Not too Late

It took 20 years for these blocks to speak to me and tell me to simply alternate them with a plain muslin square. I nearly passed on them when a friend offered them to me 20 years ago. She didn't have any history on them other than her brother found them in an estate he acquired for the antiques.
I pulled them out every once in a while and setting them with sashing or side by side just didn't work. 


No question, the big reason they sat so long is cause some of them are just plain ugly.  I feel free to say that cause  the quilter that put them together is not around to be offended. But really? Wouldn't you agree? I finally figured out to look their best they needed the space that the plain blocks offer. And why I suggest that  it is NOT too late is cause it is still a top and I could rescue some of the uglies and rework some of the blocks. But then, I am not that nuts. 

These come from a very interesting collection of blocks. (You should be able to double click on the photo to see a closeup).  They have all been hand pieced. One of the blocks actually used 12 different colors of thread! The pink and gray(or navy) stripe is a satin that is sewn to flannel. There is also some dotted Swiss in one of the blocks. And that dark red, it's a denim! The side triangles have all been cut from squares cut once diagonally, leaving bias at the outside of the block.  YUK. As expected they were stretched way out of shape. I love that the same block has been shaded in so many different ways - most with 5 different fabrics. The 1 block with triangles in the corners has 17 different fabrics. I guess it was a "make do" quilt and she used what she had.

I debated putting another border on this but decided against it. I figured that if she had to 'make do' she wouldn't have had the fabric or fussed and would have needed it to get done. Then why didn't she finish it?? Could be cause  her situation improved. I wonder if it's more likely cause she was a "topper" like so many of us and she didn't like how it was progressing so she lost interest.  Same as us. Okay, I guess I'm speaking for myslef.    Oops. Maybe it was cause she got too busy like soo many of us. That's why we have so many ufos. Is that right?

I will show some of the other blocks in the next post. Yes, that donation to church has inspired me.
Happy Stitching everyone.