Orphan Stars and Geese in a Night Sky

I'm feeling stressed.  Sewing is calming ... but it can't be anything too complex or for which creative decisions must be made.   So I sewed together the second round of orphan blocks on my design wall. 

It currently measures 56 by 66 inches.  I will likely add a 2 inch border for a finished size of 60 x 70.  I may not finish in time for the H2H deadline, but either way, both of the orphan blocks quilts will find their way to the charity Happy Chemo. 

I'm joining the lists for Mrs Sew and Sow's Scraptastic Tuesday–be sure to check out the fantastic quilt she made, starting with some orphans–and WIP Wednesday on Freshly Pieced.

So ...

I haven't made much progress finishing the orphan block quilt.  I have pieced a back and made some scrappy pink binding. The scrappy pink binding is for the orphan block quilt and the red paisley is for the liberated wedding ring with the red background.

Even though I have made next-to-no progress on much of anything this week,  because I had so much fun playing with those orphan blocks, that I found some more blocks (with black backgrounds) and some time to put them on the wall to see if there were enough for another H2H quilt.

I only made a few of these.  Most are from an orphan block swap from a few years ago.   I think it's time to use them up.

I am joining the lists for QuiltShop Gal's Creative Goodness and Angie's WIPs Be Gone.

Playing with (orphan) Blocks

I went to bed last night thinking I would get up and rip out part of the progress I made yesterday.  I woke up this morning and kind of liked it ... and so left it and kept going.   It measures 51 by 65-inches which I think is a nice size for a lap quilt to use during chemo treatments or blood transfusions.

I think it will be able to brighten up any institutional setting. 

It is made from 2-inch, 3-inch, 5-inch. 6-inch. 9-inch and 10-inch blocks in addition to the 24 inch Hawaiian appliqué which I stitched down with buttonhole stitch on the machine.  Everything except the half-square triangles and a few of the heart blocks came out of my big ziplock of orphan blocks.  I expected that the blocks would be more randomly arranged, but since the blocks I had worked in this almost log cabin arrangement, I followed that path. 

The backing will be pieced because I have ALMOST enough of a pink/cream/green print.  I haven't yet decided how it will be quilted, I know the binding will be scrappy pinks.  In the meantime, it is pinned to my design wall for me to think about. (Follow the link to see what others have on their design walls in the link list on Patchwork Times).

When it's finished, I will be sending it on to Happy Chemo as part of the H2H challenge. 

While it hasn't been a WIP very long, some of those orphan blocks have been around forever, so I'm joining Angie's WIPS be Gone list. 

May Goal for a Lovely Finish

I didn't meet my goal in April (though I made a start at it and expect to finish it soon).  I was, in part, overwhelmed by commitments and ... life.

My goal for a lovely finish in May is a bit of a challenge within a challenge.   It will start with this large, in-progress Hawaiian-style appliqué block.

This project came from the estate of a quilter, donated to the local guild and sold, along with some other work-in-progress and lots of fabrics as a fundraiser for the guild at the retreat.

The appliqué was prepared by sewing it to fusible interfacing and turning it to turn under the edges.  It hasn't been stitched down, the interfacing shows in spots.   I suspect the craftsmanship and the choice of fabrics–that really is an in-your-face bright pink background–were the reasons it languished on the table unwanted while quilters scrambled to pick up more conventional (and more complete) projects.  I adopted it at the end of the third day and thought it could become the focus of a Plan B quilt that might be donated to Happy Chemo through the Hands2Help challenge which also has a deadline this month.

Updated to add that it's approximately 25 inches square.

Last night, I pulled out my collection of orphan blocks and chose some that I thought might play together nicely.

Now comes the fun of making some more elements, deciding what's in and what's out, arranging, re-arranging and putting it all together. I think it has possibilities ...