Tuesday, December 13, 2011

An 18 Year Old Work in Progress

 Eighteen years ago, I belonged to a prodigy.net quilting board.  
One of the projects I participated in was a block swap with 12 other women whose first names were "Pat".  
I originally started to quilt it by hand.  I ripped all that out and quilted by machine - just want to get it done and enjoy it!

Each of us in the block swap picked what colors we wanted our blocks to be.  The "Pat" that coordinated the swap was wonderful.  She sent out letters to each of us all over the United States with a list of who each Pat was, her color choices and her address.  We all made a block for each Pat, in her requested colors and then mailed it to her.  It was so much fun to make the blocks and even more fun to get 12 beautiful blocks in the mail.  
I have always loved the look of red, green, black and cream together in quilts - quite bold for a girl who was stuck on mauve and blue for ages (ugh!!)

After adding the black sashing that holds all the blocks together, I added the batting and backing and started hand quilting it.  Then, life took over and I stored the quilt for slower days when I could go back and finish it.

Well, many, many years have gone by, and now I'm determined to finish the quilt and enjoy it.  Its nice and bright and perfect for using while sitting and reading or bird watching from the sunroom windows.

One of these days I'm going to make an attempt to find all the Pat's and share pictures of our finished quilts.

All I've got left to quilt is 2 hearts on the Cats block and I'll post the finished quilt for you to see!

After all these years, I still love the colors. The quilt matches the red chairs in my sunroom perfectly - so I can enjoy it year round!

And so - another ancient WIP that will finally become a "finish"!

How old is your oldest Work in Progress?

Many blessings,

Pat

11 comments:

Desley said...

Wow, 18 years, and now it is nearly finished. I looks lovely.

Angie in SoCal said...

LOL - mine is 20 years old. I've been hand quilting it. I wanted to get it done this year, but it was not to be. Have to put it back on a living room sofa chair to remind me to work on it. It is the second quilt I ever made. Yours is lovely!

Gari in AL said...

What a great looking quilt you now have. I used old swap blocks for all my Christmas quilting gifts this year. It seems that swap blocks have to mature before they can become a fully functioning quilt. :-)

Rhonda said...

Worth the wait, just beautiful.

Queenie Believe said...

Congratulations on the final stretch of this beautiful Pat quilt. It is lovely.
Have a great day.
Always, Queenie

Bunny said...

Beautiful and fun memories..

Wendy said...

Hi Pat,
What an Awesome room to enjoy.
A Beautiful quilt - memories stitched together at last.
..and a wonderful witness.

Esther Aliu said...

What a fabulous WIP to share!! I love this story. The quilt is stunning too.

I have been quilting for 11 years now and I have 11 year old WIPs, which I definitely intend to finish...soon...ish.

The Pat Group you belonged to is such a lovely idea too. I think that's great. I would love to be in a group with 12 other Esther's. The first thing I would want to know is, do they also routinely get called "Easter?"

And would we allow Ester, Ether and Hester to join if they asked nicely??

Just kidding.

Glenda said...

Hi Pat my oldest WIP is around 40 years old a piece a tapestry; a chair backing I started when I was in my 20's!!!! Your sunroom is gorgeous, what a heavenly space to do hand work in. Loved reading that your quilt is going to make it in to a finished one soon, you must have so many happy memories tied up in it. Thanks for sharing. Cheers Glenda

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

I thought my oldest was 7 years. but i picked up a top from the farm last summer...One I started 22 years ago. LOL... It's in pieces, I abandon it because it was to wonky! (right up my alley now!) so I am going to out it together, as it is, and finish it... ;-)
I like black green and red together too. Happy Holidays!

MYstory of HIStory said...

Oh that IS beautiful! So nice that it can be displayed year round. What a fun group to be a part of. Such a clever idea. How fun it would be to see the others too! :) Oh - and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that your sewing room is lovely!

Thanks much for stopping in over at my end. Looking forward to getting to know you better in 2012. May you find much joy and peace in your Christmas celebration and in the year ahead.

Pat & Tony

Pat & Tony
Me and my best friend!