Unloved

Beauty is indeed in the eyes of the beholder, and I have the proof right here.

If you saw this, would you like it?

If you saw this, would you purchase it?

If you saw this, would you like to finish it?

What if you saw this fabric

and this

and these?

Well, I did indeed fall in love and did all those things listed above. It was hanging on a rack at the thrift store, three wonky log cabin blocks poorly stitched onto different glossy/stretchy polyester fabrics, hem lines intact and all, and with a strip of fabric added to each end. There was nothing straight about it, but wooosh, I was in love.

My initial plan was to hand quilt it over the summer while staying at the temporary house (after washing it in a mesh bag, of course). Not a good plan really considering all the layers of weird stuff. The only solution was to free motion quilt the whole top to smooth out the extra fabric here and there.

I layered it with batting and backing, and brought it to my guild meeting to do the quilting. My friends and I had so much fun with the idea of me spending so many hours on working with that old thing, but nothing would discourage me from finishing it.

 

(The snake pattern from my free motion quilting class can flatten almost anything)

I am so glad I did. It makes me smile. Big smile. I trimmed the edges and added a dark blue and white binding, but other than that, it is what it is. A table runner begun by someone and finished by someone else decades later. 

It will never be pretty and the pockets along the seams will be there forever, but it doesn’t bother me at all.

(It is indeed flat; the ripples and creases are from being packed in a box)

I think it’s fabulous. How about you?