Working on a UFO

It's kind of nice to have some "spare" time to do nothing. LOL -- that never happens in my life, but I'm technically on vacation, even though I have loads of stuff that needs to be done and there's stuff that I should be doing now, like ordering a couple of things I need for my upcoming vacation. I'm going to try to make that happen this morning. 

My 2019 Corolla had a safety feature that prevented the car from moving without the seatbelt being fastened, and I thought it was a strange feature. Our new vehicle doesn't have that restriction. However, this Equinox will not let you shift gears without the seatbelt on. Yep -- even if you want to drive one foot forward, you need your seatbelt on! 

And it even tells you that! It's crazy!!!! I am NOT a fan of this shifting system on the car, and I would definitely NOT buy this car because of that. 

Seatbelts on, please!

Even while away, it's time to work on some UFOs. I brought some handwork to keep me busy while visiting. My Dad is working at the Museum - it's what makes him happy, I'm not going to detract him from that. Imagine trying to tie down a 92-year-old who can't stay away from work! 

Let's say there is some hope for my Mom and getting rid of stuff. I went through a lot of old papers and now have a huge box slated for shredding, which I'll take care of this morning. I very tentatively gave her a pile of envelopes stuffed with receipts, and I was surprised to see that all of them went into the shredding pile. WOW!!!!  It has taken years for that to happen, but she is finally realizing that one does not need to keep all that stuff. 

We went through bank documents, taxes, and a few other things, and everything is in order. I'm sure there is more, but this is good. 

Then we went through some of the craft stuff. YES -- she sorted what she wanted and didn't want. Remember, I'm pulling items from a closet that has been there for ten years. None of it has been used in that time because it's not easy for either of them to access. It's just crazy. So about 3/4 of what she went through is up for grabs! Yes -- imagine that. I would never have thought that would happen, but all is well. I'm going to try to sell some of it while I'm here and then figure out how to get rid of the rest. I wish I could load it in the car and remove it from the apartment, but I don't have a place to store it while I contemplate what to do with it. 

Here's one thing that I'm not happy about, but it's too late to do anything about it now. There were some people in my Mom's past who I know took advantage of her. There are two people in particular, and both are long gone, so nothing can be done about them. But they knew she had hoarding tendencies, but it was probably not easily identified at the time. Whenever they had stuff they didn't want, it ended up on my mom's doorstep. And one lady intentionally went to garage sales and bought things for Mom. And let's not forget about a third person, who took advantage of Mom's hoarding and sold her tons of scrapbooking supplies that she never needed. GRRRRRR 

This is why I try to ask and ensure that the person who gets something from me, will actually use the items. Granted, the one lady purchased odd lots of yarns, which my Mom made into afghans and she has made her fair share of them over the years. In fact, she is still madly crocheting afghans. It gives her something to do, and it's similar to what we do with our quilts. Why do we keep making? Because it gives us something to do! 

Anyway, this "friend" had made a number of costumes for his class or something like that, and there was a lot of lining material left over. Knowing my Mom sewed, although she was never a big seamstress, he gave her all the leftovers. She had admired a grandmother's flower garden quilt that my grandmother owned (I have no idea where it is), and Mom decided to make this quilt with the leftover lining.  

She cut the papers from the shiny pages of catalogues. The fabric hexie shapes were giant, and the excess got folded under as the seam allowance. It was whip-stitched together. It sat for many years as a quilt top. Then, about ten years ago, she asked me to quilt it for her. I was terrified of quilting through that lining material, not knowing how it would hold up under a machine needle. I believe she said she made the quilt around 1979. 

Several years ago, we got in touch with the local church group here, and they hand-quilted it for her. I brought it home earlier this year so I could finish the edge. I never touched it, although I meant to get started and use it in my binding class as an example. Totally forgot about it. It's been sitting on one of those tables for a while. 

I had room in my suitcases, so I brought it along. And that is what I'm working on. 

The outer ring of green still has the basting stitches in, with the paper intact. I wasn't even sure where to start, and although I had an idea of how to finish the edge, I wasn't sure how it would work. 

The quilt top with the unfinished edge

I just dove in and started at a corner, removing the basting stitches and the paper hexie. Then I carefully trimmed the batting and backing away for ONE hexagon. 

Removing the paper template

Using my binding clips, I turned under the batting and the backing, which required snipping at each indentation between the hexies. 

Trimming the batting and backing

Here are the binding clips. Then it's a simple matter of hand-stitching the two edges together. 

The edges are turned under and clipped

And this is what it looks like. 

The finished edge

It's a long process, but I was almost able to complete one side yesterday, which is a miracle for me! I hope to complete at least two sides while I'm here. Although I'm tempted to leave it here and work on it whenever I'm available, I have room in the suitcase, so I'll take it home and finish it there. This was a good place and time to start. Plus, Mom will see how much work it is. Now that I know what I'm doing, I can keep it out at home, and when I'm watching a YouTube video or whatever, I can work on it. It'll also be good to do while on Zoom, and I believe there is a Virtual Retreat next weekend. Perfect!!!

Once the hand stitching is done, I'll run a line of quilting (running stitch) along the edge, well 1/4" inside the outer edge to secure the edge and make it look like the rest of the quilting. 

It's all working out rather well, and I'm quite pleased with the results. So there I am - someone who no longer does bindings by hand, yet I'm doing a lot of handwork on this quilt that will be used for what? Anyway, it'll make Mom happy, and that's all that counts. And it'll be one more UFO done on my end. 

I had  great visit with one of my aunts yesterday who lives close to my parents and it's always good to catch up and see what's happening. It's hard to believe that my Mom (the eldest of five children, born in 1936) and my Dad (the eldest of two children, born in 1933) are still alive, as are all their siblings. What does that mean for me? If I don't kill myself on some silly adventure, we're all going to live a very long life!! 

Good genes - we've got good genes! 

And on that happy note, I'm out of here. I have more handwork and will be visiting some more people later today. 

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!!