Finishing someone else's UFO
 

Last year I got a bunch of fabric from a friend at an estate sale. Her elderly aunt was being moved into a relative's home and there was a lot to get rid of. Her aunt had done quilting and a lot of other needlework throughout the years. In the fabric was this UFO. The first picture below is the top after I sewed on two rows that were obvious where they went. Laying on the top is the fabric that is labeled "border". There is still a lot of other fabric, specifically the strip pieces shown in the second photo. Any ideas what I would do with those strip pieces in relationship to this top?

I'm thinking of using the "border fabric" as the backing and just finishing it as a lap quilt.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]568921[/ATTACH]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]568923[/ATTACH]

Is it from a different pattern and just bagged with your quilt? Nice quilt, looks like you pretty much have it together.

If the original quilter is like me, she bought the fabric thinking it would go together. But once the other blocks were made it was fairly obvious it would not blend into the quilt. Or she may have pulled it from her stash hoping it would go and then did not. Thus the UFO. I have quite a few pieces that I bought thinking it will go with fabric and once the blocks were put together, there was no way.

It is matching fabric. I have the receipt from the quilt store with a snippet of each fabric with notes of "light, medium, dark (the pink), and border.

There are more strips of fabric cut and labeled with size.
Maybe I can use the sewn strip sets and other fabrics in some scrappy quilts

Oh I hate it that she had to give up all her stash and quilting. maybe you could make up the lap quilt for her? I wonder if the pink with the floral was to be an inner border. or to use only on the top and bottom to make it longer... it is a question. shame you can't ask her.

I think this is a wonderful idea.

From the top picture - the fabric on the right side does not seem to "go" with the pieced top - imo.

I think perhaps those strip sets might be the beginning of a pieced border.

Cari

What a great idea! Thank you! I will do that.

That's what I'm thinking but I'm not sure that I want to deal with them.There is a huge stack of those strip sets. There may be enough fabric to make matching ones with the pink in the center of the strips. But the seams are more like 3/8" instead of 1/4".

I think I'm going to use the large floral print as the backing (there is enough) and the pink as the binding (it's labeled as being for the binding.

I did find out the fabric is a line from Robert Kaufmann in 2006 by Jennifer Sampou.

When I worked on a friend's mom's UFO, I found her seams to be 3/8 also. She sewed clothes, that is what made sense to her. Love the idea of a lap quilt. You are right to place the large print on the back.

It looks like those could have been sewn together to make a Seminole border, such as this one.
https://www.favequilts.com/Borders/S...Diamond-Border

Those strip sets are very standard and could be used to make another quilt - or pillows. Most obviously they could be used in 9-patch blocks. I hope you have enough fabric to make some with the pink in the center. Even if you don't use all the sets, it would be great to use some.

I hope others on this board have good ideas for using the extra strip sets.

Without the instructions or the pattern it is hard to say how it should have been finished up. But, you will get it finished up and enjoy it.

Toverly, I sewed clothes as a teen and used a 5/8" seam allowance, but a 3/8" is odd but I'm not judging the lady. I believe she was in her 80's when she started this quilt.

Chester the bunny, Thank you for that link! That may be what those sets were for because there are a lot of them! Not sure I'm going to add that other border.

Since there are so many of them, maybe she was going to sew them side by side like a piano key border. Can you ask her or doesn't she remember? Beautiful quilt & she will be thrilled when you gift it to her. Great idea nativetexan!

Sorry I didn't read the post above. That Seminole border is probably right. I made a few of them several years ago & forgot all about them. I need to keep them in mind for future projects. It does make a beautiful border.

I think the floral with pink is for another project because it does not "go" with the pieced one you show us from the first pic. It makes me sad!

The floral really is meant to be part of this quilt. It's from the same line of fabrics. Also, it is clearly labeled on the receipt and the paper pinned to the fabric "Border". I've used it as the backing. It just looks like it doesn't belong because it is a very larger version of the small floral used in the quilt top (and those strip sets).

maybe the border label is in the wrong place? Those pieces look like a pieced border.

Maybe the darker pink is to make a framing border before the floral border.

I think I would pick my own border and piece those leftovers into the backing. I love to make the back a bit more interesting.