Now that it is Monday night the group of Quilt Alliance donations that includes mine is up for auction on eBay. Check it out with this link! When you get to the eBay site, you’ll need to click on “Items for Sale”, near the top right, to get the full listing. (Currently mine is listed twice; I assume that will be fixed soon.) And thanks for looking!
Remember that quilt I made to donate to the Alliance for American Quilts “TWENTY” contest? If not, you can see a section of it as the header for my blog, and you can read about it here.
In any case, the time has come! The TWENTY entries have travelled to shows around the country and are now up for auction on eBay. The group that includes my quilt will be auctioned starting at 9:00 EST (U.S.) tomorrow night.
I’ve been happy to learn about the Quilt Alliance over the past few months. I originally donated a quilt because I liked the idea of the TWENTY challenge and I’m always donating quilts to various causes—who isn’t? However, I’ve since learned that the Alliance has several missions I’m especially happy to support:
The Quilt Alliance has numerous projects to further their goals, and their staff are some of the nicest people I’ve encountered. They have a fun blog that presents quilts from various periods in history, and you can subscribe by e-mail so you get to see different quilts from their records.
Check out the Quilt Alliance website and then check out the Ebay auction. You may become a Quilt Alliance fan, too!
Oh, yes, and bid on the quilts. Most of them are by people a lot more famous than I am 😉 You might enjoy going to the Ebay site just to look at the quilts!
Feel free to share this post with anyone who may want to give you a gift! 😉
Here are my Top 3 Gadgets of the moment. You may need them, too!
Oil pen
This handy little oiler has a long, thin tip at one end and a pushbutton at the other, making it possible to dispense just one drop of machine oil in the tight recesses of your machine! It comes with a secure screw-on cap so you can even carry it around in your pocket like a pen if you want to. So far mine has never leaked when I’ve thrown it in my gadget bag for workshops and retreats. My sweetie got mine on Amazon HERE, though there certainly there may be other sources.
Miniature attachments allow use of a standard vacuum cleaner to clean your machine
My husband got these for me at a big box home and hardware store, but I’ve seen them at quilt shows, too. The price varies wildly for what appears to be the same set of attachments, so I say shop around and pay less than $10. These are especially useful for cleaning a serger because a serger gets so messy so fast, but I use them happily on my regular sewing machine, too. Just attach the adapter to your regular vacuum cleaner and the little attachments clean those hard-to-reach areas of either machine. I could still use an even smaller tip, but it’s a big improvement over using only a cleaning brush with no suction.
Well, it isn’t exactly a tool, but it has many uses this time of year 🙂 I apply it to ribbon ends so they won’t fray and outline my iron-on applique with it before I sew around the edge. I don’t do a lot of iron-on applique on things that will be washed, but this makes me feel a little more secure when I do. And shown below IS the latest iron-on applique, which I’m showing just for fun. I made the onesie tie with a tutorial from a blog called Crap I’ve Made. I love it! Then I made a pattern from one of my husband’s ties and made a grownup-size T shirt for the Father of the child, so they can match!
So: go drop a few hints!
You can make a great quilt from nothing but leftovers–orphan blocks and scraps! Of course there are a lot of ways to do this, but here’s an easy one to get you started on both using scraps and trying out improvisational quilting.
Orphan blocks: Go through your collection and pick enough, or almost enough, blocks to go along one edge of the quilt. Pick some with colors that go together and set the color range for your quilt based on these blocks.
These are all in the same color range, and of course all the same design–a good start for an orphan block quilt!
The blocks can be a “header” for the quilt, or an insert somewhere inside the quilt, or they can go down one side. Or across the top and down one side. Or…well, you get the idea! There are lots of ways to use them. But if you’re new to improvising your own designs, consider making a row of orphan blocks across the top.
Here’s a design I’ve already made, but I can’t show the actual quilt because I’m entering it in a show
The blocks do not all need to be the same size. Just add strips to them to make them all the same. A lot of times you’ll have something like two 7″ blocks and three 8″ blocks. You COULD add 1″ strips to the smaller ones on two sides, but that’s a little tedious. Better to add 2″ strips on 2 sides of the 8″ blocks and 3″ strips on 2 sides of the 7″ blocks.
Quilt block with larger border added on 2 sides
quilt block with small border added on 2 sides
See, they’re modern blocks already–asymmetry! Because of adding larger strips, you didn’t have to fool around with tiny pieces, and you get a full row with fewer blocks. Win-win!
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In the quilt above it was easy to add grass and sky to adjust the size of the blocks.
After getting the blocks arranged on your design board, go to your scrap bins. Pick out all the scraps in colors that go with your orphan blocks. Since I save my scraps as strips, I make a stack of each strip size in the colors I’ve chosen, and I’m ready to go. If you don’t save your scraps as strips, you really should–it’s so handy! However, you can also cut strips to get you started.
Yes, it’s perfectly acceptable (and fun!) to make an improv quilt from scraps of any size and shape, but it’s easier with strips. So if this is your first time, cut strips!
Now join those strips into rows, and the rows into sections, and keep going until you have the size quilt you want. You’ll probably want to square it up after you get the top pieced; a top made of pieces of different sizes rarely comes out even on all sides.
Here’s another idea, assuming I had several leftover leaf blocks:
Leaves and scraps, assuming I had 5 leftover leaf blocks
Now, go for it!
When I looked at my (er, large!) collection of orphan blocks, I found not only single blocks, but groups of blocks all from the same quilt, and several strips of blocks that looked like they had been almost included in a quilt. The first such strip I came to was from an improvised batik quilt made with Bold Over Batiks and assorted others. It was almost 24 inches long and 4 inches wide.
I cut the strip into a length of 12 inches and one of a few inches less, then added fabric to the shorter one so both were 12 inches. I then joined them lengthwise with a black strip down the center:
Table runner made from a strip of leftovers
I made a backing by piecing together scraps from my current quilt, which happens to be batiks also. I just put them together semi-randomly. (You can see the current quilt at the end of this post.)
The back was pieced from the scraps that happened to be on the top of the scrap bin!
I quilted the whole thing in the ditch and bound it in black. I think I like the back almost as well as the front!
Of course, if you have individual orphan blocks instead of a strip, you can make a table runner by joining them, either with or without sashing. I find that sashing is a good idea because it allows for the use of blocks of different sizes just by varying the size of the sashing. (I made the mistake once of putting together a “group quilt” and it DEFINITELY required sashing individualized to each block, since apparently everybody in the group had a different idea of the size of a 9″ block.) Sashing can save your bacon (or table runner) in a case like that. So here’s a quilt design with blocks of 4 different sizes. The blocks at the ends had extra sashing added.
Finally, here’s a peek at the current quilt-in-progress. It’s made from the FQs that jumped on me at Quiltfest in July and were shown at the end of an earlier post here. The quilt is up on my sticky wall with a label on each piece so I don’t get confused as I sew it together! Scraps from this were on top of the scrap pile, so I used them for the back of the table runner shown above.
This pattern is Bermuda Sunrise
Hope everyone has a good week!
Orphan blocks make great decoration for denim or chambray shirts. They might work on
A decorated chambray work shirt
T shirts, too, but it’s easier to put them on a woven shirt than a knit one, so I vote for “workshirts”.
Here’s an example, modeled by my friend Anna.
These blocks had been around a while 😉 You know how that goes! Then I got a good deal on some chambray shirts and bought them in all the sizes my sisters-in-law wear. They made good holiday gifts!
I suggest you turn under a 1/4″ hem on all sides of the block and then applique it to the shirt by hand or machine. Very easy. I don’t suggest quilting the block first, because even thin batting can feel uncomfortably lumpy attached to a shirt.
Here’s another orphan block on a shirt
Here’s another one attached to the back of a shirt. I just sewed around these blocks with a straight stitch, but if you like hand applique, go for it! If you don’t know sizes and don’t want to guess, you can buy L or XL for most people; if it’s too big just explain it’s meant to be worn as an overshirt 😉
Next week: turn your orphan blocks into table runners!
Start by deciding what size and shape pillow you want; or start with the block you want to use and decide what size/shape pillow form to buy.
Once you have that pillow form home, measure from seam to seam to be sure it’s the size you think it is. Add 1/2 inch to each dimension for seam allowances and you have the size to cut (or assemble) the front and back pieces. For example: Pillow form here is 16 x 16, so I’ll make the (unfinished) front and back pieces 16-1/2 x 16-1/2 inches.
I stated with an improvisationally pieced log cabin block and added logs to 2 sides to make it big enough. While I was at it, I added pieces wider than I needed to allow for shrinkage during quilting and squaring up the final top.
I spray-basted and quilted the top with a thin batting and muslin backing. However, a block will make a perfectly good pillow top without being quilted, like these:
To make the pillow cover easy to remove, I make an overlapping closure in the back. It’s also fine to add a zipper to one of the edge seams IF you’ve got a zipper, and of course if you know how to put one in. I do that sometimes, but there are lots of places on the web that show you how to put in a zipper, so I’m not doing it here.
To make the overlapping back: Divide back width by 2 (16-1/2 divided by 2 = 8-1/4 in my case) and then add enough to each piece for overlap and hem. “Enough” should be proportional to the size of the pillow, but in this case I added (8-1/4″ for back and one seam allowance + 1-1/4″ for hem + 2″ for overlap = 11-1/2″, which I rounded up to 12″). So I cut two back pieces 12″ x 16-1/2″, then finished one of the long sides on each piece with a hem of 1/4″ first turn + 1″ second turn.
Next, I layed out the backing pieces with hemmed edges overlapping to make a square 16-1/2″ x 16-1/2″, and basted the overlapped edges together. Put the front and back pieces right sides together, sew all around the edges with 1/4″ seam, turn right side out and insert the pillow. Voila!
There are a TON of bag patterns out there, and a lot of them are very good. However, they aren’t really a FAST way to use up orphan blocks!
In contrast, there are several sources of good, sturdy, plain fabric bags that can be decorated with orphan blocks in very little time to make an attractive and useful bag. If you haven’t run across them, try craft stores. You can also Google “blank canvas totes” to find lots of options. I like buying them in dark colors so they won’t show dirt with use!
NOTE: Even if you didn’t prewash the fabrics for your orphan block, you should prewash the canvas tote. Otherwise it may ruin your work by shrinking or bleeding color when it’s washed later.
Choose your block and, if you want, quilt it with your choice of batting and a thin backing. It’s also fine to leave it unquilted.
I quilted and bound my block, but it isn’t necessary
Once your block is ready to attach, either bind it or frame it with fabric. Alternatively, it works fine to just turn under 1/4″ on each edge. REALLY, you could just zig-zag stitch it to the bag without any edge finish.
The only trick is that you need to make full use of the free arm feature of your machine, and squnch the bag a bit, to sew around the block. These bags aren’t very big, so it’s entirely do-able.
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DONE! This is a nice quick-and-easy project and a useful gift. But don’t use up all your orphan blocks—there are more projects to come!
Orphan blocks (i.e., those not intended for a particular quilt “home”) JUST INCREASE ON THEIR OWN in the dark places where you store your quilt bits…I learned that I have SEVERAL HUNDRED when I started taking pix for this post.
They come from lots of places:
*The sample blocks you made to try out a new pattern before cutting the fabric for the quilt
*The extra blocks you made so you’d have design choices in a quilt top
*The “found” blocks that just JUMPED ON YOU at a garage sale or thrift shop
*The single blocks you made at quilt classes but didn’t like well enough to duplicate for a whole quilt
*And the ones that JUST SHOWED UP and you have NO IDEA what they’re doing there
You get the idea—there are many sources of orphan blocks and many of us have quite a collection.
Therefore, I’m starting a little series of posts about what to do with them. Here’s my list; I’ll write a separate “how-to” post on each use. I know I’ll learn things along the way; hopefully my readers will, too! So here we GO…
#5: Decorate a tote bag. You don’t even have to make the tote bag yourself! These make great gifts.
#4: Make a throw pillow. Quilt it or not. Use to spruce up your couch or as a housewarming gift.
#3: Decorate a “work shirt”. Great gift for quilty friends.
#2: Make a table runner. Keep on hand for hostess gifts, etc. And a good build-up to my favorite:
#1: Make a scrap quilt with an orphan-block focal point—MANY options with this one!
As you can see from the pix at the top and below, I have lots of orphan blocks to use! I hope you’ll try out some of these ideas as I post instructions for them.
Here’s a QUICK, EASY way to use up scraps while making some gifts. Could be gifts for you, of course 😉 I like to make them ahead of time to have as hostess gifts, housewarming surprises, etc.
A bin of scraps being made into a long strip
Start by cutting scraps into strips of set widths. (I cut and sort all my scraps, so I have bins of strips ready to go.) 
In this project, I used strips in widths of 1.5”, 2”, 2.5”, and 3”. Sometimes I just use whatever color comes next, but for this project I selected yellow/gold, orange/red, and brown/tan scraps. I joined the strips end-to-end to make long strips of a given width. So, for example, a strip may be 1-1/2 inches wide and be made up of scraps of various lengths from 1-1/2 inches to about 8 inches.
add another strip, then fold them right sides together and sew the seam through all layers
After piecing my long strips, I started a placemat as follows. I cut a piece of backing 14 x 20 inches, layered a piece of batting 13 x 19 inches on top (batting scraps, yes!), and placed a strip in the middle of the batting. [picture] I used the flip and sew method to add strips on each side, sewing through all layers as I went so that I was quilting while assembling the placemat top.
Strips can be oriented horizontally, vertically, or at any angle you choose! You can mark your first line to be sure it’s straight if you want, but I just eyeballed it.
I pressed after adding each strip, and every few strips I turned it over and ironed the back of the mat, too.
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When the mat was finished, I trimmed it to 12 x 18 inches. Note that it helps to make the last strip added a wide one so the mat can be trimmed to size without leaving a really skinny strip on one edge.
Last strips added are wide to allow for trimming to size
I bound the edges with scraps of bias binding left over from various quilts as well as scraps from my bins. I got four mats done easily in a day, so this would work as a last minute gift—we all need those!
Zippy Quilts 