Leftover or Orphan Blocks

What do you do with your leftover quilt blocks? If you ever have any, that is. Whenever I make a quilt I usually make a few extra blocks to play around with the setting. Sometimes, as I'm sewing the blocks together, I'm not happy with one or two blocks that just don't fit in with the others. So having a set of different colored blocks to substitute allows me to play around as I set them in the quilt.  It's fun to sort through them and come up with different ways they can be used. 

That little nine-patch mug quilt in the photo above was made because I was playing around with 1" squares one day to see how difficult it would be to piece something using really small squares. Turns out, not too difficult so I made a bunch. But 1" was small enough and I wouldn't want to go any smaller. I kept the little blocks and then one day turned them into a tiny quilt. I still have a few left over but haven't decided what to do with them. Yet!

Some quilters call these orphan blocks and sometimes those little extra blocks can be used in a whole different quilt. How about a sampler quilt? If they're not all the same size, sew a tiny border around the smaller blocks to make them fit in with the others. Jane Stickle did this when she created her famous quilt.

I remade many of my early wonky Dear Jane blocks because I knew if I didn't they would bother me when the quilt was put together. But some of those blocks are salvageable and perhaps I'll make a DJ runner someday. 

I've got more than one version of that yellow star . . . Each more wonkier than the next, haha. Third time was a charm.

I know quite a few of you used leftover half-square triangles to make the border for your Schoolgirl Sampler quilt. Some of you who have read the book know that my sampler quilt idea was begun when I looked through my pile of extra/leftover blocks and found that many of them were the same size - 4" x 4". And Schoolgirl Sampler was born!

Be creative when using your leftover blocks. They make great pincushions or bowl fillers. Coasters or mug mats. Or, how about using them in a different sewing project - like a bag or tote? Table runner? Find a pretty fabric for a runner and use the blocks as accents on either side. 

Showcase a single pretty block with some borders. 

Leftover star from Scrappy Stars sew along. 

That pink friendship star block was too small but I loved it and wanted to include it in the quilt so I pieced a tiny border around it to make it fit. 

Have fun playing around with your leftovers!