Gifted UFOs #1: the Mystery Quilt Top (and Bad Backing)

I'm still spring cleaning, and in the process found a bin of old unfinished quilt projects and scrap fabric, most of which I believe were gifted to me by well-meaning family members and friends. That would explain how I got this quilt top, which is beautifully pieced but not something I would purchase for myself (still had a ten dollar price tag on it, too. Maybe Jill did this to me.) Everything smells a bit, too, so I'll have to launder the lot.

Under the top I found what I assume is the backing fabric, in a lovely shade of dark rose pink. Another warning sign; I almost never buy red or pink fabric. Also, I wouldn't have chosen that color to back this quilt.

Just out of curiosity I washed the backing fabric with a color grabber sheet (twice), with this result each time. It bleeds like I do. I will probably keep the top -- at least until I remember or find out who gave it to me -- but do something else with the backing fabric that does not require laundering, or is all red. Or maybe donate it. I don't know, it's so hard for me to pass a problem like this onto someone else. Stay tuned to see what else came out of the bin.

Comments

nightsmusic said…

I like that top! Very autumn feeling. Sorry I've been mia. Jimmy had his other knee done. So needy...so many PT appointments plus watching the baby and I no longer have a life.

March 31, 2023 at 4:58 AM

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.

Downsizing

This was my fabric stash once I sorted everything -- 22 full bins. I spent a day taking out and boxing up what I could part with, with the goal of trying to reduce it by half, so I'd have 11 bins. I was very strict with myself, and removed everything that for one reason or another I was sure I wouldn't be able to use. This is what I ended up with -- 12 bins of fabric that I'm keeping. It's not quite half, but close enough. Half of what I took out went to a local quilter friend, a school and Goodwill. These four tightly-packed bins will be going to the local quilting guild once I make arrangements with them for a drop-off place. I am relieved and a little sad and now determined to control my impulses to thrift more fabric. I don't want to do this again, so until I use up six bins, I can't for any reason bring any new fabric into the house.

In Progress

I promised myself I would show you the good, bad and ugly of my cleaning this year. This is what it looks like when you dump thirty years' worth of stashed fabric on the floor -- and oy, what a pain in the butt to pick up again! This is what it looks like after it's been sorted, folded and placed in containers, which took me about a week. Now the hard part is to downsize my stash by at least half, I think (that's my goal, anyway.) I've already e-mailed the president of the local quilting guild, a local friend who is a quilter, and a public school art teacher I know to see if I can donate some of the excess to them. The rest will go to Goodwill. Already I've reduced my vintage textiles from two bins to one, and my scraps from three bins to one. It's probably the hardest clean-out I've done, which is why I saved it until last. I know I have too much fabric, more than I can use in my lifetime -- but at the same time, I love it. So I have to...

Valerean

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