Quirky Quilt # 2

Some how I had the presence of mind to save this. ( Rosalie, was my mom’s first cousin on her father’s side.)

Included with the note was this UFO.  (Sorry, it’s a picture of a picture, No way, could  I find the negative after all these years.)

I was so excited and complemented to receive this treasure; I was ready to get to work.  Then  I made the mistake of showing it to a quilter friend who was a real stickler for accurate sewing and she said I should take apart the assembled section to fix some of the wonky piecing.  That stopped me dead in my tracks.  I am not one to back stitch unless it is really dire.  So it sat unattended for a number of years.

I was finally motivated to finish the quilt by the fact that my cousin was by then in her 80’s.  I really did want to finish the quilt so I could send her a picture and enjoy the fact that her long time UFO was finally completed!  I decided to make it a goal to finish it in time for my local guild’s 2005 quilt fair.  Tho’ it’s not super heavily quilted I did manage to assemble the rest of the top and hand quilt enough in each block to hold everything together in time for the show!

I sent my cousin some pictures of the finished product and she sent me a nice letter in reply.    

I think this might have been a kit ‘cause I don’t think either my great aunt or cousin were big sewers and all the solids and dress fabrics seem very well color coordinated.  Also all of the sashing and binding that came with the unsewn blocks was all precut into precise lengths. 

 I have always intended to go back and do some more quilting in the sashing but so far I have not found the motivation.  Once it was bound and on the bed there did not seem to be any urgency.

My cousin passed away a couple years after I sent her the pix.  We were not real close being as how she was my mom’s age and lived several states away but I am grateful to her for entrusting her project to me.  Knowing that it was her wish to see it finished often motivates me to take on other vintage projects to finish.  We all embark upon projects with the intention to finish them.  What project have you ever said to yourself ‘I think I’ll start this but I don't plan on finishing it’?!  

Happy July! Cheers, Claire W.