Orphan Blocks
 

I suppose this is one of those "problems" that long time quilters always have. Since I'm only about 3 1/2 years into quilting it hasn't been a problem for me until now. A friend of a friend has been a quilter for 30+ years and my friend told her about me and that I make almost exclusively charity quilts. Well, this week I inherited about 25 pounds of scraps. I use the term loosely. I started about a year ago cutting all my leftovers into strips or squares so there is very little left over. This woman quilts almost exclusively with batiks and her "scraps" consist of an unbelievable number of blocks. I've been sorting through them all week. It is actually pretty intimidating! I'm uploading a few pictures - mind you, this is a fraction of what I've received! The basket of scraps is really scraps - I've sorted by color - but those little stacks are about 4 inches high. The friendship star block - there are about 20 of those mixed with churndash blocks - same size and color values. There are also hundreds of cut shapes - squares, triangles, strips - I haven't tackled those yet. The Christmas block - there are 8 of those that I've found so far. I've no idea how to put them together. I will definitely be adding to the post later, but I couldn't resist showing some of this stuff right now. With the exception of the Christmas blocks these are almost entirely batiks.

Pretty fabrics and blocks you have "inherited"! What fun!

Those are scraps!?!?!?

LOL! That was my reaction, too. And I haven't finished going through it yet, either!

OOh, I should have a friend like that.
Cleodaisy

Here are more!
 

I counted these - there are 62 of them - they are all pastels and any of them would go together - but I've no idea how to use them!

Pretty colors!

These scraps have caused me to drool on my keyboard.:o

Awesome scraps!!!!

Oh how lucky you are! And what fun! Adorable little dog, too.

LOL

I am waiting to see how you put them together.. best of luck

Wow lucky, lucky lady!

You won the jackpot of the quilting world. Have fun with these .... so many ideas going thru my head!

Wow! You will be able to make some gorgeous charity quilts with those "scraps" for sure. Peggy

so, enlighten a newbie to quilting please. bear with my questions?
Did she just do these as "tester" blocks and decide not to do the whole quilt? or just do so many she had leftovers? I am trying to wrap my head around why so many "orphan" blocks. Not really sure what it all is about.
to me this looks like my stash (but not batiks)

What a blessing! A scrappy quilt maker's dream come true! Kudos!

You scored!!!! Cute pooch also

First off, your generosity in providing charity quilts has come back to you ten-fold!!! I think the blocks that you are not sure what to do with have to live with you for a while before they can tell you what they need to be. Sometimes, after living with a fabric, it will finally speak to you. Congratulations on receiving such a blessing. Thanks for sharing.

All I can say it wow! These are not the kind of free scraps I receive to do community service.
Have fun.

What a lucky person to receive all of those scraps! What size charity quilts do you make? Some of those look like they are ready now for babies who are just born that don't make it or for those who are born early and spend a lot of time in the the newborn ICU! I've made a few of each of those.

I haven't met this lady so I can't really say for certain but I think it is probably a little bit of each. But I have no explanation at all for those 62 blocks!! I spent a lot of time last night trying to finish going through everything - STILL not finished! I do think I've found all the blocks, though and there are a ton. I'll try to photograph more of them later, but I have more sorting and pressing to do first.

very nice job, it's fun to make a top and use scraps. it makes it feel like a "freebie"

What a an inheritance! Surely, one of the finishished quilts will be raffled for a great cause. Keep us posted.

Pretty scraps and you are lucky to have been given such a beautiful gift, Happy Quilting

those are going to make a nice quilt

This was just what I was thinking!!!!

Thank you for starting this topic. I am getting a few orphan blocks of my own collection... and I insist "a few" loll I hope you keep us posted as what you will come up with for those ones! It is always inspiring to see what others do! I'll be watching loll

What a wonderful pile of possibilities.

How did she get that dog to stay in the bag?????????????? LOL Ok, seriously, wow on the scraps! I wish my scraps looked like that! :-)

You have some great blocks there, love the last batik star.

Wonderful! If you don't have a design board, I would get one set up right away. Then start with the square blocks and put the 20 of them together in a top. As a beginner, I would set aside those round blocks until you get experienced enough to know what to do with them. LOL Just work a little at a time or you'll get overwhelmed, at least I would! Don't worry if they don't turn out perfect, just start playing and sewing, and have fun!

I think your friend must enjoy making the blocks more than joining them together! Lucky for you. Have fun with your windfall.

More pictures
 

Okay, I just spent an hour sorting and pressing. I'm trying to keep same sized shapes together as much as possible. The pile of triangles at the back of this photo is 2 inches high! I have tons of squares, too, but only the red ones are in this photo. The pile of fabric towards the front is just mostly the same color family and good size pieces that are not cut into any particular shape - but a lot of them are good sized - like maybe 5x8 inches or larger. I've also come across lots of long strips - possibly meant for sashing or binding. I'm trying to keep those separate until I figure out if I want to try some string quilts or strip tube methods. It will probably depend on how much of it I have. My head is spinning. I am pretty certain more than one quilt will come out of this. :)

Question for you guys. I know Quilts For Kids stresses about the many washings and high heat our quilts are subjected to. Is this stuff going to stand up to that? Or should I look for another charity outlet that will not be so tough on them?

Sometimes we have friends, like swap books, and then we have QUILTING FRIENDS if you know what I mean LOL
Yeah for them, you hit the jackpot, have fun, make a crazy quilt.

I am green with envy! That was like Christmas I have no doubt as you "unwrapped" each item! I think she might have tossed in a furry critter into your basket of fun. Double the pleasure or is it one more set of helping paws?

wow...lovely "scraps"...have fun with them....I love to make crumb quilts for charity....

You are a lucky ducky. What an inheritance of beautiful options you have to work with. The best part is they are free and you get to play with wonderful fabric. Be creative, have fun and show us the results from time to time.

God bless you both. Her for giving them to you and you for putting them into a quilt to give away. Can't wait to see what you do with them. BrendaK

I received a 'small' box like that once. After sorting, I had some blocks that I didn't know what I was going to do with them. Put aside and a while later found the perfect top they went with. So..just keep sorting and you will find a pattern that they will fit in. There is always a reason we 'inherite' them. LOL

I checked my library and they have a copy of the book "Setting Solutions" so I'm going to get that out next week and see what I can figure out. I know the friendship stars and churn block squares will make a nice little baby quilt and that's what I will probably do with those. And there is no doubt at all that I have ample scraps to make some good looking string quilts - but I really want to do these blocks justice, too.