Unfinished Objects
When I was a kid, my family would go to a bookstore that had a dining area attached to it for dinner sometimes. After eating I would make my way to the science fiction section and pull out the same book time and time again, The UFO Hunters Handbook (Field Guides to the Paranormal). At the time I didn’t realize that, along with never getting tired of the X-Files, I would find myself surrounded by UFOs also known as Unfinished Objects. I wouldn’t consider myself a hunter or seeker of said forgotten projects but I seem to have amassed quite a few in the last year or so. This post is dedicated to all the projects that I have placed to the side when something new caught my eye. This will also act as my statement of intent to complete or pass along each of these projects.
Embroidery Pieces
These are quite old embroidery pieces that I started towards the beginning of my topography journey. Both pieces are actually completely stitched and would only require mounting to be considered complete.
The top map depicts the first 20 or so miles of Pacific Crest Trail from the Mexican border to Lake Morena a.k.a what I experience my first day on trail. When I first started putting needle to fabric I had this grand idea that I would embroider the whole trail section by section. When I remembered that that was over 100 20-mile sections I got a bit overwhelmed and shoved it out of sight and out of mind. Even though I do not have plans to complete stitching the whole trail right now, I can give this one a dignified finished look for the time being.
Requirements for completion: Hoop or frame
The bottom map was supposed to be a gift but after I finished the last stitch I did not think it was good enough to be gifted and it too got thrown into the depths of the sewing area. I am not sure what I will do with this one at the moment. If I am unable to get it to look good on a frame, I will reluctantly put it into the small project graveyard…
Requirements for completion: Frame
Spring Sawtooth Star Quilt
Once I start completing quilts where I don’t follow someone else’s pattern it will probably become apparent that I have a major crush on sawtooth stars. This is one of the first quilt tops that I put together without following a pattern. I believe that I pieced this during March or April of 2020 when the Covid-19 restrictions were still unclear and I was too nervous to leave the house.
This is a throw sized quilt made up of four sawtooth star blocks and a border consisting of the extra half-square triangles I made when putting the center blocks together because (apparently) I was not counting. I really like how light and airy the top looks (which might be because of the less than great quality fabric I used.. oops!).
Requirements for completion: sandwich, baste, quilt, bind, label
Foundation Paper Pieced Test Blocks
Sigh… These two blocks are nowhere near perfect and not really my style. Being new to the quilting/sewing community and seeing a bunch of people on Instagram posting pictures of the quilts they were testing for others I decided I would take a stab at it too and threw my name into the first call for testers ring I saw. Unfortunately, I was pretty clueless to what exactly Foundation Paper Piecing (FPP) was and had not tried it before this. But since I said I would test, I spend a whole day trying my best. That being said, I don’t think I have touched a FPP pattern since and it will probably take a lot to make me consider one for a while.
I am not sure what to do with these… I could make a little pillow, but it would not match any of the color schemes we have in our house so I am reluctant to use materials for something I would never use. A double sided wall hanging is another option with minimal material usage. I could also donate it to a secondhand craft shop where someone else might find inspiration in it…
English Paper Piecing Blocks?
I always struggle with what to call these guys. They are the size of an “average” block so I think I will go with that even though they are made up of a bunch of smaller units. I wanted to have a project that I could do in the car or when I’m away from home for any extended period of time but when I started these I had absolutely zero overall plan and now here we are. I think I will donate at least the pink and blue one. The little aliens are too close to my heart to consider parting with but they might also get placed in the donate pile if I can’t think of a way to incorporate that block into a finished object.
Holiday Tree Quilt (2020)
Y’all. This quilt is adorable. I cannot wait to get it finished and be able to display it somewhere in the house during the holiday season. I would say put it on our bed but A sleeps as hot as a personal furnace turned to high and I don’t want make it worse with another layer.
When I pieced this guy together (following the instructions for Modern Patchwork Trees by Amy Smart over at Diary of a Quilter) it was the largest quilt I had attempted up to that point and of course I decided I would hand quilt most of it after stitching in the ditch down the columns of trees. Since I made the trees offset I wasn’t able to stitch in the ditch horizontally. I got part of the bottom rows of trees hand quilted before realizing just how long it was going to take. I feel like that is a theme in these projects but I swear I am typically not deterred by difficulty or project length. Once the holiday season of 2020 disappeared into the past I lost motivation to stare at red, green and white fabric for extended periods of time and this guy got folded up and put to the side (not out of sight though so I was constantly reminded of the task that will eventually need to be done).
Requirements for completion: Hand quilt around tree blocks, trim, bind
Scrap-busting Plus Quilts
The two quilts above are both + quilts that I made in a brief attempt to use up fat quarter bundles that I purchased without a vision and that aren’t really my style anymore as I tend to reach for almost exclusively solids now. Both quilt tops are throw size, the Dr. Seuss top is slightly bigger than the farm animal top but since I wasn’t really following a pattern and didn’t double check my math, some of the plusses on that one are a bit wonky with one arm lower than the other… I’m not sure what I am going to do with these either. I might donate them as is to the guild I recently joined or finish quilting them and then donate them.
Miscellaneous Blocks
These are blocks that I either had extra of after finishing a quilt (the red and white tree and the fruity half square triangles) of that I made as test blocks (the other two). I might make a pot holder out of the red and white tree to match the other wall hangings I made out of the extra tree blocks I had and probably donate the rest.
Alpine Wildflower Quilt (Peaks Test Quilt)
The first of a few test quilt tops I made in the spring of 2021 and have yet to complete. This pattern was super quick to put together and had a similar block construction as the holiday tree blocks so I breezed through them. All of the wildflower fabrics were picked out of my stash (yay) and originally came from Seattle Recreative. I actually really like how this one turned out and plan on quilting it before gifting it.
Requirements for completion: sandwich, baste, quilt, bind, label
Marion’s Garden Test Quilt
My pretty wonky test quilt of Jenn Smith’s (@jennbquilts) Marion’s Garden Quilt pattern is all sandwiched and basted with a pretty cool pieced backing and just needs to be quilted and bound for it to be complete. I have the binding all cut out and ready to sew, so really I have no excuses left to get this one completed. I am hoping that the quilting will lessen the obviousness of my mismatched seams. Fingers crossed!
Requirements for completion: quilt, bind, label
Calvi Test Quilt
Last but not least! My test of @stoff.art’s Calvi Quilt pattern. I absolutely love this one. Niko apparently loves it more though. I think I will have this one professionally quilted (on a long arm and everything) mostly because I don’t want to try and cram it through my machine and secondarily because I want it to be quilted with something other than straight lines. It is a twin size so I was thinking about adding either a border or a few more blocks to make it big enough to fit our bed but I also don’t really want to… I am still trying to figure out what I am going to do for the backing. Originally, I wanted to dye some fabric myself but because the front is already so busy and bright I don’t want to make it busy on the back as well… Anyway. Niko will eventually be able to enjoy the completed quilt once I get my thoughts in order.
Requirements to complete: figure out backing, get batting, send to long armer, bind, label
This are all of the projects I have started and have yet to finish in chronological order from when I started them. When they were all crammed into various corners of the hobby room it didn’t seam like that much… Now that I am looking at them all at once I feel a little overwhelmed but also determined to knock them or toss them out (and by toss I mean hand over to someone who wants to use them in a different project). After going through all of these projects it also made me realize how stressful it is to have unfinished projects laying around without a plan or timeline to get them finished. After I get these completed I am going to try to only work on one project of a single type at a time (one quilt, one embroidery piece etc). Hopefully that will help! If nothing else it will keep the hobby area less cluttered!
Updates to come!