Wednesday, April 16, 2014

To finish or not to finish?

Finish or toss? That is the question. . .

Today we have to talk about something difficult, and it's in this box:

(For those who want to know, that's an ArtBin 12 by 12 box. I keep UFOs in these. Sad to say, I have about a dozen.)
Have you ever had a project that just wouldn't cooperate with you? This is a UFO from early in 2014. Every year from Thanksgiving to New Year's, Bonnie Hunter offers a mystery quilt on her blog. (If you've never seen her blog, you should definitely check it out. TONS of free patterns and other goodies.) I've done a couple of her mysteries and had a great time and made a terrific quilt that I really enjoy using. I've also made a lot of her other patterns, and I really admire her style and her generosity with her work. Sadly, this year's mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice, now consists of these parts and pieces: 



Sad, isn't it? What happened?

Um. . .er. . . well, okay, here's what happened. I don't really like it.

Awkward, no?

Actually, I like the pattern quite a bit, and I've seen some that others have made and they are beautiful. I think I just really don't like the colors I chose, especially the pink and the yellow. They just aren't working. This was my inspiration for the colors I chose:


These are peace roses, my favorite kind. (These are fabric, not real. Roses are way expensive in the winter.) I don't think the colors I used really work for what I wanted.  It certainly doesn't say "roses" to me.  Maybe I should have switched the dark green and the pink. Or chosen different colors altogether.

Another thing that put me off this project was all the pieces. There are tons of pieces and that means a whole lot of repetition. I mean a LOT of repetition. Make 98 of these, and 200 of those, and eleventy-billion 4-patches. It felt more like work than play, and Lord knows I have enough work to do already. I ran out of patience. So early in January I boxed it up and put it in the closet with the other UFOs.

And there it sat, mocking me every time I opened that door. Maybe I should have buried it in the back.

Anyway, now I think I'm going to finish it, just because I don't want to leave it sitting there.  Most of the UFOs in the closet are projects that I plan to do, not anything that I've actually cut out or started.  Some don't have all the fabric with them.  This is actually pretty far along, so I've just got to finish all those 4-patches and make the blocks.  Here's a paste-up of what the blocks and pattern should look like:


I see that I even pasted it up wrong.  There should be 4 stars and 5 other blocks.  Aaargh! It just doesn't like me!

I figure that there are three possibilities here: I could finish it and end up liking it, I could finish it and hate it and donate it to a worthy charity, or one of my daughters or sisters or cousins will see it and love it and say "can I have this?" Whatever happens, it won't be mocking me any more. I will conquer this quilt!

Well, it certainly felt good to get that off my chest.  Now I better start sewing. Here's hoping all of your projects are cooperating with you.

1 comment:

Quiltdivajulie said...

1. You could use the pieces and parts you have and make a smaller version of the quilt.

2. You could use those pieces and parts to design a quilt of your own (I did that with Tobacco Roads and ended up with Dandelion Detour).

3. You could donate the pieces and parts to Margaret's Hope Chest so their volunteers can turn them into a comfort quilt.

The paste up looks like there are possibilities lurking in that UFO box!