One UFO Flies Away….

   I have completed my first UFO of the year!  I had grand plans to finish one of the big quilts this month, but after opening the shop and then making the top and the dress, I found the month was quickly getting away from me! 

So I chose a small UFO to finish.  It was one I actually didn’t know I had until I opened a drawer looking for something else, and there it was.  This was another unfinished project of my grandmother’s (those UFO’s do like to travel) and I had obviously tucked it away because at the time I didn’t know how to finish it. 

This is what it looked like straight out of the drawer.

I can see why she abandoned it.  The final border is so stretched and crooked that it would definitely bunch up and wrinkle if you tried to quilt this and add binding.  The whole think looked like it was in need of a good iron.

I soon discovered why….

The quilt was made with the foundation technique (like paper piecing but using interfacing instead of paper).  My grandmother must have been low on supplies because she used fusible interfacing on this one – sticky side down.  Which meant that when I went to iron down the seams, all I got was a sticky mess on the bottom of my (brand new) iron.  I turned it over and did the best I could from the front.

Then I removed the border.  It was broadcloth, too thin and flimsy to help this quilt keep its shape.  Luckily I also inherited my grandmother’s fabric stash along with the UFOs and was able to find a matching fabric for the border. 

I quilted around the hat, quilt, and inside border, and used another matching fabric for the binding.

I’m pretty pleased with how this turned out.  I wish my grandmother could see her work and mine combined!  (Although she might give me a lecture on how quilting by machine isn’t really quilting at all so perhaps it’s just as well….   )

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UFOs – Stopping the Invasion

Just about anyone with a crafty hobby knows what UFOs are (and no, I am not referring to an extraterrestrial invasion!).  They are the unfinished objects that were started and then abandoned in favour of newer, more exciting, more pressing, or easier (!) projects.  They lurk in hidden corners of the sewing or craft room, sometimes forgotten for years, but in their dark corners they multiply with their secret mission to take over the sewing room! 

During the Sew, Mama, Sew Giveaway Day I came across Staci, at The Confused Quilter and have joined in her mission to stop the invasion!

More of a support group than sewing challenge, each of us have set a goal for the UFOs we will finish this year.  There is even a flickr group to post pictures and to keep us motivated. 

This year I have committed to finishing one UFO a month.   This seemed like a reachable goal and will clear up a lot of space in the sewing room (for all those new projects I am going to start this year!) 

When I cleaned the sewing room last year I confined all of the UFOs to a single bucket, promising myself that should the bucket become full I would finish what was in it before starting anything new.  You can imagine how well that worked…..  Here is the bucket now:

At least 3 of the quilts in this bucket I inherited as UFOs for my grandmother.  (You see what happens when you don’t get them under control?  They go on and invade other sewing rooms!)

I also have a pile almost as big piled outside this bucket of clothing and bags, and then there is this poor quilt, which has been sitting cut out on the floor so long that I no longer remember which colours I cut for which part of the pattern. 

And so, in 2011, the invasion will be stopped!   We will sweep the UFOs from all the dark corners and take back our sewing rooms! 

Do you have UFOs lurking in your craft space?  Come and join in the fun!

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