This is the view from my sewing chair today (or it will be as soon as I can get my computer work done!):

I’ve decided to try to just keep quilting on this quilt until it’s finally done, and maybe have it done in time for it’s 11th birthday, sometime in January! Yes, it’s a UFO that really is THAT old. I started this quilt in January, 1996, which I think (hope??) makes it the oldest UFO in my collection. It’s a queen size quilt from a pattern in McCalls Quilting magazine called Dresden Plate Drama and it is quite dramatic! I used my favorite fabric ever, a wonderful holiday print with roses in burgundies and pinks, green leaves, tiny purple-ish pine cones and metallic gold highlights. I bought a whopping 18 yards of that print, and used 13 yards for this quilt! I also bought 5 yards of the same print on a black background which is stunning as well.

So, why has this quilt been a UFO for so long? Well, it was a labor of love from the start, because every petal on each Dresden Plate had to be cut by hand with the same motif as all the rest of the petals for that plate to get the kaleidoscopic effect. Think Stack’n'Whack the old-fashioned way. Then of course, the Plates had to be hand appliquéd to the background. Even after I got the whole thing put together some years ago (not sure how many, but most likely pre-millennium) I thought I would hand quilt it, since it is such a fabulous quilt, and I really thought hand quilting was the only way to do it justice. I think I got one block quilted, and then it languished in my studio for another few years because hand quilting isn’t exactly my favorite thing to do.

At some point in the last couple of years, I decided that my machine quilting skills were certainly good enough to quilt this quilt the way it should be quilted, so I ripped out the little bit of hand quilting, and started to machine quilt. Other quilts got in the way of course, so it’s still here. I’ve no idea what I’ll do with it when I get it done, but I really need to get it done! And when it gets done, I’ll need to break out the champagne, and firmly restrain myself from putting crystals on it (though it would be pretty cool)!

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Well, I got the letter today that said the Grasping Reality: Fifteen quilt was not selected as a finalist in the New Quilts from an Old Favorite contest this year. I’m a bit bummed out about it, but only a bit. I may send it ’round to the other shows, but I’m also considering just selling it. What do you think?

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Okay, here are the pics, finally. It’s almost done, well, it’s done really, except for taking out the last bit of quilting that I didn’t like after I did it. Yes, I really do pick out quilting every once in a while, if I don’t like how it looks! I started this quilt as a project for a book I thought I’d write, and then the publisher didn’t want the book, so I still had this quilt as a UFO.

One of the things this publisher (AQS if anyone wants to know) always says about my quilts is that they’re too difficult for the majority of their market due to the complexity of the patterns, too many points to match, too many borders and other things like that. I designed this quilt in response to some of that, but then they still said there were too many points to match up, and therefore too difficult. Frankly, careful pressing makes this a not-so-difficult quilt to master, and with only the one border, it’s pretty quick to make.

I debated with myself while I was quilting this quilt about the fabric for the binding. The original plan was to use the same fabric as I used in the cornerstones of the sashing, but I really thought that was too predictable and boring. When decision time came around, I pulled a couple of other fabrics from my stash, then took a quick tour through my plaids looking for a red/green/black plaid that I’ve used for other bindings and been happy with. On the way, I ran across this lovely yarn-dyed plaid in shades of cocoa, tan, and off-white, with just one thread of just the right shade of burgundy in it. Perfect. I love plaid bindings!

And the back? You may remember that it was a brushed cotton, and it is so, so cozy feeling. All in all, I’m very happy with this quilt, and happy to be back in my traditional box after the Grasping Reality quilt! I’m thinking of publishing the pattern for this quilt with all those tips and tricks for getting the triangle points to match easily. What do you think?

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