Orphan Box

Orphan blocks - those lonely blocks that for one reason or another get put to the side, unused and/or unwanted. I have a box full of them, and if memory serves, I found a box of orphans in my grandmother's sewing things, as well.

I came across my orphan box one day last week when I was digging for something else, and I thought it might be fun to share some of what I have stashed away there. Most of the blocks are quite pretty, yet for whatever reason, I have chosen to hide them away. I might have to get busy on a sampler quilt and use these blocks for it.

Let's take a look at what I've got.

The box is a flat-ish puzzle box, large, but still some of the blocks have to be folded over to fit. I've just opened up the contents to a random spot and pulled out two. The top block is a leftover from the scrappy 16-patch stars I recently had quilted. The lower block is just a random 9-patch waiting to find its purpose.

There are more 9-patch blocks - many more, in fact - and they come in a variety of sizes. Here is just a sampling of them.

Some are made with KF fabrics.

Looks like 3-4 alike of this one in primitive fabrics.

This one is rather small.

Another made with KF fabric and white-on-white.

It appears I have a goodly number of miscellaneous stars in the oprhan box, also. A couple of these go way back, and I fear I don't even remember making others. 

 

And then we have the wildly random blocks that just seem to be stuff made for the sake of making them. Why? Just because, I guess! A quilter doesn't need to have a reason, right?

I remember thinking that this Churn Dash did not have enough contrast to suit me.

I remember 'unsewing' this block numerous times trying to make the points match.

Some aren't wildly random at all; this 4-patch is about as simple as they come.

There you have it - respresentative blocks from my orphan box. Maybe a goal for next year will be to use them. We shall see; we shall see.

I've been MIA these last few days. DH and I took a nice day-trip on Friday to eastern Ohio. Our original goal was to drive across the state on Old Rt. 40, the historic National Road. We ended up being sidetracked by genealogy-related stuff in Belmont County, where we traipsed around 4 cemeteries looking for surnames in my mother's branch of the family tree. We had a wonderful day and are already planning to go back.

Then over the weekend DD Erin and her husband Jeff were here with their cat. We watched a movie that the kids recommended: Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds starring Brad Pitt. My first Tarantino movie; good story line, but lots of gruesome bits, too.

Overall, we had a relaxing and laid back weekend, and I just didn't have the 'umph' to do even a simple blog post. My mother joined us on Sunday, and with the big cool-down in the weather, we had a beautiful day to sit on the screened porch and visit. I helped her finish a valance for her kitchen and attempted to fix an old sewing machine she'd brought with her (no luck with any fixes!).

Monday was devoted to syllabus writing and copying. With classes beginning for me today (8am and 12:30pm), I needed to be ready to go. And I was; the hardest part of the new semester will be getting up for that early class--it's been a long time since I've needed to keep those hours!

Happy Quilting, Friends!