Out Of The Orphanage And Into A Quilt

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks with lots going on (I won't bore you with all the details) but I'm hoping now life can get back to normal and I can get back to my quilting and gardening and life of a hermit. 

It's been too hot the last couple of days to work out in the gardens so I worked in the sewing room. This month I wanted to work on orphan blocks. So far I have made four donation quilt tops all about 40 x 60 but I have miles of orphans to go before I sleep. 

Blueberry Cobbler

For this one I used, as you can see,  mostly blue blocks. 

The blue nine patches came in a box of goodies a few years ago from a quilty friend. The kaleidoscope blocks were left overs from a Kaleidoscope of Butterflies quilt I made long ago. Some of the other blocks are odds and ends I sometimes make when I have bits and pieces left over from making a quilt. 

At the top are kaleidoscope blocks that I tried out with black and white backgrounds and did not like. There's a pig from friend Gayle, a Depression block leftover from a quilt I gave as a wedding present. I made a house and decided I did not want to build any more houses in that style.  There's some little four inch I Spy blocks left over from a quilt I made for a new grand nephew and a wonky log cabin leftover from making a donation quilt in 2017 that went to Wrap-A-Smile. Years later I saw a cute little boy in a foreign country wrapped in that quilt who had undergone a surgical procedure. 

Pretty in Pink

You guessed it! I used mostly pink blocks in this one. 

The Rolling Stone blocks were left over from two different quilts. The Drunkard's Path blocks came to me in pieces from a friend a couple of years ago. The Posies were supposed to be for a swap but before I sent them I realized I had cut my center pieces a little too big. Rather than rip and remake I just threw the blocks in the orphanage and made new ones for the swap. 

I made the Rosebud blocks on the top for a six inch block swap but they didn't turn out at six inches so I kept them and made a different six inch block for the swap. The Basket blocks were swapped and left over after I made a quilt. 

I made my granddaughters aprons when they were four years old with the fabric with the little girls cooking in the kitchen. They also got Easy Bake Ovens that year and I think after that year the ovens were discontinued. I know I made the granddaughters something with Strawberry Shortcake fabric-maybe pillowcases. I think my daughter still has her Strawberry Shortcake doll! I wonder if it still smells like strawberries. 

The bottom row consists of swapped Country Nine Patch blocks left over after I made a quilt a long time ago. 

For this one I pulled out blocks with black backgrounds and warm colors. 

I made some Rolling Nine Patch blocks for a swap that was later cancelled. The Four Patches came from the Parts Department. 

I went crazy filling Jars a few years ago. I made several Jar quilts but still had some left in the pantry. 

More Jars in a different size. The 25 patch HST blocks were made from waste triangles a long time ago. Time to use them! I cut apart a 16 patch block to make the row with pumpkins and sunflowers alternating with orange solid. 

And finally here's a top made with purple and yellow odds and ends. 

A friends sent me the purple/purple Ohio Stars in a box of goodies long ago. A different friend sent me the big Shoofly block. I spy a couple more Country Nine Patch blocks that were left over. 

A couple of really scrappy kaleidoscope blocks I made from scraps pieces left after making a Kaleidoscope quilt. I had the blue and yellow star block left over from a blue and yellow sampler I made eons ago. The HSTs and most of the other four inch blocks came from a bin of different four inch blocks I have filled up over the years. 

The Birds in the Air blocks were won in a block Lotto and left over after I made quilt top a few years ago that is still in the to-be-quilted pile. A few of those particular blocks had the points cut off so I put them in the orphan box. It's not really all that noticeable in an orphan block quilt. 

I think this meets a bunch of challenges! 

This month the Stashbusters challenge is to use orphan blocks and parts. 

The latest AHIQ challenge is to make an asymmetrical quilt because I normally tend to make symmetrical quilts. 

I made it my OMG (One Monthly Goal) to make at least one orphan block top this month.  Mission accomplished so at the end of the month I will link up with the OMG linky party at Elm Street Quilts. 

I'm hoping to put a couple more orphan block tops together before month end. Stay tuned!

Finished or Not Finished Friday at Alycia Quilts

 

This, That, And The Other Things

I cleaned up the leftovers from making the Coin Toss top the other day.  I cut the pieces I could into 3 inch squares and the other pieces less than a square were sewn into several strips. If I had 8 squares of the same color I made Hollow Nine Patches otherwise I put the squares in my Squares Bin. 

I made some pineapples and apples from 1.5 inch squares which was one of my goals toward my Asymmetry/Tea Towel Challenge. 

I assembled all of the sashing and cornerstone parts for Diagonal Bars blocks  I won in a 2014 Block Lotto.  I'm not going to put them in with the other block sets in my "Some Assembly Required" box. I'm going to try to get the top assembled in August. 

And I made a couple of "before I forget" blocks. I ran across a piece of Christmas fabric in with my scraps. I was too lazy to unstack my boxes to get down to the little box of Christmas fabric just to put this FQ into it. So I decided to use it. How about some Christmas Cactus Pots? I do love a play on words. The Cactus Pot block made in Christmas fabrics = Christmas Cactus! 

And also while I was thinking about it...I gathered some 3 inch nine patches from a big bin of the little cuties. I only picked out ones that had dark corners and center  and did not have a neutral for the other four squares. 

I tried them out in some Path and Stiles blocks. Ok. I like them. I'll carry on. 

And that brings me to a box of orphan blocks...

...and this box of orphan blocks. I've kind of sorted them into different groups of blocks I think would look good together. In August I am going to see how many 40 x 60 donation quilt tops I can get made. And hopefully I will be able to remove two empty boxes from the sewing space. 

My OMG (One Monthly Goal) for August is to assemble at least one top from those orphans. I'll give myself a smiley face, a big star and bonus points for any more than one top!

OMG at Elm Street Quilts

I thought I had better declare my August goal now because in a day or so I'm going to be gone for over a week of camping with some of my husband's family - a mini family reunion. 

 

Symmetry vs Asymmetry

There has been a new challenge issued at Adhoc Improv Utility Quilts (AHIQ). 

In our quilts we have "various tendencies towards either symmetry or asymmetry, so my challenge to you is to pick whichever of these is furthest from your comfort zone and see what you can do."

Well, my tendency is to make symmetrical quilts so I guess the challenge for me is to make an asymmetrical quilt.  Aha! I have just the UFO to work on for that challenge! Back in 2014 Sophie (of Sophie Junction and Block Lotto both now inactive) issued a challenge to use a tea towel to make a quilt.  I never completed the challenge. I got frustrated with where my quilt was going right from the start and threw everything into a box.  Time for a resurrection of this project for the AHIQ Challenge. 

What's in the box? 

A tea towel with some fruit basket and fruit jar blocks attached to it. 

Spread out it last looked like this. Feel free to insert an 'ewwwww" or "ick" here if you wish. I sure did. I did not like where the quilt was going. Why? I don't think the quilt was meant to be symmetrical!  I made a lot of  different pieces and parts for the Tea Towel quilt and I don't think they were meant to be lined up next to each other. It's not easy for me to make an asymmetrical quilt without a design wall or floor or bed where I can arrange and rearrange bits and pieces but I'm going to try to find a little bit of space where I can do that when I get most of the rest of the pieces finished for this quilt. 

The bits and pieces I have so far other than those baskets and jars? 

Strawberries...

...embroidered fruits for every day of the week; some bordered and some not...

...a little panel of words and letters for more words.  But I don't like how the words look. I wish I had used one consistent background fabric when making the letters. So I won't use this. Well, maybe in the pieced back? 

And there is a  couple of bags of cherry scraps left over from making I Love Cherry Pie (Flowering Snowball) back in 2015 and Hi! Ho! Cherrio ! (X+) back in 2012. 

A couple more fruit baskets and fruit jars...

...some little 3 inch 9 patches and odds and ends to make more...

...and some fruity fabrics, fruity squares from some old swaps and some gingham. 

To start with my plan is to:

 Rip apart what I have done so far

Border all of the embroidered pieces

Make pineapple and apple blocks with 1.5 inch squares like the strawberries

Make new word blocks

Make more nine patch filler blocks and maybe some fruity HSTs.

Then maybe after that I will have enough parts to lay them out somewhere and dither for awhile.