I'm Lynette C - I blog over at What a Hoot Quilts (the original blog of that name, which has been around for many years now). I have an astonishing number of UFOs, which are cataloged at my blog. As if that weren't enough of a challenge, I'm known to take on relatives' UFOs in special circumstances. That's where this one comes into play.
My husband's great-aunt is turning 90 soon. We visited her on Valentine's Day while we were in Nebraska. Knowing I am a quilter, she excitedly held a private trunk show for us of her greatest quilt treasures. One was a silk tie crazy quilt made by her grandmother in the 30's, with sugar-sacks for its backing from the mill that her grandfather worked at. Another treasure was this quilt top here.
This was also made in the 30's. Helen's grandmother, Lucy Haney, made it for her way back then, but couldn't finish it. Helen has kept it treasured in her cedar chest all these years. We both are tickled by the basting stitches on the Bo Peeps that Lucy hadn't removed:
Its fabrics are in incredibly excellent condition, and they include flour sack fabrics on a background of good muslin. Nothing is deteriorated or torn. Helen was not fishing at all, but I could tell that she really regretted not being able to put it on her bed now. She visibly startled with unexpected joy when I asked if she would like me to finish it for her for her birthday.
So this is my current UFO top priority. I've been doing a lot of research on working with older vintage tops and have carefully considered how to add the eyelet ruffling around the edge that she wants without stressing the old fabrics. I'll share how I do that when I get there. :) I need to finish by the end of April. I work on a domestic table-top machine - a Viking Sapphire. It's not nearly as fast as longarm work, but it certainly does a fine job. Now to wrestle up the nerve to actually dive in!
