"It is what it is": antique Dresden plate finish!

"It is what it is." Not my favorite saying, especially since my favorite uncle, who I always considered wise, started using this phrase glibly in relation to just about everything around the time of my father's death 7 years ago.

But, sometimes, the saying fits. This antique Dresden plate rescue is what it is.

First, I ran out of indigo fabric. Then, I ran out of blue. Then, I ran out of blocks. I had 19. Nineteen is divisible by nothing. So I made a ghost block with 19 petals, just like the 19 other blocks had:

The blocks as I received them were not well behaved. They did not lay flat. I had to redo most of the seams before appliqueing them onto my background. Some of the original fabric was even stained:

You might ask: Why put so much effort into something that is irredeemably damaged?

You might ask: If you are going to put so much effort into a quilt, why not plan ahead or at least search for fabrics that match to make your background uniform?

You might well ask.

But I would answer, "It is what it is." And I would be right.