I'm finally in the process of getting some UFOs finished. I started two quilts in ... ahem .... the 1980s. They were stored away and have now found their way into my sewing area. One is a queen sized, originally designed, and pieced quilt for my DD. She had her color and pattern specifications and I made it just to suit her. The other one is more between a lap-sized and a extra-large crib size. It's for my cousin's daughter who is 11 or 12 now. She still likes the color combination and will like the feminine touch. I started it for a my cousin's baby girl who was still "out of town, at the time." That's our family's way of describing a child who hadn't been born yet, but asks, "Well, where was I? How come I'm not in that picture with Gramma?" We've always had world travelers in the family, so we just say, "Well, you were out of town." It has always appeased them and seems to make sense to them.
So, I want to put labels on each of them after I finish up the last touches. Writing the date I started them, just doesn't seem adequate -- it's not enough at all. The intervening years were very eventful for each family, and it just doesn't seem right to put a single old date on them. Each is a completed top, but has not been quilted or had the binding applied. The smaller quilt is my trial & error, single-block cotton crazy quilt.
Would it be OK to state, "Began in 1980, completed in 2006." I'd add some additional personal touches, of course, such as names and places.
Any suggestions?
A couple of people have told me to just put the finished date and not the beginning one. But I feel that the intervening years are important and can offer the recipient some very interesting family history.
Thank you!
René