Grandma's Orphan Blocks

One family trait that I definitely did not inherit was my grandmother's skill at organization. She was meticulous about keeping things in their proper place, never putting anything where it didn't belong. After all I explained in yesterday's post about my difficulty with organizing and cleaning, you know that this clean-freak tendency skipped right on past me.

When Grandma gave me all her sewing stuff way back in 2012, each box was clearly labeled and neatly ordered. And even though I have shared much of her stuff here on the blog, I don't think I ever shared the contents of what I would call her orphan block box. Gosh, what a treasure trove! 

Let's dive into these blocks!

The makings of a fan; I found a stack of these wedges prepared for making more.

Cake Stand

I believe this 2-block combination is called Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.

A basket.

Another basket - or is it a cake stand?

Lemoyne Star - maybe?

A setting block.

Star.

A setting block to go with the two below.

A traditionally made Lemoyne Star.

Bear's Paw - this is a really big block.

Perhaps a block for an Irish Chain?

A 6-pointed star.

A basket block.

A tiny basket.

Another Lemoyne Star.

 So what will I do with these? I know the obvious thing is to make a sampler quilt which would include all these blocks. I don't know about that. The chaotic nature of all these colors would not be especially pleasing to me. 

Another option is to find related fabrics and make more of these blocks to create a quilt that incorporated both Grandma's blocks and mine. I actually have 2 boxes of Grandma's scraps; perhaps I could find enough of her fabrics to make more blocks and proceed with a table topper or wall hanging at the least. I dare not hope for enough to make a small throw quilt, but until I dig around, I'll never know! 

Doing anything with these blocks will have to wait. I don't see myself doing anything this year; maybe it can be a goal for next year.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne