No I don’t mean KU vs MU – I never have gotten into that, but I know that for some it’s a big deal.  Borders as in what, if anything to do for my Orphan Block quilt.

This morning Becky suggested that I put the Flying Dutchman block between the two Dresden Plate blocks (something I had previously tried) and then take the extra 4-patch and split it into two 2-patches to fill in the large 4-patch rows.  That was enough to kick me in gear.  I actually cut down one of the large green 4-patches to fill in the small 4-patch row, which meant all my rows were 36″ wide, except for the turquoise, green and black row – and I took two pieces off of it and then it too was 36″ wide.

The quilt top now measures 36″ wide by 50″ long.  The length is probably OK, but it’s the width I’m having issues with.  I’m considering adding a border — but just to the sides.  Thus the border wars.

Do I skip all borders, go with just the print, or use a narrow spacer border before the print and if so, what color – yellow, blue, pink or green?

There are bits and pieces of the orphan blocks up on the wall. I narrowed it down to just those blocks which had black in them. Went though several iterations even asking my husband to see if he could arrange the blocks.

At one point I pulled fabric from my stash then asked if I could make new blocks for the Orphan Block Quilt.

I got one answer “only from orphan fabric” and one answer “no”.

So I downloaded a few historical romances onto my Kindle and read. And assisted Syd with her quilt for her mom.

 She’s picked a backing fabric from my stash. I think there’s enough, but I’ll have to use the John Flynn method to make the backing.

Be sure to hop over to Patchwork Times to see what others have on their design wall.

No fabric in and no fabric  out.

Fabric Added Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 122.087 yards

Fabric Used Since Last Report:  0 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 61.374 yards

Net Used for the year -60.713 yards

Check out other’s stash reports over at Patchwork Times.

I’ve finished the center of the String wall hanging from my Orphan Block Box. Now to decide if I want a border.  It currently measures 18 x 24.

One option is to simply quilt and bind it.

I’ve also considered a couple of border options.  The first one is a hot pink Colorworks inner border and then a black outer border.

But I almost think the pink is too dark or bright or something.

So, I’ve thought about using a black and white “plaid”.

I like this better, but I’m not certain.  I don’t have a whole lot of this fabric, so I’m not sure how wide I can make the border.

Anyone have any suggestions?  Whatever I do it will have to come from my stash.

This past weekend I’ve spent playing in my Orphan Block Box – It has gone from this:

To this:

Sort of.

Up on my design wall I’ve put all of the black and bright blocks plus the bright blocks.

Clearly it needs some work.  I have no idea what I’m going to do with those border pieces…well an idea is forming in my head…. Some of the blocks are new – made with parts and pieces I found in the box. This is a work in progress. I don’t know if this will be a new quilt or a backing for something else.  It simply hasn’t told me yet.

But there are more pieces kicking around the sewing room. This is the easier bit of what needs to be trimmed & pinned together.

Then there is this:

Strips sewn into strip sets for other quilts, a couple of Dresden plates waiting to be turned (no, I have no desire to finish them) and a few other bits and pieces sewn together.  Even so, everything shown so far could fit back into the box. It’s amazing how much more you can get stuff somewhere when it’s neat stacked.  There’s just one problem.

This pile:

It’s the pile of blocks which came out of the box that are not on the wall. There are a few new blocks in the stack made from bits and pieces I found in the box. There is a good start of another top/backing in that stack. But I’ve gotten side-tracked.

I found 52 3″ squares – 8 are already sewn together which I’ll take apart to fill in on the right.  I think I’m going to make this a little wall hanging — 15 x 20.  These are leftover pieces from a quilt I made one of my great-nieces.  I found 9 strips of string piecing from the same time frame — I’m not sure how many blocks that would get me — but I’d have to use a different background — I’ve long since used the rest of this and have no idea what it was.

So, my sewing room is still turned upside down, but I’ve had fun playing in my box to see what treasures I’ve found.

To see what other’s have been working on, check out the links over at Patchwork Times.

Saturday I spent the day playing in my Orphan Block box and nearly forgot that I finally had fabric to report as used since I finished Nifty Thrify – or at least completed the top.

So here are the numbers:

Fabric Added Since Last Report: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 122.087 yards

Fabric Used Since Last Report:  6.729 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 61.374 yards

Net Used for the year -60.713 yards

See how others are doing with their stash over at Patchwork Times.

OK, I’m skipping ahead.  The center of the quilt is done, but now I  can’t remember what the borders are supposed to look like. So, I’m setting it aside for a bit play time in my Orphan Block Box.

As it turns out, the box contains blocks, pieces and parts.

Here are a some of the blocks I’ve tossed up on the wall.

Then there are the parts and more blocks.

Then there’s what is still left in the box. Strips sewn together to cut into HST with the Wondercut Ruler, more parts/pieces, tiny blocks for a quilt that seemed to be going no where fast, strips sewn together from mitered borders or ready to be cut into strips to form into other blocks.

There is no way I can get everything back into the box, since I still haven’t pulled everything OUT of the box – I’ve only stirred and fluffed.

I’m going to find a box I can temporarily toss stacks of pinned pieces into until I get to the bottom of this box. Once I see what I have I can decide on a theme of the quilt — Black and Bright?  Just Brights? Pink & Purple? Pastels?  I suspect there are at least 2 quilts in this box, perhaps more – especially with a bit of “coping” fabric thrown in from the stash.

The plan was to work on the Orphan Blocks – but that will tie up the design wall until the top is complete.  So, I switched and pulled out T’s birthday quilt. It’s close to being a top, so it will finish up quickly.

As for the Orphan Blocks?  I cleared half the ironing board.

Yes, that overflowing box actually had the lid closed, but warped before I started stirring.

I’m calling Nifty Thrifty a Top.  This is from Bonnie Hunter’s Scraps and Shirttails.  Everything in this top is from recycled shirts.  As a result, I’m not sure what I’m going to use for binding when I get that far – let alone what color.

Up next – to dig through that box of Orphan Blocks. I want to be able to easily close it by the end of the weekend, then I’ll work on T’s Birthday Quilt.

I’ve done no sewing all week.  Well, I take that back, I did make this block:

It was a sample I made to make sure I could explain how to make the block to a friend.  But other than this block, I’ve not sat at the sewing machine.

I  have cut the rest of the spool blocks that I’m going to need.

Between these two activities, I’ve decided my sewing mojo is effected by the excess fabric sitting around the room.

The crumb tin is overflowing.  It’s time to pack it up and send it to my sister – but I did see a neat crumb quilt earlier this week….

Then there is the basket with the shirt trimmings – strings, tails, cuffs, and collars.  I’m not positive what is in the two shoe boxes.  I simply cleared a couple of flat surfaces into the basket and boxes.

While I was clearing things, I “contained” the larger pieces of fabric by stacking them on my fabric boxes. I need to go through and re-fold and re-arrange to really get this fabric contained.  I see the red moving out of the red/green box (not sure where it’s going) because I now have enough green to fill up the box.

Then there is the treadle — a flat surface which hasn’t gotten cleared off.  Most of the “loose” fabric is for the Scrappy Trips I‘m working on haven’t worked on since May 5th.  So much for treadling one day a week. The fabric in the plastic bag on the left is T’s 70th Birthday Quilt. I need to spend a weekend and get it done so I can pass it to V to quilt.  We did say our goal was to get it complete by her 71st birthday — so we still have a few months.

I really need to cut the pieces for the border for Nifty Thrifty.  It’s hung on my wall all week.  I just need to cut 30 squares from the brown and then I could finish up the quilt

So what am I doing?  Digging in the Orphan Block Box (the plastic bag contains the spool blocks).

The box is simply overflowing and it’s not possible to put another thing in it.  And that block at the top of this post?  It needs to go in this block.  Periodically I sort through the box trying to layer everything in a more orderly manner to get more into it, but there’s simply no way this time.  So, this weekend I have 2 goals.

1. Get the border on Nifty Thrifty
2. Make a quilt from the orphan block box so I can easily close the box

I wonder if I’ll get either done this weekend?