ABC Wednesday--U is for UFOs

ABC Wednesday--the brainchild of Mrs. Nesbitt, is winding down its third round. You can find a collection of the ABC-U posts at the ABC Anthology , as Mr. Linky is not cooperating again, you can find other participants also in the comments at Mrs. Nesbitt's.

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U is for UFOs!

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Okay--you say--she has finally lost it! Claiming to be posting a Quilter's ABC all these many weeks and here she is in outer space--questionable outer space at that!

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But ask any quilter how many UFOs she or he has and you may get a number, or a sudden need to be elsewhere.

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I will admit it but I will not count them. I have quite a few UFOs. I have a friend who admitted to over 50, but has gradually been whittling away at them, while adding others so that the figure does not always waver.

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There they are--some of mine--and as I sit here I notice in the shelf across the room several others that I might also have included when gathering to take the photo.

UFOs=Un-Finished objects

This pile is blocks gathered in swaps with other quilters or made as samples and demos in teaching classes. Do you see the apple block near the top? I have between 150 and 200 blocks such as that one collected in our annual swap of blocks representing Washington State, and now that I have retired, I am supposed to have the time to make a Washington State quilt for each of my six children and ourselves.

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Retired! Time? What is that?

This is a baby sized flying geese quilt which only needs a bit more quilting done and binding. I should pull it out next time I need a baby quilt. (Why didn't I remember it when Lissa was born last year? I scrambled to get a quilt made for her in a hurry.)
Here is a top--again baby sized--for a little girl. It can be quickly finished when a shower looms.

This is a top made from swap blocks. In this swap, a square of fabric was sent out and friends used it and coordinating fabrics of their own to make a block. The variety of the blocks was fun to see. The top is ready--maybe needs another border. But space to baste a large top is at a premium sometimes and I don't have an urgent need to finish it quite yet.

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There are other tops in that pile in the first photo--just needing finishing, and when the need for the finished piece is there, they will be ready.

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My friend Cindy posted here and here the question asked of her not long ago, and of all quilters at one time or another, "How long does it take to make a quilt?" The answer really: however long it needs. Some quilts get interrupted by quilty or non-quilty issues. Some just need to "age" a bit for the inspiration to return. Some falter waiting for just one more bit of that fabric that is no longer readily available.

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We quilters sometimes happen onto treasures--blocks or tops created by someone in the distant past--maybe someone in our own family or maybe found in an antique shop or on an e-Bay auction. It's like archeology, genealogy, history, and art all wrapped up into one.

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And it goes to show that UFOs are not unique to us.