An OLD UFO is finished!

/ quiltinggail

But it’s not MY UFO.  I have never made a lone star quilt.

Jan's wedding quilt

Jan’s UFO

serged edgesJan got married almost 25 years ago.  They will celebrate their anniversary in the near future.  They were given this quilt for their wedding.  No binding on it, but the edges were serged.  She was also given several floral prints (left over from the centre) to use for binding.  The problem? Jan doesn’t quilt.  She doesn’t have a clue how to attach binding.

SEW … what to do?  She has had this quilt in a bag, hidden away, for the past 25 years.  It would be nice to use it.  I volunteered to sew on the binding … a nice quick job, right?  HA! HA!

The ladies at book club, decided that none of the florals did the quilt justice as a binding and I suggested a white flange.  Easy peasy!  Right?  HA! HA!

I went through my white solids, looking for one that matched or was close to the white in the quilt.  One was too yellow, one had a tint of green, another was too white, and one was just right!  Perfect!

SEW, I cut the purple floral into 1″ strips for the outside part of the binding.  Then, when I went to cut the white … OH DEAR!!!!  I did NOT have enough for the flange (this part needs to be ¼” bigger than the floral.   GROAN!   Well, there was enough to add a small adding a creative flangestrip onto the quilt.

I measured carefully and sewed the strip on with edge of the white a ½” from the edge or the quilt. The needle sewed on the first fold mark that you see on the right part of the white strip.

When it was sewn on, I pressed it over and tacked it in place with Elmer’s School Glue.

Then I cut 2 ½” strips of  purple floral for the binding … of course,  I was short about 10″ … sigh …   I know I would have had enough if I had cut 2 ¼” strips … but I wanted to be able to cover the serger thread and 2 ¼” strips wouldn’t make it!

SEW, I sewed 3  of the 1″ pieces together with an 1/8″ seam … trimmed it to 2 ½” and added it in.  It worked!   I will challenge Jan and the book club ladies to find that pieced “make it fit” binding!

final bindingAnother thing that made it challenging to add the binding is that the quilt had been washed.  This made the edges uneven and wavy.  But with pulling it and stretching it this way and that, I was able to get the binding on.The binding was on! And sewn in place.  Done!

Do you see how the binding would have been lost against the border print?  The white helps a lot.

centre of Jan's quilt

 

The quilt was heavily stippled in the white areas and hardly a stitch in the star pieces and border. But I think it is enough to hold.

Now, I know you have a lot of questions!

  • Why was Jan given the unfinished quilt?
  • Why didn’t the maker take it back and finish the binding?
  • Why did Jan get the fabric to finish it when she doesn’t quilt?

I don’t know the answers to these questions.  And really, it doesn’t matter!  She now will have a finished quilt that she can use and put on her bed.  And that is what matters!

♥  Happy 25th Anniversary, Jan! ♥   This is the only gift you an Marvin will recieve from me for your anniversary!  grin!  Enjoy!

Happy Quilting! 
Gail

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22 thoughts on “An OLD UFO is finished!”

  1. Pingback: Colour bleeding | Quilting Gail

  2. So nice of you to finish the quilt for Jan! What a lovely gift it is, and one she will always remember. Seems silly that she got a quilt that wasn’t finished for her wedding, but you saved the day and finished it for her and the results are lovely! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Hi Gail, I think that it’s wonderful that the quilt will now be used. You did a great job, even if it was much more complicated than expected (isn’t it always?!) Thanks so much for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks. I hope that we’ll keep seeing you.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Andree,
      Thank you! You’re right … it’s usually more complicated when I think it will be an easy peasy job!
      I have Free Motion Mavericks on my weekly linky list – so you’ll be seeing me again!
      Happy Quilting! 🙂

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  6. What an intriguing mystery! I was asking all the same questions! It’s great you got this finished for your friend and I hope she gets lots of use out of it. And if you ever gain answers to those questions, let us know!!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hi Emily,
      I’m not surprised that you were asking the same questions! We seem to think along the same lines!
      If I ever find out “the rest of the story” I will let people know!
      Happy Quilting! 🙂

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  10. Aww, Gail. That was so darn sweet of you. That looks SO nice with the flange, and I’ll bet Jan is just tickled to death. How nice that she can finally enjoy the quilt on her 25th anniversary. Better late than never. You’re a good egg! ~smile~ Roseanne

    Liked by 1 person

  11. What a wonderful gift of love! Only another quilter can fully understand the process, but you did an amazing job. Now they have a quilt they can actually use and be proud of! Wonderful!!

    Liked by 1 person

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