Wednesday, March 17, 2010

wip wednesday... my oldest quilt still in progress

do you ever wonder how i decide what wip to blog about?
sometimes it's easy.. there is something on my design wall... you haven't seen it.. done.
sometimes it's something i haven't worked on in a while and just decided to pull out

and then sometimes.
like today.
the day itself inspires the post.

today is march 17th.
and to most of you...
that means it is st. patty's day.
{and it is...}
but it is also the founder's day for my sorority

i am a proud sister of delta phi epsilon
that's me.. sitting in the front row... 3rd from the left.
circa january 2003 - drexel university

so how does this relate to quilting??
easy!

this is my oldest wip!!
 from 2003!

6/15/2003 to be specific.

i happen to have a spreadsheet with start and finish dates for all my quilts... so i also know that this was the fourth quilt i ever started... some people may call it obsessive.. i call it detailed.

anyway.
i finished the top on 7/10/2005 & haven't done a darn thing to it since.

why you ask?

because when i started it..
i was an inexperienced quilter.
and made a lot of mistakes.
and now i have no idea how to finish it.
but it has such sentimental value... that i have to come up with a plan... somehow!

 here are some of the issues.
with text on the photos to show...








so.
we have quilter's cotton
mixed with flannel
old sheets
fleece
linen
a placemat
lots of fuse-able interfacing
all kinds of applique
and markers!

how the heck do i fix the hold..
and quilt this thing.
without breaking a million needles??



cause like i said.
this thing has crazy sentimental value.
including that this purple shirt in the photo above
is the first letters i ever got.


so what is your oldest wip?
and why?

hop on over to quilter's daily to join the blog along...
share your oldest wip!

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my. lol I'm just imagining those seams!! This may be a good candidate for an old fashioned tying with yarn and a big fat needle.

Quilt Mom said...

Hey Julie, Happy St. Pat's to you and I love your sorority quilt, it's a beauty. You may have been inexperienced but you really did something very cool. I would suggest meandering for most of the quilt, to hold it all together, but first you will need to use your domestic machine to nail down any loose areas with a denim or leather needle and going slow! A thin batting like Dream cotton and a light weight backing and you will be set to go!
Keep us posted as to what you finally do on this beauty!
Hugs,
Kim

Suburban Stitcher said...

I love it! I hope that you do finish it, because you'll be SOOOO glad that you did! I wish that I'd had the forethought to save stuff like this. I will for my kiddos, that's for sure!

rachel griffith said...

you gotta go ol' school here.
yellow & purple yarn.
tied in pretty little bows.

it'll still be pretty.
promise.

wishes, true and kind said...

Julie, somehow I know you will make it work! And years from now, you will be even more glad that you did.

Thanks for the info on the Quilters Daily Blog Along. That sounds like fun and a good source of inspiration :)

holly | bijou lovely said...

Happy Founders Day!! Good luck with the Deepher WIP :) I'm sure you will come up with something!

karen @ badlandsquilts said...

I haven't been quilting long enough to have any WIPs that are that old, though I do have some some duponi silk drapes from my last house (2002) to remake for this house. Good luck with your project, I do unterstand the sentimental value...I am a AGD, so I'll be sure to think of you on Panhellenic Badge day next year - the first Greek I've "met" in the quilting world!

teaginny said...

Maybe you could tie it instead of quilting.
My oldest WIP is from last year - not to be snarky or anything :) I started quilting a long time ago and would only do one project, start to finish, at a time. Now I have about 5 projects going at once ! :)

Denise :) said...

All its idiosyncrasies notwithstanding, it's a lovely quilt! Perhaps you just save it as is and pull it out on days like day and allow nostalgia to have its moment!

My oldest WIP is from 2007; the second quilt I ever started. It was a quilt-as-you-go BOM. I've finished everything *but* sashing the huge center block and adjusting it to fit into the rows. Because I don't know how. So it continues to just sit. Until someday. Or forever.

:)

Natalia from Piece N Quilt said...

Wow, that is neat! I am with you though, what to do with a quilt like that..... It's truly a treasure though. I'll have to dig though my stash to see what my oldest is! :)

Jocelyn said...

I think Rachel had the right idea. Tying the quilt may be your best option. And because it has so many blends of fabrics and markers, it would be a quilt that would be displayed but not used, as it seems to me it would require dry cleaning instead of washing. Hope you get it put together. It will be a great memory quilt.

~Michelle~ said...

I vote for hand quilting - or tying if you have a batting that can handle some potentially unusual spacing.

That's a great idea though, to track the quilts in a spreadsheet (and completely agrees with my geeky CPA self). At what point do you consider a quilt as started? When you start cutting fabric? When you start sewing? I'm anal enough that I would probably track both dates, hehe. :)

Sherri said...

Oh, you so have to finish it...how about big-stitch hand quilting with a perle cotton...

Tracey Jacobsen said...

Such a great quilt Julie. :) There weren't any real sororities at my school, but had I made something like that from my college girls/dorm life, I would be terrified to mess it up too!

Way cute.

I like the hand-quilting idea.

My oldest WIP is from when I first started quilting. It is 1/2 finished... flannel and chenille squares and my first real quilt. I started it when I thought the little boy in my picture was a little girl, and before I had discovered moda, etc. When the belly got big, and the sewing machine became uncomfortable, and we found out *she* was a he, I lost motivation (and energy after teaching all day while pregnant). :)

Tracey Jacobsen said...

I hope you like my noveluvacomment. :)

Audrie said...

I don't have any old WIPs cos I tend to finish quilts as I go. That block with the interfacing and a million seams is making me scared haha

Thimbleanna said...

I say baste it HEAVILY and go for it Julie -- you can do it! Come to think of it -- don't you have a long arm??? That should be no problem at all, No??? Please don't make me figure out my oldes WIP -- I'm thinking at least 20 years -- and why? 'cause more exciting things pop up EVERY day LOL!!!

QuiltNut Creations said...

either a big meander or tying it. you have to finish it!

my oldest WIP, a 65inch square Christmas watercolor wreath that i started fall of 1998.

Rebekah said...

love it!

This totally reminds me of my oldest WIP which is a t-shirt quilt with all of my college t-shirts. I started after I graduated in 2002 and the t-shirt material got the best of me and I accidentally cut a hole in the edge with my (at the time) unruly rotary cutter.

It's in my basement right now. Someday I will cut it apart, apply interfacing to the t-shirts and remake the whole thing...someday!

Sandy said...

Sweet & Simple.. You're just awesome:)
Love
MOJ

Unknown said...

I agree, tie it. I love it and you did an awesome job. I can't wait to see it finished someday.

Christine said...

Oh that's a tough one. Tying could be an option, but its isn't as stable. Maybe taking to the machine quilter? I'm sure you'll figure out a great solution. Hmmm...my oldest WIP. My hand quilting quilt in the fall colors. Started that last fall. :) Christine

Vicky said...

Just slap some applique over that hole and call it good. I'd hand quilt/stab stitch it, maybe using the big stitch with floss. It would go fast. I've been finishing up so many UFOs lately. Let's see. My oldest might be a double wedding ring that I will probably never finish. Oops, never say never!

mascanlon said...

Tie it...or wait a few more months because I am trying an awesome tee shirt quilter in April and I'll let you know how that goes. She quilts each block individually so all the problems aren't problems anymore! Its my granddaughter high school graduation quilt. And that hole...why applique right over it!

Barb said...

You do absoutely amazing work....

Dresden Quilter said...

Good luck! I wish I had advice I could give you. I know my Halloween swap quilt has lots of different things in it, which is why I am getting it quilted by someone.

Renegade Quilter said...

I think it needs to be hand tied.... That is how I did all of my 1st quilts plus I think it would look better done that way.

I must confess I have a spreadsheet as well with all of my project dates - its the accountant in me - what can I say? I finished my oldest wip a few weeks ago at camp it was a mystery block queen size quilt that just needed the binding put on it.

Wendy P said...

My oldest wip is 7 years in the waiting. It is really going to be a beautiful Card Trick whenever I get back around to it! Soft blues and greens on white.

Why isn't it done? I work full time, I am way too distracted by the latest fabrics and patterns, so year after year it sits.

I have pulled it out a few times and stitched a few more blocks, but monotony gets the better of me.

Good luck with tying that quilt. I agree with the others here. Its your best/easiest solution.

savvy stitch said...

Wow! I can't believe how many materials are in one quilt. You will figure out how to finish it.

lthecraftyone said...

I am absolutely no help with your quilt.

But I saw ModaLissa's last post about the article in Quilter's Home...

congrats!!!

(If you're looking at me like I'm nuts... http://modalissa.blogspot.com/2010/03/quilters-home-april-may-2010-has.html )

Melanie said...

That quilt looks really special. I'm sure that when the time is right and you finish it up, it will be fantastic.

My oldest quilt WIP is going on 10 years old...the first quilt I tried to make right before my daughter was born. I collected a bunch of vintage chenille bedspreads and tried to make a crib quilt out of them. The patchwork was adorable. The quilting... a disaster! My daughter turns 10 next month and it's still in a box!

Raewyn said...

Hi Julie... this wip looks like such a special one for you with so many memories. You got me thinking and I have posted about my oldest wip on my blog. It dates back a little while!! Thanks for the inspiration and memories!!