Inspired by Finn, Bonnie and Tonya, I took my box of "orphans" off the shelf and started throwing them up on the design wall. I love the "orphan train" quilts they've been posting. The idea of making something from almost nothing - note my similar obsession with strings and crumbs - is so appealing. I decided it was time these saw the light of day and became part of a quilt too.Oh my - talk about chaos! I've not tried to arrange anything much in this picture - I just randomly threw stuff up on the wall, moving it or turning it if too many similar shapes or lines were together. I can tell immediately that I'm not yet ready for this. Or maybe I should say my orphans aren't ready for this. You see, most of my orphans are not full blocks. Instead they are stray half and quarter square triangle squares of oddball sizes, strip sets, little four patches, and other odds and ends from my years of quilt making. The sizes are just too varied and in many cases too odd for me to work with comfortably "as is". Maybe some people can work in this size chaos - I know I can't.
So the first order of business is to make these into sizes that will fit together without too much problem - maybe finished sizes of 3"x 3", 6"x 3", 9"x 3", 6"x 6", 6" x 12", 12" x 12" and so on. I have drawers full of strips I can sew onto these and chop off as needed in order to make turn the parts into sizes that will fit together.
Once I do that I will be ready to go back to the design wall and begin again. I'm really looking forward to that. In the meantime I'll take these down and start "chunking" them into manageable sizes.
don't get me wrong - I love the chaos of colors, prints, shapes, and values! These are what will keep my creative juices flowing as I turn this into a one-of-a-kind quilt.
11 comments:
Go for it, girlfriend. I too love orphan blocks. They make beautiful quilts.
Oh so very cool!
Oh yea! I'm watching this challenge closely, I love those wild wonders!
This looks very fun.
I love the chaos of colors, prints etc!!!!! I am going to be watching this challenge closely. I would love to join in, but I haven't been quilting long enough to have any orphan blocks yet. I love the look of these orphan quilts though.
Can't wait to see what you make of these blocks. Good luck :)
I see another wonderful quilt in the making :)
Hi Patti, here I am, *VBS*, thanks for the 'heads up' that you were beginning!! You are a real go getter girl!
And I love your crumbs and bits. I know you have already used many orphan blocks making labels and adding to backing, but you've got a great start there..*VBS* And yes, you are right, you DO need more than you have. But there is great potential on that design wall already.
I see broken dishes that can become one block or two, if you add setting squares. Or let HST become the shoo fly part of a block. So what if they are 4 different corners? I'm completely in favor of piecing from your scrap bins...old favorites like 9 and 4 patches. Or even bits of embroidery or applique. Why not?? It's totally YOUR quilt with your intent...go for it! Personally, I can't think it's complete without at least ONE bowtie..*VBS* Great job! Hugs, Finn
Wow, these are fantastic. You can totally make an excellent quilt from this. I completely understand about adding to them to get them to compatible sizes. That's the way to do it in my mind - no playing around with horrible y-seams. good luck!
You've got a terrific start there *s* Such color and variety - you are off on a very fun adventure.
Patti - I wish my "orphan" blocks were as gorgeous as yours! I can't wait to see what you do with them.
Nan
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