Orphan no More!

Oftentimes when we finished a project we end-up with extra blocks, and we don't know what to do with them or don't care about it or we do not have the heart to discard it in the garbage. So we stash it away at the bottom of a drawer never to look upon it again. It becomes unloved. Abandon. Another orphan block amidst so many other ones. Oh dear!  Okay, too much drama. Let's move on!

So what can we do with the "orphan blocks" that have different sizes, colours, and pattern?

You can play with them until you make a beautiful scarps quilt. It can be love or given as a community quilt. 

I did just that with the hundreds of orphan blocks left by our members at our quilter-guild and brought all those blocks at home and played with them. After an entire evening sorting them out by colours, some by size, I squared them.

 

 If you have a design wall, that is a good time to use it. Or like me, use a large white-flannel sheet and place it on your floor in front of your TV. You can listen or watch something has you do this; otherwise, your mind will go numb with all the scrappy blocks you have in your hands and nothing seem to match with anything. Just focus on making as many quilts, small or big, with the orphan blocks that look nice. Play around with them. Add sashing between rows or blocks if there is “a gap” between the spaces

If you have an EQ, it makes it easier to lay the proper dimension on the foundation paper. Still paper and a pencil are great too. I used both. Also, I took pictures with my iPod for further reference and to remember how I set the blocks.

 It's fine when you do only one quilt, but I designed seven in two evening, so I wouldn't remember exactly how I set the blocks together. It was very helpful.

Once those blocks are put together into small kits, they are easier to manage. I sew all those top quilts in a week. One a day as I listened to something encouraging. Try it out!

The results are amazing!