Anyone who has dropped by in the last couple of months has gotten the message that we are cleaning up and out our townhouse preparing for the next step in our lives.
We’re not in a hurry but as a project arises, painting, carpeting etc. etc. we take the opportunity to clean out a little more. We had the house painted the second week of July and carpeted the 3rd week.
It poured the day they laid the carpet. As they were laying it under my bedroom window the carpeter announced that water was leaking in making quite the mess of the new paint around the window.
People are coming on Friday to assess the problem which is most likely the roof. We are taking this opportunity to clear out the minimal amount of stuff we have stored in the attic. Behind the 9 bins of Christmas miscellany there were several dusty old cardboard boxes of craft type stuff.
Mostly smelly. Temperature extreme’s really bring out the worst odor in all things with a petroleum base. A bag of wonderful yarn looked to have been a nest for something along the way. A box marked misc. craft pieces that didn’t go together and on and on. I roughly went through each box and found little worth salvaging. A Needle here a scissor there and then I found the box marked doll parts.
This is my oldest box of UFO’s. I started and finished making cabbage patch type dolls back in the 80’s. The box didn't have any holes in it or any bite marks or chewed corners.
I’ve never been one to make 1 of anything. When I started doing this particular project I had 3 nieces so from the get go I needed to plan for at least 3. Then of course I had people wanting me to make them for their kids. For some reason I have it in the back of my head that my girlfriend and cohort in this type of thing and I made around 25 of these beings.
The box didn't have any holes in it or any bite marks or chewed corners.The box contained one finished doll, some clothes, various legs and arms and........
what looks suspiciously like sun flower seed remains. Nothing in the box was chewed on or nested in just this little mound of left over shell pieces.
So this becomes my oldest UFO. I know I moved into my house in 1986 and I had been working on them way before that maybe 84. That would make this a 30 year old UFO sighting.
I do think I'll dump the rest of the box but I can't toss this cutie.
On to my giveaway. In cleaning up I found I had an unbelievable collection of charm packs. I think I will pick one winner from the people who leave a comment on this post. The winner will receive 2 charm packs. I’ll ship anywhere in the world. I’ll pick the winner Monday evening, July 28. You don’t have to tell me how old your oldest UFO is to win but I am really curious to know.
Oh my gosh, I can remember making these way back too - my daughter and friends were very into these. Although I don't have any more of those items - and my daughter passed on her dolls to another little girl (fire) when she was a teenager. Please excuse me from the give away as you send so many of the other goodies.
ReplyDeleteThe oldest UFOs in my house are from my mom, who passed away several years ago. I found an unfinished doll and some quilt squares in her belonging, probably started when the grandkids -- now approaching 40 - were born. On my own ledger, I have a sundress that I started for my newborn granddaughter, who is now 8, and some quilt tops I started soon after. I think tossing it all is the best idea I've heard yet, but obviously I am not very good at throwing things away! :)
ReplyDeleteHi!!!!! I would keep the little cutie too!!!!! I made a few of those two, still have some supplies for more!!!! Children still seam to like them!!!!! Mine are probably about 25 years old!!!! But for quilting UFO's it would be 3 years and four years on my regular doll making UFO's!!!!!! I am not good at getting rid of anything unless some else wants to use it, then I will gladly give it to them!!!!! Thanks for the fun make you remember questions!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI made those too - but I sure am glad you can buy them now!! Doll-making was definitely not my thing. As far as my oldest UFO, I haven't been quilting long, so I'd have to say it's a quilt I started back in 2008 or 2009 as a group project - I know a lot more now, so I really need to do some repair work and start it over! It's on my list of things to get done this year, but I don't know if I'll make it at this point…. Good luck on the clean out!
ReplyDeleteyou probably wont' believe me but I have NONE...no UFO...I remember these dolls..quite a few of my friends were making them years ago...
ReplyDeleteI also am sorting through things in preparation for downsizing. I have a baby quilt I started when I found out we were expecting our first child. He will turn 34 this fall.Needless to say, it remains a UFO. Annie5152
ReplyDeleteMy oldest quilting UFO is from 1991. It is a Grandmother's Fan in blue and mauve. You should check out Stitched In Color's Purge Along.
ReplyDeleteI just today opened up a four year old UFO and marveled about how old it was - now I know it's really a newFO compared to you ! Glad you are keeping her - she needs loving after so long in a box. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFO is a dress I was sewing for myself back in 1978, I think. Simply stopped after making the sleeves but before I sewed them in. It's in a box in the attic with rust stains probably since I left all the pins in. Thanks.
ReplyDeletehahaha...does any truly creative being NOT have UFOs?! I clean them out every now and again because they leave me with feelings of quilt for not finishing them...so they must go! I really couldn't tell you how old my oldest is...I don't even want to think about that. LoL Your doll is such a cutie for sure! Water leaks can be the worse...good luck that your problem is easily solved.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the great giveaway.
ReplyDeleteYour doll is so cute. I can remember making these in the 80's too. I really enjoyed seeing them come to life. It was a fun experience.
My oldest UFO is probably around 5 years old. I had cut out some star shapes to make an eight pointed star quilt, but I stopped after getting the stars together.
My oldest UFO is a Quilted Diamonds quilt. It's basted and ready to quilt and has been for at least 8 or 9 years. I bring it out, look at it, and promptly put it away again. I think I'm paralyzed by fear of ruining a quilt I absolutely loved making with hand quilting that might not be quite good enough.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great giveaway!
Thanks for sharing your story. I think my oldest UFO is about two years old, when three of us (from work) started a quilt using selected blocks from the Farmer's Wife. My two friends have theirs finished. I changed employers and had to set mine aside. I have started other projects, so my challenge is that my UFO's seem to be increasing. But a quilter can never have too much fabric, can they?
ReplyDeleteI'm on a purging mission and have found things from at least 15 years ago. I found an entire plastic bin full of half finished doll dresses for dolls I made that hung on the wall. I decided that since the fabric was good quality cotton I would cut it into usable strips and squares. Looks like I have at least enough for two or three quilts.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! I still have that Cabbage Patch doll book! I made my daughter two of these (not at the same time) b/c during that craze/fad... there were none to be found... unless you drove miles and stood in lines at stores reporting to have gotten them in... then joined the stampede when the store opened their doors. I even made "birth certificates" for the dolls and a carry bed.... both have gone to live with my granddaughters.
ReplyDeleteThe oldest UFO is probably 6-7 yrs old and is a quilt I started when I was new to the game. I didn't know how to measure for borders... and I got me some very wavy borders to try and quilt. Need to get that puppy outta da closet and finish it up.
Thanks for reminding me about this UFO... and for the give away!
I just began quilting lessons in May 2014, so my oldest UFO is 2 months old! OhOh!
ReplyDeleteIt have 2 quilt tops waiting to be quilted. they are at least 8 years old..probably older! Just keep getting put on hold.
ReplyDeleteWell, my oldest quilting UFO isn't very old. I have been quilting for about 3 years. I do have some UFOs from when I embroidered as a girl, so they are about 30 years old. I have a little project that should have been a sachet and a few embroidered blocks that I should finish and make a quilt out of. I have made dolls in the victorian style, with silk dresses and little bustles. Dolls always come out so cute, I would have kept her too.
ReplyDeleteHa ha...I have that exact book here myself, and a tote full of the body parts to go with it! LOL!! I made a few of them, and have adopted quite a few of the real Cabbage Patch dolls. What a blast to the past. Good luck with your roof. We just had to put on a new one ourselves! :-(
ReplyDeleteI remember those! Hmm..My oldest UFO is about 3 years old. Thanks for the chance to win! ksmith8@emich.edu
ReplyDeleteI know I have some things that have been around for 30 years too. One that comes to mind is a quilt I started for our youngest and he is 34!! Thanks for the chance at a great give away:)
ReplyDeleteWow. Since I've only been quilting for 5 years I wouldn't have any UFO nearly that old. But I do have some counted cross stitch bits that are probably between 5-10 years old. They are actually in the process of getting finished, slowly but surely.
ReplyDeletehmm, my oldest ufo is probably a cross stitch of some kind! i have a whole bunch in a drawer that probably date back to the mid 90's when I was in highschool!
ReplyDeleteMy oldest is probably around 15 years old !!
ReplyDeleteI started collecting fabrics for my oldest UFO about 12 years ago, when I started postgrad studies. I though that since I couldn't quilt, I would just collect the fabric slowly, and plan. Disaster! 28 pansy fabrics later I have a monster of a quilt, that has been shoved to the back of the queue while I finish other projects. Really, what was I thinking. Its enormous, about king-sized in order to accomodate the fabrics, and to my eye now, hideous. I would feel guilty gifting it to charity. Maybe it could be a very, very, expensive picnic blanket.
ReplyDeletemy oldest UFO isn't really mine- my great-grandfather took up sewing in his retirement home when he was in his 90s and made several quilts. he passed away about 30 years ago and I inherited one of his unfinished ones. when i started quilting about 4 years ago, i wanted to finish it, but realized my skills aren't good enough yet to do it justice. I keep practicing, and someday, I will pronounce myself ready!
ReplyDeleteallisonpogany@gmail.com
Oldest UFO about 32 or so years. I'm trying to do better with quilting by not starting a new one until the last one is finished. 24Tangent@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFOs are from the early 80's! Maybe someday I'll get back into cross stitch but I doubt it!
ReplyDeleteAbout 6 years, I'll get to it I promise! Thanks for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteWe recently cleaned out our attic. We have to be really careful what we store there...the elements and other "critters" reek havoc up there.
ReplyDeleteI believe my oldest UFO is about 5 years old. Young compared to some but I have been crafting / quilting too long.
Good luck with the leak!
My oldest UFO is an embroidered tablecloth that I have been working on for over 34 years. Some day I will finish it.
ReplyDeleteWow, that brings back memories! My mother had that book, and a box full of body parts suspiciously like yours. :) I still have the two dolls she made me. Several of my cousins and friends got them, too... MY oldest UFO... as far as I can remember it is a piece of Irish Crochet that is 14 years old. Thanks for the giveaway! sarah@forrussia.org
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFO is probably a cross stitch that I started for my future daughter-in-law quite a few years before they got married 8 years ago. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFO is a set of three pilow fronts. When I look at them now Ireally don't know what I was thinking when I picked out the colours.
ReplyDeleteInteresting what lures in attic eves!! It's great that you can toss so much without a second thought!! I would love to be among the winners of the charm packs...are they vintage??
ReplyDeleteJune - NC
Lures not lures!! Sorry....
ReplyDeleteJune- NC
Lurkes.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFO quilt top is the one I began pre children. A cutsie design with hearts and dolls. My first born was a son and is now 25 !!!
ReplyDeleteI have an embroidery I started when I was a teenager (25 years ago), I didn't start crafting until I was 10 so this is about as old as my UFO's can be. I do some every so often and then put it away until I find it again! :)
ReplyDeleteHmmm, my oldest quilting UFO that I can think of is about five years old, a queen size flimsy that needs quilting...or you count the first cross-stitch I ever did (my initial J) from when I was about 11 or 12 and I have been meaning to turn it into a pillow...must get onto that (it's now only 30 years old...)
ReplyDeleteI have a tapestry cushion front, several skeins if wool and a very old Womans Weekly pattern from the 80's that I'm sure I'll never finish.
ReplyDeleteI was so excited to see your doll and the pattern book, my daughter (34) has collected Cabbage Patch dolls since she was 3 and has almost 200 - nowall in boxes in her loft.
I'm working on my oldest UFO now. It's 16 year old quilt pieces. This looks like you had some chipmunks. Nasty little rodents--they get in everywhere. Bet it feels good to clean that out!
ReplyDeleteI always wanted a Cabbage Patch doll! I'm a little embarrassed to say that I have many UFO's including my first quilt pieced and waiting to hand quilt (I'm still deciding how!) since it was hand sewn.. I guess my oldest UFO is as old as our wedding.. a cross stitch photo of us on our wedding day. Nearly 12 years. It will get finished (I just got bored of the endless background filling...).
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFO is from about 1992. The odd part is, I love the quilt, and it's all done except the binding! I was just so excited about how it turned out that I started another and didn't finish this one! I recently made a list of things to finish and am trying to work through it,but I still have the same problem. So many ideas so little time.
ReplyDeletemy oldest if about 9 years old. I have to put a border on it, and just haven't went to find fabric. I only have 4 or 5 ufos, so I really should finish them. Now I do have about 37 works in progress.
ReplyDeleteI have a lot of sewing fabrics from the 70's.80's and 90's. Some baby patterns that never got sewn up after my twins were born. They are now 24+
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFO is a cross-stitched picture that I started over 20 years ago. I just discovered it yet again in my craft closet. I pulled it out because I figured it was time I finished it up. Thanks goodness I don't do that with my quilts. I pretty much start and finish in a relatively short time!!!
ReplyDeleteHi there
ReplyDeleteGood luck on your big job of cleaning up, packing, and everything else involved!
I have more UFOs than I would like to admit to, but one I really want to get on with harks back to 1999. We did a 3 month trip around England (from New Zealand) and I took some blocks of candlewick embroidery with me to do in the evenings. All the blocks have been a long time finished, just need to assemble the quilt now.
I just saw this, checking out Crazy Mom Quilts Friday finishes. I finished and gave a quilt to my best friend today that I started in 1978. I got a Georgia Bonesteel "Quilt as u Go" book as a gift. It was my first quilt a Dresden Plate made with calicos and muslin . The blocks went great until I tried to put them together, what a mess. I put the blocks away for all these years, but today was the finish, so 35 years would be my oldest wip!!!! :0)
ReplyDeleteOops if u want to pick me that would be great, sending my e-mail!!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any UFO's - I finish as I go. That doesn't mean that I don't have material for 37 quilts I would like to do.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, that Little People book with Xavier Roberts on 5iber made me smile. I was a tween/teen in the 80's but loved Cabbage Patch kids anyway. We couldn't get one because they all sold out, but my mom, a sewist in those days, bought THAT book and made one for me! Some of my earliest sewing projects were making clothes for it. And actually, there us probably a bag or Rubbermaid tote in my moms house somewhere that contains outfits I started but didn't finish... So maybe thats my oldest UFO. For SURE, I have a doll quilt that I started when I was ten, in 1980 that I hand quilt a little bit on every now and then. That would be a 33 year old UFO. Maybe I will have my 11 year old daughter finish it!
ReplyDeleteMy oldest UFO is a baby quilt that I made from a McCalls or Simplicity pattern. It is made of calicos, poly/cotton, sail cloth and flannel. I pieced and bound it, but never finished quilting it. Of course, it is filled with high loft poly batting. I keep it as a warning against using bad fabric. It dates to 1977-78.
ReplyDelete