sew many distractions

In the post about my first completed quilt top, I mentioned that project was not my first foray into quilting.  Back in 2003 I had intended to make a quilt – one block at a time, one block a month.  

The Kansas City Star newspaper used to publish quilt block patterns once a month in a magazine section of the newspaper.  Each year had a theme.  In 2003 it featured a World War II theme.  Maybe the theme is what triggered my decision to give it a try that year.  (My husband’s grandparents had gotten married during that time.  They got married and then grandma went to the train station with grandpa and he went off to war.)

If I had know then what I know now, I would have thought that it was too complicated for a first quilt.  But I didn’t know that then, so I bought some fabric and plowed ahead.  Having never tried making a quilt, I decided that for my fabric choices I would limit myself to choosing from “clearance” fabrics at a big box store where I had made other purchases.   I didn’t want to spend too much on something that I could very well mess up.   I bought 14 – 1/2 yard cuts and I spent $16.71 on January 23, 2003.  

Each month featured an article about a woman that had served it World War II.  Each block featured a star in the middle.  The newspaper instructions included information for using freezer paper templates to piece the star in the center of the block.  I got the first two blocks made and then other life events derailed my quilt making plans.  However, I kept collecting the magazine sections of the newspaper so that someday I would be able to finish it.

After the 12 blocks had been published in the newspaper, a book became available.  Women of Grace & Charm A Quilting Tribute to the Women Who Served in WWII.  My mother-in-law bought the book for me as a Christmas gift.

I still have all of the sections from the newspaper, the fabric, the templates, the two blocks I completed, and the book.  Someday I will finish it, but I have some other projects lined up that are a bigger priority right now.

If you have have a quilt that you started a long time ago and still plan to finish “someday”, I’d love to hear the story.