UFO # 10

On New year's Day I resolved to clear out UnFinished Objects (UFOs) at the rate of at least one or two per month. I have been slowing down on this resolve lately but today I confronted my demons and pulled out a project from about a decade ago. I don't remember how I got started on this sampler quilt but it may have been at the Houston International Quilt Festival where they have a hop shop on the sales floor. I only made nine blocks (typically there are twelve) and decided to put them together in the 'quilt as you go' manner. This method lets you quilt each block and sashing strip together one block at a time. I had already joined three of the blocks and their sashing strips so I thouhgt it would be a breeze to finish it up.

Each block had a sashing strip attached to it so the basic unit should have been a nine inch block attached to a three inch sashing strip for 9" x 12" plus quarter inch seam allowances. That comes out to 9 1/2" x 12 1/2". The unquilted blocks looked a little the worse for wear so I decided to give them all a good press and trim any uneven edges. First of all, none of the pieces came out to the desired size - all were smaller by at least a quarter of an inch. That didn't phase me too much as you can always fudge a little by a good stretching with your steam iron. I trimmed up one block and its sashing strip and ended up only about 1/8" too small on one side. I picked up the next unit and discovered that the closest I could come to the desired size was 11 1/4" by 8 3/4 ". My spirits rapidly plunged to pond scum level as I tried to fudge these blocks up to the correct size. Here is my last look at this quilting disaster:

Pretty colors but a mess!

And here is a close up of the worst block. Can you see how the creamy floral is about half an inch shorter than the white and swirly blue piece?

In my defence I think this is from early in my quilting carrer when I didn't even know about 1/4 inch seam allowances and their importance in the overall construction of a quilt block. Also, this may have been the first sampler quilt I had ever tried and I think it was done using those pesky Marti Michell plastic templates (which I hate with a passion now). So UFO #10 has gone to that charity bag in the guest bedroom in hope that someone somewhere can stop laughing long enough to start a fire with it OR better yet, that they can use these blocks as examples of how not to piece a quilt. For my part, I disavow any knowledge of this quilt and will shoulder on to my next UFO project - to quilt the second blue and white quilt for my Dad's friend's daughter. The first one was finished in March and the second should travel with me the next time I see my Dad.

Have a great week!