Monday, August 26, 2024

Orphan Block Top Rufus

Orphan Block Top Rufus
48 x 68

Most of the orphan blocks in this top were given to me by others. The three Stars are mine.  I think they were extra blocks I had made for a long ago swap. 

The Jacob's Ladder blocks are mine. I think I have a top made of those that still is in the TBQ (to be quilted) pile.  Someone gave me those two smaller Jacob's Ladder blocks I used in the center of that row. 

I thought I finished the top earlier in the month and took some photos. BUT it just seemed that with those X blocks at the top and bottom my eyes just slid off the quilt. 

So I turned it upside down (or right side up?) to see if my eyes didn't wander off. But they did. So I put it back in the sewing space for awhile. I don't really like to add borders but I thought this one needed one. What to do...what to do...


Someone gave me some golden brown 1.5 inch strips. So I put that border on first. I was also given four 3.5 inch width leafy pieces. I think whomever gave them to me tried using them as a border because there were two strips each of the same lengths and there was a 1/4 inch seam line where I could tell someone had ripped it.  Those lengths weren't long enough so I added a brown scrap to the top right and bottom left corners.  And now my eyes don't wander off. 

And sew on...

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CELEBRATE! (my word of the month)

August 25 - I finished my goal of sorting 4 boxes (about medium flat rate size) of smaller scraps. Most of the boxes were from times I pushed everything off the cutting mat and/or ironing board off into a box. I've spent a little time in the evenings with a little 6 inch ruler (scraps were no larger than 6 inches) and sorted the scraps into little piles by width. And now since I have a block in process for almost any size scrap I can do another sort of each little pile and put those pieces with the blocks I will make with them. Or I will cut them into squares. Or if less than a square then it will be sewn into a strip.  

5 comments:

Cherie Moore said...

Your description, “My eyes just slid “off the quilt”, made me chuckle, because that’s exactly what happened when I looked at your pictures. Glad you listened and added the borders :)

Nann said...

Rufus is certainly eclectic! Glad you found a way to put all the blocks together.

Chantal said...

You have a great eye to see what works and what needs a little more "umph" to reach the triumph stage. Rufus is fabulous with the borders. I love the Jacob's Ladder block so I saw those right away (well, after the big X blocks to be honest) but when I saw the tiny little ones in the middle, my heart melted. They are so cute. I made a quilt with that block and I would like to make a second one. Oh! So many quilts to do!!! Bravo for sorting 4 boxes of scraps. Now you can enjoy sewing these scraps. Have fun. ;^)

Elana said...

This the village quilt that was made with extra hands. How wonderful that you stuck with it u til you could slay this dragon into a cohesive finish. Eyes sliding off the quilt is a nice way to describe your process. thanks for sharing your journey with us!

Mystic Quilter said...

Yes the addition of the borders definitely holds all together, your blocks are mixing together so well and I do like that this quilt is named Rufus - one of our Irish Setters had this name!