Cornelia got married when she was 23 years old… in 1859. She made this quilt top just before her marriage… maybe when she was 22.
She didn’t quilt the piece until 1907…at the age of 71.
This was one of the quilts that caught my eye (and my camera) at the DAR Museum 10 days ago. I picked up the companion book in the museum gift shop, so I could read the stories about the quilts. (See my newsletter one week ago, about quilts with provenance.)
I’ve only been quilting for 25 years, but I can see how finishing a quilt could get away from one, in this case for 49 years!
Was she trying to finish it for her 50th wedding anniversary? Probably not. She lost her husband in 1889, but she finished the quilt in 1907.
Somewhere in there she had 7 children. I can see her laying this aside for 49 years.
So if you have a pile of UFO’s, don’t give up!
Some quilters go through their boxes and baskets of UFOs (Unfinished Objects), cut them apart, combine with orphan blocks, and re-envision them with a more contemporary point of view.
Sometimes they are a work of art. Sometimes they are made into a comfort quilt to give away.
If you have a half-finished masterpiece, give yourself permission to re-imagine it as a springboard for a new inspiration. Imagine you found it as an unwanted treasure at a yard sale…bring it back to your workspace and give it a new life with new fabrics, new color combinations, creative applique or embellishment treatment. Have fun!
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Lise writes to us:
UFOs- hilarious and very appropriate name for them. I started my first quilt in 1976, a log cabin. I had time on my hands, then I didn’t, so it was put into my wicker trunk. About 6 months later, I tackled it again… only to discover an almost 1/2 difference in the block sizes!
Plus one fabric really stood out. I will finish it… Someday! Also:
Kaffe Fassetts Passionate Patchwork has a couple of examples of UFOs he bought at the IQF in Houston and completed with new fabrics.