The Story of a UFO.....

Grab a cup of coffee and a snack.....it's Story Time!

Laura showed a stack of UFO applique blocks on her blog a day or so ago. As I studied her piles of blocks, I realized that I had one of the same UFO's! Although I knew exactly where it was in my sewing room, I hadn't really looked at it in years. I couldn't remember exactly how much work is left to do to finish it, so I dragged it out to evaluate

The center section is completely pieced together with a small inner border added.

The borders are all appliqued - they just need to be cut down to size and sewn on, and the corner swags and motifs have to be appliqued on. Even the applique pieces for the swag corners and accents is all traced on the fabric. I would call it 85-90% complete. So, what's the story?

Back in 1999 (as evidenced by the signature block), I had just become a longarm quilter and was working from home. I was strictly a piecer back then - I had tried a little bit of applique in my beginning sampler classes, but DID NOT love the process. I understood it, I appreciated it, but I called it the "A" word for seven years and absolutely had no use for it, personally.

I was visiting a quilt shop in a neighboring town quite frequently to pick up and drop off quilts for quilting. I saw the sample for this BOM and simply fell in love. The blocks are 20" and I figured the pieces were big enough that I could learn to applique enough to get it done. During this time, my troubled stepson came to live with us. To say it was an adjustment is an understatement. Our house became the Hotel of Last Resort. So, after dinner each evening, I would become a recluse in my bedroom and applique. Even though it was a difficult summer, being in that situation forced me to spend time developing my skills and was probably the turning point for me regarding applique. I don't do a whole lot of it (except right now - for a shop sample BOM), but I do like to do it and am even pretty good at it.

Why did I abandon this project? If I recall correctly, the borders need to be cut down to size. Since I was working at home at the time, I think I became intimidated about the space needed to measure and cut them accurately and I just put it aside for later. Well, it's now almost 8 YEARS later and my intimidation is long gone. I no longer LOVE the quilt, but I do respect its place in my quilting life and I will make it a goal to finish this year.

And Laura, thank you for sparking me to dig this dinosaur out of the drawer.

UPDATE (Saturday -5:00pm): The borders are sewn on. Now, all I have to do is applique the corner swags in my spare time....bwaahaaahaaa....

The pattern is "Baskets, Berries, and Leaves" - a BOM set from Jan Patek/Alma Allen.