Orphan Block Palooza! Episode #1

Here's a story of some sweet little orphans who became a family!  Orphaned quilt blocks, that is!

In preparation for our daughter and her family's visit this summer, we decided to finish a room in our basement so they could have their own bedroom.  We had to move the contents of that room to the garage, which also meant making space in the garage!  So, BONUS!  We found several quilty boxes that I have not seen in years, as we have moved nine times in this town (my husband is a Carpenter).  One of those items was an old suitcase full of miscellaneous quilt blocks!  

These "Orphan"  blocks were all made over the past 22+ years of quilting!  Some were made in classes I'd taken, or were samples from tutorials or classes I taught.  Some blocks were collected in a "Friendship Block Exchange" with my local guild, and others were leftover blocks from quilts already made.  Some blocks were just experiments and never went beyond one block.

I started sorting and organizing the blocks.  Here's a peek at my Design Wall.  

This was just the beginning.  I will make that ↑ wonky house quilt sometime in the future.  Those cute blocks were from a "Wonky House Block" exchange from years ago, as well!

Blocks kept showing up in the same colorway and theme - funny how that happens!  Then a tutorial for a free improv-style bird block by Lynne Tyler @patcheriemenagerie popped up on the interwebs, so of course, I had to try that too.  

Can you tell I have a thing for birds?  Chickens too, based on the number of orphan chicken blocks...

I began making pieced elements in the same colors not only to grow the quilt, but to tie in the elements for a more cohesive look; checkerboard strips, flying geese strips, and other triangle-shaped units that could fill in the empty spaces.

Then new blocks showed up!  Turns out, the print in the center of those Sawtooth Star blocks was the color inspiration for my original Circle of Geese and Flying Geese Pinwheel blocks (opposite corners). Both blocks were made years apart, but both have colors based on that one particular piece of fabric that I apparently liked.

There were a few stray items that did not make the cut.

Once I was happy with the layout, I worked in sections, filling in with a couple more pieced units and a few coping strips so the math would work and the quilt top could lay flat.  

Yep, it's a hodgepodge!  I am pretty sure I could have put it together 100 different ways, and could have added a border to the quilt, but it was the right size for a fun lap quilt.

Chicken wire quilting and a black-and-white striped binding finished it off perfectly. 

And now, it's done!  All the orphans have a home!  And just like any family with such different personalities, common elements tie it together. ♥♥  I love it!

Here is a sneak peek of my next batch of "Orphans"!  

This process has added a little excitement to my quilting.  With a summer filled with all of its busyness, it has been fun to take a few minutes here and there to play with whatever shows up on the design wall!

Can't wait to see what happens next!

Happy Quilting!

~ Deonn