A link to this tutorial landed in my inbox, and it looked interesting. I love disappearing blocks, where you make a big block and then cut it up to make something different. So I made this one just for fun.
Meanwhile, a friend asked if I could spare any orphan blocks. I hope she has plenty of room for them!
I didn’t count them, but I did note that they varied in size from about 2″ x 2.5″ to 30″ square. She agreed to take the triangles, too. I put a few up on the design wall just for fun. I hope she likes variety!
This is the oldest block in the stack. I made a series of these quilts in the very early 1980s. Yikes!
And I added the block I made today to the stack, so the collection spans 40 years.
Zippy Quilts 
I acquired a big stack of Block, the Missouri Star ‘magazine,’ so I’ve been seeing a lot of disappearing blocks. It is a clever concept. Good for you to find a welcoming home for those orphans.
Indeed! I’ve made a bunch of donation quilts from my orphans, but there’s a LIMIT! Thanks for visiting and commenting.
” a friend asked if I could spare any orphan blocks.” LOL! 🤣 What a friend you are to ‘spare’ a few orphan blocks!!!
As for that last block…it reminds me of my first ‘by a kit’ quilt I bought in 1978 from Family Circle Magazine I believe…all fabric strips, backing & border fabric and instructions included for a queen sized quilt. This was also my first intro to the ‘quilt as you go’ method. It didn’t get finished until around 1981 mostly due to the icky need to join the quilted squares together on the back!
That’s a great example of how “Quilt As You Go” sounds like a great idea until you try it–ha!
Oh yeah…
Your friend should have great fun with that big pile. I hope she shares, and then you share with us what she does with it.
I was amused at how many of the fabrics I have had (and still have) that are in your 1980s log cabin block.
It makes sense. There were far fewer fabrics from which to choose in the 1980s. I prefer today’s bright colors, but we made some good stuff back then 😀
I checked out your link for the Home / Disappearing Quilt Blocks and Patterns
Disappearing Pinwheel Quilt Block – Double Pinwheel. That is a cool block!
You what is interesting about your Orphan blocks posted on your design wall – you can see you definitely gravitate towards certain color palettes (very happy palette). Those blocks would look great together in an improvisational or modern type quilt!
I DID think of putting them together, but then saw all the other projects I have lined up and decided my friend needs those blocks more than I do–ha!
🙂
I love those old 80s quilt fabrics. In those days, I thought “real” quilts were made from calicos, so that’s what I bought. I still have scraps of those fabrics.
Well, I think quilts WERE made from calicos back in those days!!! I miss your blog : (
Thanks for visiting
Remarkable!! 40 years of orphan blocks must be a record.Weren’t you tempted to turn the pinned-up blocks into an abstract quilt?! They made a beautiful display
I probably should have, just to have a 40-year record, but I didn’t! It turns out one of the guilds uses orphan blocks to make door hangings for nursing home residents.
I like those disappearing blocks too. My fav is/was the nine-patch. Used up some ugly fabrics making one that turned out great! How wonderful to be able to donate a pile of orphan blocks! I don’t have nearly as many as you did (note past tense), but what a variety you had. That 80s one… those fabrics look SO familiar. I’m sure I made quilt blocks with those same prints! We are belying our ages! Still, I’m happy for you to have been able to re-home these blocks. I need a friend like yours to make the same request of me!
OR maybe you can jack up some of your friends/groups to do the same thing with orphan blocks. These went to a group that makes small door hangings for nursing homes. And yes, a lot of us had those same fabrics in the ’80s because there wasn’t much variety at that time; how times have changed!