My single August finish!
The Quilt: The true origin of this quilt is lost in the sands of time, but somehow, someway, I obtained a set of Thangles in a very odd size (1.75" finished), drew out a whole lot of 4x4 HST patterns on graph paper, obtained a set of vibrant food-focused fat quarters, and started putting together blocks utilizing all of the above.
Why it became a UFO: For years and years, this project was my "ender/leader" project. A Thangled strip would sit there next to the machine, ready to start and end any set of strip piecing I happened to be working on. Ever so slowly, by dribs and drabs, the blocks started getting done, but sometimes I would put them aside and use other projects for enders/leaders, so even that method of continuing this quilt was stalled.
Why I finally finished: This poor thing had suffered long enough. At the point of my 2020 UFO push, it had most of the blocks complete, a few forlorn strips sitting in the box waiting, some backing fabric ready...it was time to just get 'er done. So I went ahead and put together the last couple of blocks, then started putting them together. I liked the idea of the silverware pattern as cornerstones, but looking at it now, I wish I had used one of the brighter pieces. I wish I had made four more blocks and made the quilt one row longer. But I do LOVE the border! That really brought it together. The quilt needed something to give it a wow factor, too, because the blocks themselves...eh. Having worked on this quilt for years, the blocks are constructed with vastly different levels of competence, from nightmarishly amateur to pretty sparkling, but hopefully no one will look too closely at the seams and such.
I had the most devil of a time quilting the thing. My machine, very recently fully serviced, just would not act right. Thread kept breaking, despite multiple fixes attempted. I grabbed my machine's registration card and realized that I got it in 2007. Is 13 years old long in the tooth for a Janome 6600? Do I need to start thinking of a new machine?
The quilt's fate: I gave this one to some friends of mine who like to provide food at our gatherings. They loved it!
Still five quilts on my ambitious list...