditch and the circles and X's  in the 4 patches. I started and stopped quilting a few times and each time I started again, it was for a shorter period with longer stretches between. Now, 15 years later, I find any kind of hand sewing to be "not much fun". However the end is in sight and I am going to give it another try.

1 comment:

Annie said...

YOU GO GIRL!!! You will be so happy and feel so good when you get this last little bit done. You can promise your achy hands that you'll never do this again if they just go with you on this one. LoL. I'll be rootin' for ya. This quilt is a beauty!