Wednesday, October 5, 2011

To Finish or Not To Finish….Help!

This post is a little embarrassing but it is what it is. This is my oldest UFO (unfinished fabric object). It was started 20+ years ago. I’m not really sure why it never gotten finished. There are so many memories and feelings associated with this quilt. Every now and then it makes it’s way to the top of the UFO pile to remind me that it’s still around. Are there quilts that aren’t meant to be finished? I often wonder.

P1010118


The pattern is all hand applique.  I was teaching myself how to applique at the time so the stitches are far from perfect looking. Most of it was was done while sitting in doctor offices and hospital waiting areas. The pattern is the Early Bird Quilt by Faye Anderson.

At the time, I was planning to add extra borders to make it larger. I’m scrapping that idea now. I don’t like the current border and I don’t like the border in the pattern either. These were two ideas that I was tossing around.

img002From the Border Workbook by Janet Kime
img003
From the Pieced Borders by Judy Martin
I don’t like the colors that I was working with anymore either so I purchased  some fun new colors in hopes of updating it. I’m just not sure what to do with the quilt yet. Any and all suggestions welcome!


DSCF2797
Brainstorming…
1. I could just remove the current border and change it to the new fabrics keeping the hand applique and background that’s already done.  That would be minimal ripping and hand sewing.

2. I could move all the hand applique to a new background and sew them again. Lots of ripping and hand sewing

3. I could just start from scratch and machine applique it all. No ripping and fast sewing.

4. I could bury it back at the bottom of the UFO pile and think about it next year when it surfaces again. No ripping and no hand sewing.

What would you do with it?

3 comments:

Judy said...

I say number 1! I think it is a great quilt and all of the hand stitching got you through alot of "ick" time! I can't wait to see it fonished!

Lynne said...

It sounds like you probably don't intend to keep it so just get it finished (leave the border) and give it away (there are plenty of charities that take donated quilts) - someone will appreciate it!

merrily row said...

I too am looking at this UFO. I am dying to find out, what did you do?