Row Quilt - the oldest UFO

 I mentioned yesterday that I hired the ladies from the local senior center to finish the hand quilting on the Row Quilt that has been neglected for years.  It is now destined to be the first UFO completed in January 2022.  I promise!!

As I sewed the binding onto the quilt over my lunch break from work - I started wondering just how old this UFO actually was.  And my binder collection in the bookshelf had the answer.  All of the patterns were organized in the binder, including a couple of extra blocks from one of the rows tucked into one of the page protectors.  I think one of those extra blocks will make an excellent label on the back to tell the story of this quilt.  It has quite a story.

This was a Saturday Sampler begun with Row #1 in November 2004.  Yes - it was from 17 years ago!!!  The final row pattern was provided in September 2005.  And if my memory serves me correctly I added the sashing and side borders right away, and began to hand quilt it myself fairly soon.  I know that somewhere there is a photo of me hand quilting on it in the house we currently live in - which means sometime after March 2006.   And then it was rolled up and stored in a big basket until November 2021.

Those dates explain a lot.  #1 is that my hand quilting stitches were obviously those of a beginner.  But that is OK because it's part of the story of this quilt.  #2 is the polyester batting I used.  But since the quilt was already partially quilted I decided to leave that batting in there.  I would never choose that now but that is what I had available back in 2005 most likely.  

Since we're only a week from Christmas, this quilt will be set aside until after the holidays.  But I am determined to make this my first UFO finish of the new year.  It's well overdue!