How would you finish this?
 

A friend gave me this hand-pieced patchwork units and I'm kind of fascinated with doing something with them. They are very inconsistent in size and I really don't want to hand applique them to a base fabric. No way to I want to try to make inset pieces either. I thought maybe I could cut them up into some other shape and sew them together with some muslin background fabrics. Any suggestion as to where to start cutting them. I have no idea who pieced them, so the work has no sentimental value to me. I just like the challenge of not letting them go completely to waste and I like the old fabrics. (Grrr! I'll attach pictures as soon as I can remember how to size them.)

Okay, is the size of these pictures okay? I've taken notes so I will remember next time.

I would probably sew them down onto something and call it a day. i wouldn't line them up either. i would toss them about like bouncing balls, but that's just me ;-)

I would not cut them up; too much work has already gone into them. This is a perfect opportunity to practice the curved sewing. C'mon! You can do it! There are great tutorials out there.

Your pictures are fine. What size are the 'blocks'?

They're saying table runner to me. If you turned four of the segments round the other way, you would have a petal shape.

Alternatively you could use the oval shapes joined at an angle like so ()()()()()()()() Good luck!

there is so much work involved in a double wedding ring. so much of the work has been done already on your pieces. i'd take the time to applique them onto a background. in any case, show us later what you've done with them.

They are about 13 in. square. Each "football" is about 9 in. from point to point. But they are so irregular in size! I'm guessing that's why they ended up on someone's UFO pile and, ultimately, abandoned.

I would find a great background color (or colors) that work with the pieces (they are wonderful). I would applique the pieces to the background -- I would use the floor or a design wall to figure out how I want to lay the pieces in the block). Then I would assemble the block. You could either do hand applique, or some version of machine. I think this could be a great quilt.

I would machine applique them using black thread and blanket stitch. Use fusible or 505 spray to baste it in place. Do you have a large piece of fabric left over, maybe some backing fabric not used. Maybe you could just make a whole cloth sandwich then be quilting and appliqueing at the same time.