I just came back from the local quilt store, where my itty bitty friendship group, the Itty Bitties, were congregating. We began talking about UFOs, and Elaine mentioned her Sunbonnet Sue Through the Ages (I think it was really through the year) that has not been finished. She started it in the 90's. The Valley Oak Quilt Guild has offered a "series" quilt since the late 80's. The first one offered patterns of 12 barns. I made 4 of them. Another had 12 calendar blocks. I made 9 of the assigned blocks, and substituted 3 of my own. (Incidentally, I call that quilt "The 10 year year," seeing as it took me 10 years to actually complete the 12 months of the year.
The third series quilt was the one that pushed me over the edge. I never did another one. Ever.
This was "The 12 Days of Christmas," and boy, did I have big plans for it. I was going to do it ALL by hand, not just the quilting and the applique, but the piecing too. And I was only going to use solids. And I thought that one motif per block was silly. If there are 12 drummers, there should be 12 drummers. One drummer wasn't enough.
At first I chugged right along. See? I got all the way up to 5 golden rings...
And then I hit the stumbling block. Apparently I was absent the day the pattern for the geese a'laying was passed out. No harm, no fowl, I can skip it and move on to the swans a'swimming.
Do you know what a bear it was to get all 7 swans to fit on the prescribed space? It wasn't pretty, and apparently I'd had enough. (Blogger isn't impressed either.)
This little UFO has been hanging around since AT LEAST 1988 or 89. MAYBE 1990. Why didn't I go back, finish the swans and get back to the geese? Well, apparently I don't have the pattern for the geese. Or the 11 pipers peeping. sigh.
I still have the fabric set aside with the blocks. Do you think I will ever finish it?
Or better yet, does anyone know who designed the pattern and whether or not it's still available? If I actually have day 6 & day 11, I will have run out of reasons to keep putting this one off. (I really do like the jingle bells in the first block and many of the early blocks. If it were to ever be finished, I'm guessing one of the kiddos would like it too....)
2 comments:
I don't know where your original blocks came from, but quiltmaker did a 12 days of christmas a few years back that I was tempted to try. Haven't gotten there yet but still have the magazines.
Suzanne,
These are awesome! You might consider putting some of the motifs as part of the borders since it looks as if you're running out of room within the block. Do finish it, though. It's so charming :-).
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