When UFOs Are Discovered Years Later...

Our 43rd wedding anniversary was this past August. That's 13 years past our 30th anniversary when I wrote this post - 30 Stars for 30 Years. It was a post about a wall quilt I planned to make to commemorate our 30th.

Beautiful quilt! But it never happened, even though I remember collecting the fabric for it.

Only recently, Annie...a stranger to me...someone who ran across my blog post, out of the blue commented and asked if I knew how to find a copy of the pattern 30 Stars for 30 Years. To be honest, I didn't even know where my pattern was!

Last week we were having some snow days...cozy inside sewing days...I set about looking for that pattern in earnest, in every bin full of scraps, batting, and fabric stashes that I had! Bins on the shelves, tubs of fabric under the sewing tables, bins piled full in the sewing closet. You get the idea...

So...what I did find is the subject of this post--UFOs...Un-Finished Objects in my sewing room. Who knew I had these??

This is the first one...totally complete and just needing to be taken to the quilter once I find appropriate backing. I don't know the pattern name or what Sew-Along it was..although it might be a variation of an Orange Slice quilt. Does anyone know? It's many years old!

And this one from back in 2010 (Rachel at P.S. I Quilt blog, now inactive). This quilt just needed a green border added...and again, I need to find some appropriate backing and give it a good steam pressing:

This one was done back in my early days of sewing...so it doesn't have accuracy in piecing...so not sure I want to invest quilting $$ in it:

This leaf wall hanging is the result of a class I took probably ten years ago from Patchwork Plus in Dayton. It's finished except for the quilting, and this one is small enough for me to sew on my machine...three sandwiched layers already pinned:

The backing matches perfectly:

Next up...4" Siggy Blocks (Signature Blocks). Any quilters out there remember those? Quilters from all across the country would trade blocks with other quilters with their signatures on them. These are dated 2009 and include the name and location of the quilter. I have a stack of siggy blocks to sew!

And there was also another stack of 6" Siggy Blocks (below, from 15 years ago!!) from not only quilters from across the United States, but lots of blocks were from Germany, England, Canada, and Australia! Any quilters have any ideas to share for how to sew up these blocks?

Most of these blocks have the name of the quilter and their blog address....the majority of which are no longer active. My block in this stack is the navy/muted floral one on the far right...I included a scripture (John 3:16, zoom to see closer) on the tons of blocks I made and sent to all these swappers across the globe.

These 16 blocks are finished for this quilt...sashings/borders only thing needed. This fabric is Central Park by Kate Spain and Moda (out of print):

The backing fabric is already purchased and is in the foreground of this photo:

And yet another quilt with 12 blocks finished. I guess I'm wondering WHY I stopped completing the projects with almost all of these quilts sewn. This fabric is Posh by Chez Moi, by Moda (sold out):

And lastly, these Simple Squares blocks....still need to sew 7 more (block within a block) with this Figgy Pudding (Basic Grey fabric) quilt. I started this in 2009 and followed the quilt along on the Sew Inspired blog (inactive):

This is the backing by Basic Grey and the blue grunge background. You can see the finished quilt example here. It's a Christmas-y/winter quilt:

Soooo, as you can see, I have my work cut out for me to finish some UFOs..before the Red & White Sew-Along starts!

And you ask...did I ever find the 30 Stars for 30 Years Pattern that I was searching for? 

Success! I did! The pattern was put in the mail today and is now winging its way to Annie, all the way across the country. I hope she has a fun time making this pattern.....it's one I'm going to Start and Finish so it will no longer be a UFO!

How about that? Who knows what one comment will bring forth?!!

~Deb

Comments

[Annie Swearngin]

Good Morning!

Thank you again for your time, efforts to look for that pattern, and then sharing it with me. You really went above and beyond and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. Looks like you’re really close to finishing some treasures you discovered along the way too, so I’ll be watching to see what comes next!

Best,
Annie

[Bet]

These are beautiful!! So glad you found them and are finishing them now.

[Sonia Johnson]

so many hours, such beautiful work!

I love the colors in this one: "This one was done back in my early days of sewing...so it doesn't have accuracy in piecing...so not sure I want to invest quilting $$ in it"

[Tammy C]

Have fun catching up with your UFO quilts.

[Tammy]

For the quilt you aren't sure you want to pay to quilt - you could sew a backing on it and tie it, to use as a picnic throw. It's always nice to have something to sit on the ground or sand at the beach, or to throw over a picnic table.

[Holly]

I enjoyed seeing your stack of UFOs. I'm glad I'm not the only one! I've helped tie dozens of comforters over the years. I had three bedwetters so our bedding had to survive multiple washings every week. You might consider that for your top. :) Our oldest may be moving out soon. If he does I'll finally have a sewing room! I'm excited to see what treasures I'll unearth as I root through my treasures. :)

[Holly]

And coming back to add...Happy Anniversary! We just celebrated our 30th this year so you have us beat by a few years. ;)

[victoria]

Looks like your sewing room is going to be seeing lots of you this winter. Some beautiful quilts for your to finish up.

[Kathy]

Maybe I'm the only one wondering, but which stars add up to thirty?? I count two in the center(?), twenty-four around the center, and four in the corners???😁

[Deb]

Kathy, yes I think you counted that correctly! 👍

[Cathy]

I hope you’ll stick with it and finish what you’ve started. You’ll feel so accomplished when/if you do.

[Kathy]

Deb, what lovely photos of your UFO’s and family. Reading through your posts I see you also love Pillsbury Orange Rolls like our family does. Thanks for giving us your blog information on Mary’s blog.

[Lisa B]

Mary, from Country Threads, is selling the 30 Stars quilt pattern on the blog. Double check but I think it is $5. Send a SASE to her address, listed near the end of the blog. She mentions it for about 3 days near this day. It is a beautiful pattern.

https://chickenscratchcountrythreads.com/uncategorized/more-thirty-stars-quilts-1-28-24/#comment-254228

[Deb]

Lisa, thanks for mentioning that Mary is selling the pattern! I appreciate your comment.