Ignarcrescence

That's right, I made that up. I was searching for a word that describes the ability of something to grow while being completely ignored and untouched. I mentally pronounce it as IG-nar-CRESC-ence, but I suppose ig-NAR-crescence would work too.

Anyone familiar with this phenomenon can probably surmise, correctly, that I just opened up a "Projects On Unlimited Timeout" container (ha! just made up a new quilting acronym, too!) My design wall was empty, you see, and I thought I'd pull out the oldest UFO I could remember lurking about and take an accounting:

This was #4 on my MEQ Hit List, the "I Spy" quilt.

Some close-up views of some of what was in the first 4-5 baggies I pulled out of the POUT drawer:

 These ^ had the frames finished. 

Then there were those that needed the miter sewn:

Points are there, just folded under

and those having only one frame element sewn on:

Oh but wait, there's more: then I hoisted out the main bag!

More of the never-ending chicken fabric

This is where the big blocks resided, as well as more smaller blocks in varying states of finishment, and fabrics ripe for fussy cutting of yet more blocks.

I had a plan for using all these sizes:

and plenty of the border fabrics

but this project has become much bigger than I remember it being when I stored it away decades ago (I remember working on this in the 1990s). Ignarcrescence at its finest.

I'm going to remove myself from this emotionally and imagine that the whole thing was given to me by the family of a recently-departed friend (still imaginary). "Can you make something out of this? She worked so hard on it...." There may be enough blocks for two or three child-sized quilts--I can already see that it would be easy to make stereotypically-gendered quilts for a theoretical "girl" and "boy". Animals and critters could probably populate a quilt of their own!

 Also tucked away in the POUT drawer were these fabrics:

Pleased to say: the crossed-out item has been hanging on our wall since '98.

and since I dismantled the "Baseball II-BB&B" flimsy years ago, I can put these back into the stash. (The Joe Boxer baseball fabric will probably get cut into 2" squares immediately.)

The BB&B had been a top made of 3D bowties, with the 3D knot made from baseball-themed 6.5" squares. The block is intriguing, but so very wasteful, and that was a flimsy I knew I'd never make into a quilt again. I believe all the reclaimed non-themed squares wound up in another bowtie quilt, and I still have a pile of those baseball-themed squares. Mind is abuzz with possible uses for those.

And finally, this darling little thing:

given to me by a German baseball swapper. It's been sitting quietly in a little plastic bag at the bottom of the POUT drawer, too cute to toss, but without purpose. Today I decided to create one more luggage tag, for the German-born partner of my closest friend (who also received a luggage tag), but rather than paper-piecing I'll sew this securely onto a dark blue, silver-speckled fabric (or perhaps a lush green, to evoke a meadow?) I think it'll be adorable, and I can finally set it free!

Edited to add:
It was adorable, as predicted.