So I’ve had this quilt in my UFO pile for just about a year now – not because it because it was a pain in the ass, or not fun to work on, but because other deadlines hit.
How about you? Have you started something that you enjoyed and wanted to make, only to have “life” get in the way?
Poetic Bouquet, Island Batik
A bit of history – The Illusion is one of the first two patterns I designed for Island Batik in 2023 (that feels like an absolute lifetime ago if I’m being honest.) and is an FPP pattern showcasing Poetic Bouquet. The pattern launched in spring 2024 – fabric shipped in fall 2024.
In my excitement, I decided to order fabric and create kits to sell at a local quilt show – little did I know that the arrival of the fabric would involve cutting these kits the same morning I was supposed to be setting up my booth!
Fast forward – my fave local quilt shop hosted a class for the pattern, and this was that sample.
The original quilt from the Island Batik catalog, hanging in the shop.
Did I finish the quilt at the time? No.
Did it end up in my UFO pile because it was hard? Or because I screwed something up?
Also no.
So what happened, that I left one of my own designs in UFO land?
Deadlines.
That’s it. Just other deadlines and priorities.
I had started working on my habits/systems for getting project videos and photos last summer, only to have the world sort of tilt with some family stuff. 2025 was a bit chaotic in our house – and though I tried, I definitely didn’t succeed in keeping that particular plate spinning.
Anyway- a main priority this year is to share more regularly on socials, this blog, email, all the things.
I’m even going to dip my toes into YouTube.
Problem?
I can’t always share what I’m actually working on at the time – so I decided to spend a little time circling back to stuff that got shoved to the back burner.
Turns out – I had only the borders to finish on the quilt. There are actually technically 4 borders on this quilt – with the inner border giving the quilt that floating look.
After stitching on the inner border, I jumped into finishing the last set of blocks for the next two borders – easy peasy!
Then on to piecing the borders together and getting this quilt top “finished”! This was not without trouble, though. I did have to have a date with Jack in order to flip around some blocks.
I happen to be spatially challenged (not sure that’s a “thing” in this context, but we are going with it here) and do not have a design wall. I have been known to lose track of my block orientation and placement, which is what happened here. I didn’t establish the left/right side of the quilt top, so I put the top and bottom rows of the 2nd border on wrong.
Don’t be like me.
Other than pay more attention, the biggest takeaway lesson I have from this entire project – from it’s inception to this exact moment – is that there were too many SKUs in the pattern.
Ah, tearing papers…
I am not sure this is something we consciously think about when we’re looking at a pattern, but it’s now something that I think about with every design I draft.
It definitely gave me a different appreciation for that aspect of quilt design.
Having not had any prior personal experience with purchasing bolts of fabric, I designed with abandon. I enjoyed all things color/shade/value and didn’t think about what that meant on the back end for the shops.
Until I bought the fabric to kit it!
Whoops.
Anyway – you live, you learn.
In addition to switching how I design, I now view kits very differently. I realize the value in getting a kit in some instances, because gathering the required fabrics can be costly depending on where you’re sourcing them.
I was obsessed with gathering a Northcott line for a pattern I did a few years ago (which will likely make an appearance as a custom quilting UFO, because I finished that top) and dang that was expensive. The line wasn’t popular here at all, wasn’t brand new, (go figure, landlocked CO quilt shops didn’t buy a line called Vitamin Sea ) and so I had to shop online. Between shipping and ½ yd minimum cuts – it was a lot.
Finishing this quilt also reminded me that having everything pulled together for you sometimes makes all the difference in getting to the finish line.
So if this project speaks to you – especially if having everything ready helps you actually get a quilt finished – there are a small number of kits available on my shop and Etsy.
Rusty enjoying what he thinks I finished just for him!
Since we’re already talking about finishing quilts and not just starting them, I will mention one other option while it’s available.
The OG version of Feel the Noise, with the freaking fabulous, sweary fabric line Quiet Riot (see what I did there?) from Dear Pammie Jane of Dear Stella. It’s a super easy, fun weekend finish for that fun loving stitcher in your life.
Can I share something else? I don’t subscribe to any singular definition of “finished.” Some quilts earn quilting and binding right away, and sometimes they sit as tops until they tell me otherwise. How do you define finished?