Too many left over blocks...again!
 

I have a bad habit of making quilts that I don't need to buy the pattern. Get an idea. Try to draft it out and away I go. Meaning I cut/sew lots of blocks and then start assembling.

Just finished a scrappy, really scrappy, baby quilt and AGAIN lots of left over blocks. I don't mean orphan...I have a whole, flipping FAMILY of blocks. These blocks are 3x3 solid and four patach so I'll have to choose another small block to go with it.

I like watching MSQC tutorials but I sew blocks in reckless abandon. Yep, another family of blocks.

Ever happen to you?

I'll make 1 block when starting a project to make sure I know how to make it and it comes out the correct size. I like taking my project into EQ8, redraw it so I know how many blocks of each I'll need. Then I'll calculate how many blocks I'll need for the project, write down how many sections for each block, then calculate how many sections I can get out of a stripe of fabric, write down how many strips I'll need and so on. Seems to keep me from making too many blocks this way. May seem alot of work but when fabric is getting so expensive I like to save where I can. The project I'm working on now is a MSQC pattern, her mock cathedral windows which she only goes into making a wallhanging size. I needed to make a queen size so taking it into EQ8 let me know that my mental calculations were not correct and I needed to make a whole lot more cuts. Did make some extras from 1 fabric as I didn't need the whole strip but this way I could arrange them as I wanted with the extras. I'm so happy I took the project into EQ8 as I would have thought I had enough cut when I had only a little over half of what I needed.

As to extras leftover blocks, sometimes I'll add them to the backing to use them up as long as it doesn't take too many seams.

I sometimes do - more or less - follow a pattern.

Other times I just start making blocks and hope that I can put them together into something useful.

I don't often have lots of blocks left over. I tend to get bored with repetition. Once I know a pattern (or my calculation) is correct, I usually cut for 10 blocks, sew them up, then repeat. Sometimes, I have completely changed direction after laying the original blocks out on my design wall.

Everyone works their own way, and that's okay. I'm a planner and may tend to over think things. I use EQ8 for the design, and then I turn to Excel for more precise calculations when planning a quilt. I figure out how many strips to cut before I cut them, how much fabric it will take, how many blocks to make, and I seldom have any left over. If I do, they go on the back of the quilt if possible. I never just start sewing without a plan, though sometimes the plan does change as I sew.

No, probably because I can't make anything other than a simple 9 patch without a pattern! LOL

I have a box jammed full of 6" blocks! Then another box with 8" blocks enough to make a quilt on their own and the of course orphaned blocks That need to be worked into a quilt someday. I know exactly what you are saying about making extra. I think most of us have a similar issue. Better to have to many than not enough.

I usually end up with a few extra blocks when making a quilt and I just put them on the back. This way I don't end up with extra orphan blocks and I don't need as much backing fabric.

I have found that extra blocks come in handy for testing planned quilting designs and checking different quilting threads.

Daffy