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Quote:

Originally Posted by Peckish (Post 8423853)

I have a similar problem with someone else's UFOs. The problems is I have no idea who the original maker was. My MIL gave me several unquilted tops. She doesn't quilt. She said they were in *her* mother's possession, but her mother was not a quilter either. Nobody in the family quilts (other than me, of course) and nobody knows who made these tops! What am I supposed to do with them? I don't care for them, they're not very well made, they're not my style, but when I muse about possibly selling them on eBay, I get gasps of horror from other quilters.

I'd pass them on to a guild that finishes tops for charity (without mentioning it to potential gaspers).

How "bad" does an item have to be before you will discard it ?

Not passed on - directly to the trash - and it will go to a landfill or be burned?

If I find a project to be "hopeless" - it seems unkind to pass it on to some other hapless person.

Maybe some of us are masochists?

My only experience not too long ago. I “met” a woman on words with friends and we became Facebook “friends” and texted. She knows I am a quilter. Her mother passed. In her mothers things she found a half completed quilt with pattern and The rest of the fabric. I think it was a kit. She offered to pay me (Um no) to finish it for a baby granddaughter. It was so challenging because the mother had dementia and the completed parts were half hand sewed and half machine and all wonky. I managed to fix some of it, left some alone and made the rest of the blocks which turned out well. I put a back on it, quilted it and sent it. Honestly it became a labor or love because I was thinking how that mother had presence Of mind to start it and then it went askew and then she died. I thought Of the baby who would only know her great grandmother by the quilt. My friend was very touched by it and did give it to the baby.

Labors of love are one thing - and they can become very labor intensive!

Peckish - I second what Joe's Mom suggested. Just pass 'em on quietly for donation (unless they are truly terrible and should be trashed). No reason for you to be saddled with such unappealing work (which I'm guessing the gaspers are unwilling to take on themselves!!)

cut them down to cage size using a pinking cutter.
back them with inexpensive muslin.
no batting.
do a nice, relatively close, zig-zag around the edges.

(if you have a serger that trims as you sew, even better.)

donate them to a no-kill pet shelter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by entangled (Post 8423763)

Great topic! I take a lot of pleasure in reusing and upcycling and have identified that as a direction I want to explore with my quilting. I am frozen by too many choices (and cost) at the fabric store - I can handle one or the other, but put them together and I just walk away.

Last year I started buying fabric yardage at the thrift store. Then grab bags of scraps. It is so much fun to see what I get! I was avoiding people's unfinished blocks but inevitably they sneak in and now my attention is snagged. What will they become in my hands??

I want to do more with reusing old clothes. I have hesitated to cut "good" stuff up. So I warmed up using the ripped and stained from my family. And musing how the fast fashion industry has created a crushing glut of clothes that no amount of charity and thrift can usably disperse. Just before the pandemic, I started buying clothes to cut up, focusing on the tag color that indicates it's been at the shop longest and will be pulled if not bought -- cheaper by the yard and potentially diverted from the trash stream.

As I was dreaming of quilting long ago and far away, I thought quilts were made from clothes that were no longer wearable, or from baby clothes that no one could give or throw away. You get the picture. It was a bit of a shock to learn the cost of fabric, supplies and longarming. I recently took a seminar on upcycling. Pretty good. I am now mixing it up. Like trying to get husbands worn out flannels to make a quilt as requested by daughter. Don't want to throw or give away the dress I was married in so am thinking about incorporating it into a special quilt for our bedroom. Although I did not grow up in the Depression, I did have many lean years and I hate to waste.

I learned my lesson very well. I have taken on someone else's UFO only one time and that has been enough. It has now become my UFO https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/wave.gif. A disaster and a half. I made great progress on it but when it comes to quilting it has been the worst thing ever. I am afraid I could do 100 new quilts before working on or attempting to finish this quilt. The quilt top is great it is the memorabilia on the back that is the problem. Someday I will get it finished, lord knows when. Never again.

If I like it I would or to help some one out but I have learned to be selective and I have my own projects waiting.

I always accept UFO's, but don't always finish them. I finished a few that I really liked, but donated a few that I didn't like so much. I have more quilts on my bucket list to make than time currently as I work full time. I don't want to spend time on a quilt that does not give me joy.