I mentioned in my year-end review that I had finished 9 quilts last year. The ones I finished, as opposed to the many I worked on without finishing, were mostly those with deadlines. There’s something about a deadline that motivates one to keep working.
The first one finished was a mystery quilt published in American Quilter magazine. They ran a contest along with the mystery, which I entered. That gave me a deadline, and I did it! Finished the quilt and entered it. And I was selected as a finalist – that was fun. I didn’t win though, story of my life. Call me The Runner-up.
I counted that one as a UFO completed, because I used some old blocks for the focus blocks. They were leftovers from the quilt I made my sister (not the quilting one) for a wedding gift. So they were special to me, even if the judge thought the other choices were more intriguing.
Then I made four quickies to send to Japan after the earthquake and tsunami. I sent them to a drive by Quilter’s Newsletter magazine. Nothing special here, but fast. And they had to have them by the end of April to get them shipped over. Another deadline.
Soon after I felt the urge to play with some carefree piecing and threw this together – a banner-size wallhanging. Best part was I finished it the same week I started it. Imagine if I could do that every time – whoo.
Next up was a gift for our neighbors who were having a baby. I’d been playing with One Block Wonders and made this for their little girl. July delivery meant I had a deadline for that one too.
In a fit of finishing euphoria I managed to complete the first OBW I made, this one from an autumn leaf print. Not enough contrast here to really stand out, but I’d used the only fabric in my stash that had enough repeats. I donated it to a local charity fundraising auction.
The next five months I was busy in the garden and finished nothing. Finally in November I completed my oldest UFO, nearing 20 years old. One of these days, when I get organized, I need to check my old journals and figure out exactly when I started it. I call it My Forever Quilt because it took me forever to make and I will keep it forever. It was among the first five quilts I started, the rest were finished (or given away as tops) years ago. My mom gave me the fabrics for Christmas one year, so it’s always been sort of special. Having worked on it so long, it has become part of me.
It is not, however, big enough to use on our bed.