Quilters Village My Oldest UFO
Quilters Village, my oldest UFO, is so old that it is probably considered vintage. The pattern by the same name was designed by Buggy Barn Quilts. Buggy Barn Quilts is no longer in business; however, one of the sisters continues in the quilt industry under the name of One Sister Design.
My story behind this quilt goes back to my early days of quilting. Even then I was drawn to wonky quilts with a bit of improv feel. Buggy Barn quilts and their method of piecing was a favorite of mine. Basically, fat quarters were stacked, a design placed on top of them, and they were cut apart. Pieces were rotated, and the blocks were pieced. The pattern for Quilter’s Village can be found in the Buggy Barn quilt book, A Little Bit Crazy.
It happened back in 2003 – yep, you read that right — we took a trip that landed us in Spokane, Washington for a few days. I mentioned to BigJ that we were so close to Buggy Barn Quilts and that it would be fun to visit. This was before the days of Siri, GPS and that helpful technology, so armed with a MapQuest map (remember those?), we set out.
It seemed as though we drove farther and farther into the countryside until we came to a farm with the sign Buggy Barn Quilts. The shop was in a renovated outbuilding, a tiny and cozy little shop. I came away with the kit (top only, no backing or binding) and it was the most I had ever spent on a quilt kit. I couldn’t wait to work on it, but at the same time I was a wee bit intimidated. Once I was back home, I got it done fairly quickly. However, being new to quilting, I ran into a few snags. I recall that one of them was figuring out how to square the blocks; I mistakenly lopped off a things I shouldn’t have, like the corners of the churn dash in the photo below.
Once the top was pieced, I laid it out on the floor and realized I needed to square it. Not really knowing what I was doing, I measured as best I could, grabbed my cutting mat and ruler, and more or less whacked off the bottom right side a bit. I realized after the fact that I maybe should have given that a bit more thought. What I know now is that had I let it be, it would’ve been just fine. So, one end of the quilt is quite a bit shy of the other.
At the time, I just figured I’d add borders to right things. That meant ordering fabric, which wasn’t as easy back then, so it got put off. Before I knew it, the Buggy Barn doors had closed and I had no fabric. So it got put aside while I pondered what to do. And now, 17 years later(!!!) I just decided to finish the thing, for pity’s sake. And I’m happy I did. Even though the colors are so different from what I create with now, I still love the quilt with the deep earth tones and the homespun fabrics.
The quilt measures roughly 66″ x 95″. I used a wide backing in a deep gold. Connie, my best friend and long armer, did a quick meandering stitch for the quilting. I dug in my stash for the binding, and had to smile when I pulled the stripe out and saw this.
I picked up this striped fabric somewhere along the way on one of my shopping adventures, not even thinking about this quilt. Had to smile when I saw that it was Buggy Barn fabric. Perhaps it was just meant to be.
And with that, Quilters Village, my oldest UFO, is finally finished after 17 years!
Linking up today with
- Confessions of a Fabric Addict
- Powered by Quilting
- TGIFF
- The Madd Quilter
Enjoy the weekend, everyone! May your UFOs be shorter-lived than mine!
Wendy
32 Comments
marissthequilter
I hope you have some champagne on ice because this calls for a celebration. It would have been such a pity if this charming quilt had never been finished. Well done!
Riceford Streams
What a great story and great quilt! I’m glad you finished it and can enjoy it. I never thought of the connection with improv — you’re right. No wonder those Buggy Barn patterns intimidated me. Finding that stripe in your stash was the best find ever. Proof that a good fabric supply is a worthwhile investment. Enjoy your quilt!
Cindy
I remember travelling with mapquest. It’s nice to see this lovely quilt finished!
Melody
Beautiful quilt, Wendy, worth the wait! My quilting friends and I always refer to projects that don’t turn out quite like we hoped as “folk art”. All those little quirks just give it character! I’ve had projects in my stash for longer than that, but I haven’t had the desire to finish any of them yet! 😩
Nancy Bekedam
How fun was that story, Wendy!!! It seems plenty big–long especially, for not having borders! That top photo is an awesome quilts in the wild photo–where did you take that? So much fun that you found the stripe in your stash! I love the warmth of the colors. Yay! Congrats!!!
Vicki in MN
I am glad you included the story of how this quilt came up to the finish line! It might be an old line of fabric, but I sure do love it:) and whacking off the churn dash corner just lends itself to this wonky style anyway! I do have some buggy barn pattern books, haven’t done many but it was fun. Hooray for the finish!!!!!!!!
Molli
Beautiful quilt! Inspiring story-making it to the finish line after so many years. I have a couple afghans I started crocheting a few years back. I really need to finish them!
txquiltgal
I love everything about your quilt – the tall houses and trees and the colors, which are timeless. Loved the story behind it too!
It’s hard to imagine how we managed in the days before GPS isn’t it? My favorite map used to be a “key map”, very detailed.
catpatches
Well, I love the quilt, and good for you finally finishing it up. I don’t have any UFO’s that old, but I do have one that might be before I finish it. It looks great. I love that fabric for the binding. I’ve visited a few quilt shops in Spokane, but not that one. It was recommended to me, I think, but we were heading in the other direction at the time.
karenfae
bet your are glad it is finished, I think my oldest sitting aside right now is maybe 8 years since I started it and two or three since I touched it
Sandi
I love your quilt and I love your story! Hugs,
Louise Hornor
I love house quilts, and this one is perfectly wonky. How fun to see it all finished! This quilt certainly taught you many things, didn’t it? And now it can finally go to work being a comfort for someone. Are you going to keep it? It is so full of memories!
Needle and Foot
What a fun story Wendy. For some reason I thought you had been quilting forever – not “just” since the early 2000’s. Yes to MapQuest – I thought that was such an amazing tool. Haha.
So when is one of your road trips going to take you all the way across to Northern CA? I am still waiting…
rl2b2017
Hi Wendy! Quilters Village is a place I’d love to visit and hang out for quite a while. What a nice finish and an even better story to share with its completion. I love this, even the churn dash incident. It makes it all the more special. What a nice size it is! You will easily be able to snuggle under it with Wilber in the fall/winter. I hope it has a nice place of honor in your home as it’s really lovely. {{Hug}} Good job. ~smile~ Roseanne
Diann Bottrell
Oh, Wendy, that is so great! The houses are so fun, and I especially love the trees! Congratulations on getting this one finished! I have two UFOs that are probably just as old as that one, and who knows why I can’t get myself to finish them… One is a Christmas quilt – should work on it for “Christmas in July!” 🤣
Dawn Tornes
What a great finish after 17 years! I remember Buggy Barn! Their patterns and style really said cozy! I really like the wonky trees in your quilt! Your story was fun to read!
shelteringhaven
This makes me smile! 🙂
Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl
Oh, I love the binding fabric is a Buggy Barn print, it was definitely meant to be! Congratulations for getting it finished up.
quiltinggail
Yeah!!! to finishing your oldest UFO!!! What an accomplishment! You must be so pleased!
Happy Quilting! 🙂
Kathleen McCormick
Oldest UFO done!!! hooray for you. I think I may be the only quilter who never made one of these….how silly is that. I love that you have the perfect strip from the binding and a fun quilt with a great memory!
lapaylor
that’s a very cute quilt. So was the wonkiness…
Zenia Rene
YAY! I’m so glad you finished it! Everything about it, including the story is FANTASTIC!
Mickie
Congratulations! It’s a lovely quilt and what a great story! Yehhhh!
Quilting is in my Blood
Hi Wendy! It is so cool that you finished up your oldest UFO. I do like the wonky nature of the blocks, and it’s great that you discovered you had that perfect striped fabric from the same company to bind the quilt. I could totally relate to making a similar mistake early in my quilting journey related to squaring up some quilt blocks that were supposed to be 6.5” unfinished but were 6” by the time I finished evening them out. I’m much more restrained when squaring up blocks and quilts these days! Have a great day, Mary.
Cocoa Quilts
Wendy what a great finish. I am sure it was a great feeling to bind that quilt. The binding fabric was just meant to be. I thought you had been quilting much longer. You were just ahead of the times with making those blocks wonky!
laughinggasquilts
Love that cozy looking quilt, full of warmth and charm. I know what you say about the colours being not what you’d choose today, but they are lovely. As for the trimming misadventures, now they look like they should have happened. Great job finishing it, and thanks for sharing the story.
Frédérique
Congratulations! This is a beautiful quilt, and thank you for sharing the story too!
verveine et lin
c’est très beau, j’aime beaucoup ces couleurs!
thedarlingdogwood
What a great finish! Isn’t it awesome to finish long-standing UFOs? Way to go! Love that the striped binding was Buggy Barn! Definitely meant to be!
Sandra
We’ve talked about the Buggy Barn a few times and seeing this makes me think I need to pull out my buggy barn book and stack of fabric for the cat quilt that I’ve wanted to make for almost as long as your houses. They are terrific patterns with their stack and slash method. I particularly loved them for how the fabrics went together. All I had to do was coordinate a stack of fat quarters stack em, slash, sew! Did you ever do any of Karla Alexander’s? Hers weren’t quite as complicated and tons of fun with lots of fabrics too. Even though those fabrics are not the bright ones you use today, they do evoke such a cosy, snuggle in feel don’t they?
Sandra Healy
Fantastic quilt, Wendy, just gorgeous! I’m sure you’re delighted to have it finished.
Kim Sharman
Oh my, your quilt overspilling with cute houses is beautiful. How wonderful to have it finished after all these years. A most gorgeous finish…..congratulations.