Orphan Blocks Extravaganza

My Orphan Block box was overflowing and out of control with stacks of 4 patches that would not fit in the box with the others. 

 

I decided it was time to sort and play one evening while watching TV. It was very amusing because I found several blocks I do not even remember making! And it was obvious to me that it was me doing the making, because they were displaying my fabrics! I guess that proves they have been stored way too long and now is the time to plan repurposing them into a quilt or some kind of project. My mind swims with ideas for little mini projects. 

 I think many of these 4-patch blocks were remainders from the scrappy Vintage Column quilt and my Kitty Korner quilt. (It is time to make another!)

 

These are 7 Thimbleberries blocks from the Quilter's Garden BOM project back in 2001?. The other 6, stacked underneath, are all different. I did not make these. They came from a UFO bin at a LQS years ago. I could finish them for I have the alternate block fabric panel and the pattern in an old Thimbleberries book. A very pretty quilt that I would enjoy finishing! I will be adding this to my UFO list.

 

I don't know how these blocks were designated as orphans. There are 23 of them, and more can be easily made. They are from one of Bonnie Hunter's books so I will be adding these to my UFO list also.

 These were leftover blocks from my Colonial Christmas Quilt that I finished in 2022. I don't think I have anymore red, but there may be a few remnants of that green. Maybe a pillow with cornerstones? 

I need to add a search bar to my blog so I can readily find these old projects.

These are 3 antique blocks ready for hand applique. Actually there are four but I grouped the other into the yellow/pink/green pile (see below). Still thinking about what to do....

I grouped these together because the colors all complimented each other. I recognize a couple of those blocks as remainders from Lessons From Mama quilt project. I still have this book by Terri Atkinson. She has several nice quilt patterns I still like. 

 

These were a few leftover hexagon blocks from a quilt I finished. It is one of my favorites and actually began making more hexies recently. They are like potato chips, always fun to make, and can't stop at one! 

I just grouped these into browns/reds colors. I don't remember making that hexagon star, but those are my fabrics and I think it would be fun to dive in on again. I'll have to dig for the pattern. Ester Alui, maybe?

 Ahh, I am swooning over those mariner stars! I remember making them back in the 1990's! And I still have the fabric from the centers. I love indigos and will be brainstorming a finish for these. Another to put on my UFO list! 

 And more blues! And I am blue because I honestly do not remember where these large blocks came from! The smaller blocks and remnants are mine, but the others I am clueless. Ha! But look at that darling mini bear's paw! I will pull that for a quick mini project soon!

 And two more indigos. I should add these to the mariners, maybe. Lovely blocks that I am again clueless about where they came.

More leftovers from projects that I do recognize! Taking note on where I can plug these in on future projects. Or use those little turkey tracks in the bottom right corner for a table-topper. 

 

Funny how these found themselves in the orphan box. I have a box of bricks waiting to assemble into these "potato chip" blocks. They will be joined again with their parts and added to the UFO list.

 

Leftover siggies from the Dear Jane Siggies exchange that was popular in 2006 - 2102. I participated in that exchange for several years, and these remind me I have a couple of years' collected in the sewing room for more quilts. I must get trimming on them and make another! I finished my siggie collection from 2010 to 2012 here.  I do not know what to do with these extras that came back, other than pick/rip out the centers and resew maybe onto some of those 4 patch leftovers. 

And here are the pinks/greens/yellows that I grouped together. They seem to play nice together and once I get my design wall back up I will begin to play with their arrangement. 

So this has been a fun, and overwhelming time sorting through the orphan block box! I just added to my UFO list. Just when I thought I was nearing the end.

But wait! There are more! 

 

These are leftover blocks that I purposely saved as "patterns".  A lot of favorites in here. Can you spot that tiny courthouse square? It is only 4.5" and is made with 1" strips. That is another UFO I hope to tackle someday. (It will weigh a "ton" when finished!)

I also have 2 "Procrastion" boxes to look through, but that will be for another day. These are "bits and pieces" from quilt projects dating back 20 years, and include things like hundreds, perhaps thousands of leftover HSTs and matching fabric pieces. I just can't get rid of them yet. One day I will stand at the ironing board and press all those HSTs to make an OMGosh quilt! Ha!

 

So they are all sorted. Some are put in their respective UFO piles and project bags, with the rest living here in the orphan box. At least I have record of what is in there for future reference. And my UFO list just grew.

What do you do with your orphan blocks? Maybe I should clarify, these are true leftovers. I often use up extra blocks for labels on the back of my quilts. These orphans of mine have no home. Perhaps I should begin the habit of making an "after quilt" to use up the extras entirely.  

 Happy stitching!  

 

SAHRR Border 6

What an endeavor this Stay-At-Home-Round-Robin, SAHRR, has been! And a fun and challenging one also. I must admit, I am hooked and already am dreaming up ideas for next year's center block. You can join in on the fun also by following Quilting Gail for her announcement that will come out later this year or in early 2027. You may like to check out the linky party of other's finished SAHRRs for inspiration. Once I post this I will add my finish in time for the prize giveaway and the parade of quilts. See what drives the motivation?  

So, here I am at the 6th and final round that was announced by Anja Quilts.  The theme that she presented to us was "quilter's choice".  This was our opportunity to go all out and unleash our creativity in anything we felt would finalize our project nicely. 

I chose to make use of all the leftover fabrics and scrap pieces I had. Honestly, I still have much more leftover fabrics and extra HSTs. Oomph! 

 

Deciding on what kind of pieced border I was going to make was where I got held up. Maybe having free reign was overwhelming but I was always hoping to use flying geese somewhere within this project. When I made a few blocks here, it just didn't appeal to me. 

Perhaps a zig zag border...these are not a good proportion and I would have too many to make if I reduced them in size. 

 

I opted for a Sawtooth border, which is a classic medallion border. After measuring, it required many (156 total) Half Square Triangle units. It took me a couple afternoons of mindless sewing which I like to do if not pressured for time. I added a plain 2" white border after the friendship stars, attached the sawtooth triangles, and then added another 3" border using my remaining white on white background fabric. 

 

She now finishes, before quilting and binding, 90.5" x 90.5". That is pretty much what I was aiming for. It will fit nicely on the bed and/or hang on the wall. Quilter's choice. Ha! And I am very happy with the sawtooth border.

It is hard trying to get a full picture of it as it is almost larger than my design wall.

Tomorrow I will carefully fold it up and then prepare a backing and batting piece for it before taking it to my long arm quilter. Perhaps I'll choose some custom work for this if it is a reasonable cost. (I have no idea. Should I be scared??)

I learned several things while working on this Stay At Home Round Robin quilt project:

1. Use your time wisely so not to get behind. Or wait until the last minute which most always reaps frustration and mistakes. 

2. Just go for it when an idea comes to mind. There is a deadline to make so do not delay decisions. My first hunch is usually always the best one.

3. There really IS NO Quilt Police! 

4. Making a medallion certainly cures any dread you may have for putting on borders because that is all there is to the making of this quilt! Borders!

5. Gained confidence and skills are acquired.

6. New ideas and friends are made by linking up online, and visiting other participants' blogs and sites. 

7. And the joy and satisfaction in making something that is my very own and original design. I have grown  to love this quilt and will very likely keep it as my own.

Happy stitching!

 

 

 

SAHRR Border 5 Two Colors

I hit a wall. I have all my blocks completed but I ran out of background fabric, so everything  will sit until I go up to my local quilt shop and purchase more. Hopefully tomorrow, if it doesn't snow too much. Other than my not getting the borders done, it really is not a bad thing. We all enjoy a little retail therapy at our favorite quilt shops. 

This week's prompt was from Quilting Gail and our direction was to choose two colors and make anything we want. Whoa, that is a wide perimeter! I was so happy with this though because I really wanted to make stars in this round. A medallion has to have a row or two of stars, right? 

 

Friendship stars are fun to make. and they fit the bill perfectly. I chose the colors orange and red, along with a neutral which is my white background. The orange is actually a print that has red in it so they compliment one another well. Ten years ago, I would have never dreamed of combining those two colors together. 

I have been using up any spare time I have working in the sewing room trying to race the clock, and get this finished before the linky party is closed. 

 

I have made a total of 36 friendship stars. Nine for each border and decided to stagger them for more interest. And lucky me, all the seams nest for easy piecing.

I kept thinking about the others participating in this SAHRR while sewing these stars and I am guessing there are at least 36 friends. So each friendship star is for you, because you have helped make this fun with your encouraging comments. Really, that has been half the fun. You are all stellar!  And thank you Gail, and all the co-leaders for hosting and prompting this challenging but fun event. A little piece of you is in every project we have made. ♥

After this round is sewn on, I estimate the size of my top will be 78". That leaves a few inches for the last and final prompt. It really has grown. 

Happy stitching! And stay warm - it is still winter! (Good sewing weather) 

 

SAHRR Border 4 Showing My Curves

This week we were prompted by Wendy, at Pieceful Thoughts, to "show off our curves". Curves in my borders and arranging them in creative play has filled my week. Although challenging; both by getting them done by the deadline and designing to make them fit, this week's prompt has been great fun! So let me introduce my curve appeal result.

It is now measuring 62" and we have 2 more weeks to go. Looks like a full size quilt is in my future. No complaints. It just takes longer to finish them because I send them out to my long arm quilter. 

I am learning also, that if you do not like sewing on borders, then this round robin is NOT a project for you.  

 

Sewing the curves gets easier with the more you do. A great motivator to keep going!

 

I had to make small 1" spacers in each row because they were just a bit short in length. 

I am really happy with the secondary design that is showing in the white inside area between borders. I am wondering how I will pull off the next step in this round robin.

And I sure am hoping I do not run out of fabric before this ends. I have a discard pile that is growing from blocks and leftovers that I did not use. This is an example of how our scraps multiply. Have you found this to be the case in your sewing room also?

 

Our parade of quilts will be March 25th. Does that include quilting and binding also? If so...as Cary Grant would say, "I'm cooked". 

And let me add, I so appreciate your comments. I am trying to keep up corresponding and visiting everyone's postings too. I have been so inspired by your talents! 

Happy stitching!

 

 

 

 

 

 

SAHRR Border 3 Animal Kingdom

I have been working close to the deadline for this next border prompt. Darling Dogwood is this week's director of our inspiration by pointing us to the animal kingdom. There are so many blocks which come to my mind and I toyed with various ideas, but I couldn't afford delaying too long. 

I decided upon "Duck Tracks". I would have liked to have made them in sets (4 per block) but that would have really expanded the size of this quilt. Of course I could have made them in miniature, but then I would have to make 32+ blocks in just one week. Phew! So I opted with just one "foot" square running along the edges to make this border. Let's imagine them hopping on one foot around my quilt! Silly ducks!

 

This prompt has been my hardest so far for sure.  I had the odd number of 41 inches. That gave me a center gap that measured 5" x 5.5" once the duck feet were sewn together.  I made oversize flying geese, trimmed the length and left the width as is. Good or bad, it worked and I going with it. 

 

 

I could just say I did this on purpose, right? (grin) My Round Robin quilt now measures 51" square. And we have 3 more prompts to go!

Thank you Emily for this fun prompt. I have really enjoyed viewing what you and others have created. We are just a few short weeks until we see our completed tops. Umm, do they have to be quilting, bound, and labeled by March??

 

I'll post my finish and then it is back to watching the Olympics. Like many others, I am trying to understand the curling event. 

Happy Stitching!  

 

SAHRR, Making It A Double

I am happy to be keeping up with the directives so far on this Stay At Home Round Robin. This week's prompt was from Kathleen McMusing to "Make It A Double". It can be anything that has "double" in its name, or related to number 2. 

I took the easy road and chose a simple double churn dash. Because the last border was hourglass blocks, I felt a simpler border would be more complimentary. But that also means that next week I have to step it up! 

After auditioning fabrics, I decided upon the bubblegum pink and bright yellow with orange swirls. I love this combination as it reminds me of candy for some reason. 

I added a plain white coping border, but when I added the first churn dash border I realized that I did not extend it on all sides (see pic), thus the corner is a bit different than the pink border...but I like it. Sometimes errors can be serendipity! 

 So she is pressed and ready for the next round. Thank you, Kathleen for hosting our entries! 

 

I finally made the time to go up north and pick up my gray double 4-patch quilt that was done at my long arm quilter. I took up 2 more tops to be quilted. One was my Tilda Christmas top.

And the other was a leader/ender project that I finished, my Christmas Irish Chain. 

So when they get back and I put the bindings on, I will be ready for Christmas this December. 

It has been very cold in our area these past 2 weeks. It was minus 12 degrees last night. Brr. This was the view of my road after turning out of the driveway Thursday. The main roads were better...but not by much. I hope everyone is staying warm and safe!

 Happy Stitching!

Stay At Home Round Robin Round 1

Oh My Gosh, this was a nail biter because my measurements had to be correct so I could cut this center block correctly. Not to keep you in suspense, my measurements were good, and Round One is a successful finish! TaDa!

I really fussed over what fabric to use for my hourglass blocks. I found this teal blue that worked so I made the decision to move on with it. I cut two 5" squares, one of the white background, the other with the teal blue print. I marked the top square corner to corner and sewed 1/4" on each side to make a Half Square Triangle (HST) Once pressed I laid them together with opposing sides together to make the final hourglass block. 

You can find good a good tutorial here and a helpful chart here 

I did not trim my blocks. I really do not like cutting again. If you are careful and sew accurately, it is not necessary. Not in this case anyway because I had lots of fudge room. My hourglass blocks measured 4 1/4" unfinished. I decided to make 6 for each side and half square triangles in the corners. I like how it forms a zig-zag border around the center block. 

It got real scary when measuring to center it all, making sure it was square and these 23" hourglass strips would fit. I measured from the center out. Then I measured along the outside edge using the design as a reference. Numerous markings made it more confusing!! I then sewed running stitches with blue thread showing me the true cutting line. And it worked! 

 

Reminds me of tailor tacks I learned in Home Ec garment sewing. I held my breath and continued until I was finished, in fear of loosing my train of thought. Now I have to think about erasing those markings. 

Careful easing in the seams and it went together nicely. It is now pressed and ready for the next step. So far it measures 31" square. 

Now I will visit the inlinkz page and comment on other's success. Thank you, Brenda at Songbird Designs for this fun first round! 

I hope everyone stays warm and safe during this upcoming winter storm that is expected to hit this weekend. I will make a run up north to pick up a quilt at my long arm quilter's shop and stop for groceries and gas on the way home. I have a table runner that I am hand-quilting, and some embroidery to catch up on so let it snow, let it snow, Let Me Sew!

Happy stitching!

 

Stay At Home Round Robin 2026

I have wanted to participate in this challenge for the last several years but could not get past the first step - making the center block.

I have had this applique piece stored away for years and years. I purchased it at a local quilt shop as an unfinished project, Someone put A LOT of work in folding and gluing those very narrow (1/4" wide) bias strips. Some had already been sewn using a double needle and monofilament thread. 

I tried my hand at this technique but without success. I could not figure out how to make those tight pivots and after breaking the needle, I had no choice but to try another approach. (I only had one double needle and no time or capability to purchase another.) 

 

I remember reading from Kim Diehl's books that she does her applique by machine, and it is invisible because she uses monofilament thread. I decided to continue with that process, but with a zigzag stitch instead of the double needle. 

It is not as pretty...but then it is, if the stitching is careful and the pivots are made with uniform stitching. In other words, no reverse stitching. 

That was mostly how I did it along with watching my tension so the bias strips did not buckle. And need I mention that you cannot press monofilament thread? I will definitely have to remember that when adding borders during this round robin.

So, with the old adage, "better done than perfect" it is ready for step one of the Stay At Home Round Robin 2026 hosted by Quilting Gale. I only hope to give the original owner of this center block honor as her skills were definitely better than mine!

Now it is time for a fabric pull so I can continue working, creating, and keeping up each week as directions for each round are released. I will try to post my steps and process here as we move on. The big reveal is March 25th...I wonder if that includes quilting. 

You can read more about this Round Robin here, and perhaps follow along also. Do you have an orphan block waiting to be featured in a quilt with surrounding borders?  There are linky parties and prizes! And in 6 short weeks, you will have a finished top ready for quilting and enjoyment. 

Excited yet? I know I am! Kind of like a mystery, but I am in charge of the outcome.  

_____________________________ 

I also finished assembling my Square Affair top after some time thinking and exchanging one of the fabrics. I chose a white on white fabric with stars. I really like the final result and now I am debating about taking this to the long arm quilter, or doing it myself.  

There was much arranging, and rearranging.  Judging what others have done, you can even mix up the 4 squares but I did not.

Sometimes it is helpful to look at it in grayscale to determine a balance in hues and contrasts. 

And it came together nicely once the borders were sewn on randomly. It is 51" x 61" so far without quilting and binding. And it has used 2.5 yards of fabric. (duh - thus the five half yards) And did I mention there is VERY little leftover? After cutting the pieces from the strips, there is slightly less that 1/2" on each left over! Be careful when cutting! I often left the selvage on one end to be sure I did not run short. And I cut those pieces from each individual strip for extra care.

Overall, I am very happy with this quick, easy, and economical project! I have many half yard pieces in my cupboards waiting to be used. Perhaps I will try another using my own stash. And I like this random pattern.

You can ask at your local quilt shop about these "Half Packs". They come with 5 half yard pieces and you choose the pattern you want to make. You can see for yourself at Sassy Sunflower Quilts.   

Now on to that fabric pull....

Happy stitching!