New Beginnings...jumping in, pushing on....

 Every child is different, similar in make-up, but unique. The same is true of Orphan block quilts. I thought I'd share a journey with you, from the beginning......hopefully to the end. In my last post I share a peek into the box of orphans and scraps from Em of Em's Scrapbag. The unit you see in today picture are "parts" I pulled from that box....6 rectangles of fabric. I'm not sure if they came from the same quilt or not. It really doesn't matter in Orphan block quilts. I thought they are a bit on the dark side, but they sort of seem to like each other. So I sewed them together. And where does it go from there? Well, anywhere your heart desires. I keep an assortment of scraps in containers near my machine. Last week I got new scraps from Betsy. One of those hadn't made it into a drawer as yet. It was long enough to put on two sides of my new "center" unit, altho the scrap was narrower on one end than the other. Does that matter, nope! So lets sew it on and see.
 

Looks good to me...definitely a darker feeling, but ok. This morning, as I sewed the Corn and Beans UFO for Pieces from my scrapbag, I needed something to send through as a leader and ender. There was left over binding near the machine from the dozen potholders I made for DD in early October. Hmmm, that light with touches of gold looks pretty good next to the dark, so I sewed that on. And that's how it begins...an Orphan Blocks Medallion is being born. What will I add next? Well, we'll just wait and see. It could become an "almost" Round Robin type, but probably not. It would be hard to have enough of anything to fit around 4 sides.

Cold mornings, cold engine....

 makes for very slow start ups! Boy, am I not the slowest of the slow? There is an old saying "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak", fits me to a T. I did, however, get a kick start this past week. It arrived in the form of orphan blocks and spare parts from Em of Em's Scrapbag. She has graciously shared scraps and blocks with me before, and it add so much fun getting new ones to play with. Thank you again Em!
 And it certainly was a week of gifts. I had lunch with friend Betsy, my sewing buddy, last week. She sent me home with a bag of selvedges and some of her orphan blocks. She does alot of MAM(mile a minute) piecing, but doesn't do orphan block quilts. I don't mind, I'm happy to get them.
 Here a small top I made from very small homespun or brushed flannel scraps. They were all in a box of donated orphans. The majority were the size you probably don't save. But the Finn in me wanted to see what she could do with them. I was amazed to get 36 6" blocks with very little left overs.
 
I'm thinking it probably needs a border to "stop" it at the edges. I'm considering black. Any opinions?? I also wondered about a rust, or maybe even a reddish purple.

A Reckoning....

 now that's a phrase you don't hear much anymore...LOL. But I like it and it fits todays business. I've strayed away from the sorting of projects and parts, but not too far. My Chippewa gathering basket is serving its purpose well. It now holds orphan blocks and orphan block tops that I've begun and need to finish up. It helps to took through them, sort them somewhat by size or color. Add a few more with lime green to the "beginnings" I already have partly formed, etc. And it emptied two boxes and 1 drawer in the process.
 These are stacks of orphans. The ones on the left are from several of you, just waiting to be chosen and used. The pile on the right is all from one quilt and one person, Susan of WI. I'm not sure she reads this blog, but she knows of my work with orphans and sent these along last spring. I think there may be enough for a small quilt in just this pile...we'll see. Lots of lovely batiks in here and great colors. Makes me wonder about the quilt they are left from.
 
And last but not least, our trusty resident critic, Ebony. She has a BIG day coming up tomorrow. It's her ANNIVERSARY...4 years ago tomorrow, the 29th of September, she arrived in the Valley. Full of complaints and ready to re-structure my life. We've gradually found a comfortable relationship and altho the complaints come hot and heavy at times, she's uniquely herself and here to stay. Tomorrow a look back at her best moments *VBS*

What's cooking...?

 Beginnings of a new MAM quilt top, for one thing. As I had mentioned in the post below, I found I really like the MAM blocks latticed. And the pre-cut purple paisley from friend Jean worked well. But moving right along, I have a lot of odds and ends of 2" white and off white strips laying around. I'm not in the mood for a log cabin, and decided they would do nicely for lattice in this MAM. I've got a stack cut at 2" X 6.5" and am adding them to blocks as I finish each block.
 Saturday I did some marathon sewing accompanied by Season One of The Waltons. The aqua and white burp cloths were given me pre-cut from scrap flannel(One side plain and one patterned). They are a bit smaller than I make them, but didn't let that stop me. The other 3 are made from one gently used receiving blanket. I wouldn't "gift" them( from used flannel) but they will help DD#2 with baby AJ. Poor little guy, he's has acid reflux despite the fact he is being nursed. He spits up A LOT! So the 8 of these are off to his Mommy. I have a couple more gently used receiving blankets and will sew those up for her too. Flannel burp cloths wash, dry and wear beautifully, and get softer with use.
 I managed to get several pillowcases cut, and at least one is sewn. It's headed off to a young man who needs a new one *VBS*
 
And in the scrappy odds and ends department, this oldie is back out and on the table. Hoping to get enough units made to finish it up...SOON!!

Greasing the gears....

 Boy, it's been a very LONG dry spell here on the Orphan Train, hasn't it? I suppose I could/should hang my head in shame and slink away....but....I'm not a "slinker". So I'll just hop back onboard and carry on from here. Join me if you care to...*VBS* This blocks are a smaller version of the fungly blocks Tonya and Bonnie had us making, maybe 2 years ago. They have been sitting in a container taking up space and storage for long enough!
 I had a similar container with the siggy blocks from my Y2K swaps. I swapped 25 2.5" squares plus a siggy blocks with lots and lots of gals I had met on The World Wide Quilt Page. Didn't know what to do with the siggy blocks, so I made them into 9 patches, and then they sat...and sat...and sat! My recent mojo boost got me thinking and doing! I combined the two containers and now I have a small wall quilt for my sewing room.
  I do have lots and lots of orphans to play with, but I pulled out a couple of older projects, determined to make some progress on them, or finish them! I like to sew in the morning, with my cup of coffee and a DVD. I sew for about the length of the DVD episode(or two) and then get busy with my day. I decided it's the perfect length of time to make progress on an existing project. I could be(and love)doing more MAM blocks, no cutting or planning required, but I need some of these older projects to be GONE. So that's my focus right now. Senior moment and I can't remember if I showed the quilt below or not. It's a MAM quilt, with the lattice compliment of friend Jean, all pre-cut into 2.5" strips. This one went off for donation. I like the look quite a bit, and think I will be doing another in this style.
 

Change of plans.....

And at least a full weeks warning if you want to join me next Friday in my Frugal Friday shindig.
I was off to a good start this a.m. but a call from my son's employer changed my day. He managed to crush one finger on his hand in a machine at work. Guess I'm the next best thing to 911 since he lives alone. I have pathetically little sewing to show you, but I will be back with a picture...I promise!

Tomorrow is Friday....A Finn Frugal Friday Feature..

coming your way. Are you ready? Do you want to play? Do you need more warning than this?? Well...I did mention it last Friday...does that count??I'm going to DO IT!! Every Friday til next year, if I can. Does it matter what you sew? Not really, but it would be fun if it was something 'improv'. Blocks from the orphan box, maybe just one or two,with stuff added. Or sting blocks, if you aren't sure about orphans.
I don't remember that we've had a lot of string blocks, or quilts, shown on the Orphan Train. But Mary, at Making Scrap Quilts from Stash, has loads of them. It's an ongoing project, and ALL of November is one BIG BLOCK PARTY with them. Why not sew up some to donate?

Or play in your scrap box or Scrap Saver's cut strips? I'm going to start sewing about 9 CST..and will sew through pretty much the whole day. I'm thinking about orphan blocks, and have spent some time today pulling some into a box. I mostly fly by the seat of my pants, so we'll see what tomorrow brings. Might just be that I'll sew string blocks *VBS* I will post my progress at the end of the day..a real Frugal Friday Feature *VBS*

I've misplaced my Frugal Fridays....

think I'd better fix that. A few weeks back, Michele, of Hearts and Hands, posted a wonderful quilt that she called "Everything but the Kitchen Sink". I love the quilt and I love the idea of making Friday a day dedicated to the piecing of such. If you have orphan blocks laying around, or odd parts and bits of things, try sewing them to each other. Probably 'filler' strips or squares may be needed. It's not hard. You can't do it wrong. It starts small and grows, like a garden. The sewing machine is your plot of earth, and a un-used quilt square is your 'seed'. Take it from there and see what happens*VBS* These happy little string guys came tucked into a box of fabric and orphan blocks I received from Julie, of Through the barn door. I love them...there aren't many, but they will make a great center for a orphan block medallion. I sewed them together on Wednesday. They are in an unpressed state laying here for their picture.
 This almost completed top is like Michele's "Everything" quilt, except she used her orphans and I've used dontated orphans *VBS* This one could be pinned and quilted. Time to get busy again!!!
 And here's another waiting for pinning. Again made with donated orphan blocks. I'm always happy to accept those from any of you gals who have no desire to work with them. I know that time is often very precious, due to work schedules and young children. Luckily I have lots of time and not many committments. Think about having a Frugal Friday in your week *VBS* Hugs, Finn

A long day's journey....

Things have been pretty quiet here at the Orphan Train. Most everyone is busy with one project or commitment or another. Including me. Of course I feel guilty about that, but it is what is. Last week a received a neat letter from Sue, Of From the Magpie's Nest. She has made a wonderful new Orphan Train quilt and wanted to share it with us. I'm going to add her words, but this time they will ALL be under the pictures and you'll have to fit them in where they go...LOL Today was a whole new form of getting this published from her files to my photo publisher...took awhile, but I got! Enjoy *VBS* 
 
 
 

finished the top and backing for my flannel Lincoln Logs friendship quilt and realized that I still had a lot of flannel left over. Then I read about the Hope Squared Project (http://margaretshopechest.blogspot.com/). They’re trying to create some 400 quilts to distribute to homeless school children in Grand Rapids, MI. I have ties to the area and felt compelled to contribute something if I could. I started by cutting 3” patches out of my flannel scraps and making 4Patch blocks. Then I made a couple of heart blocks. Then some liberated stars. I decided I wanted to make a quilt big enough for an older child (but not as big as twin size!) so I started putting the blocks together in rows roughly 54” wide. I used strips of the flannel scraps as filler between the blocks and kept making 4Patch blocks as leaders and enders. I even made a few Pinwheel blocks. Eventually I put together four rows, each one 12 or 15” high. Then I had to figure out where to place the rows in relation to each other. There were some more strips added to make things fit, and the 4Patch and Pinwheel blocks sort of became top and bottom borders. Voila! A 54 x 72” quilt made entirely out of leftovers!

Season's Greeting.....

It's never to early to think about making a lovely quilt for the holiday season *VBS* Here is another of Del Jeanne's creations, using Orphan Blocks. 

"A Christmas Gathering"--Christmas orphans collected over several years--made some, won some, had some given to me, but I think they look nice together!"
I hope Del Jeanne will continue to make Orphan Train quilts, she does a super job!

Doubled Delight...

Here I am, as promised, back with not just ONE, but TWO of Del Jeanne's orphan block quilts. I decided to combine them in one post, they seem to belong together. Here's what Del Jeanne had to say about the two of them. "Orphan Blocks Soldier Quilt"--just more patriotic orphans, put together for a wounded soldier (like "For An American Hero" which you already have a picture of)."

"Soldier Quilt"--same as above--fewer orphan blocks, but lots of orphan scraps that made crumb style blocks for it!"
I'll be back tomorrow with another great Orphan Train quilt. We're rolling.....


 

New Orphan blocks quilts...

Part 1 *VBS* I received a lovely email last week from Del Jeanne. She has been an Orphan Train traveler for awhile now, and her latest creations are lovely. This is the first of 4 that she is sharing with us. I'll let her tell you about this one in her own words. 

"Autumn Potpourri" was given to a friend who lost her husband. He was only 55, and she's a few years younger. I made several of these blocks from autumn charms I received in a guild swap shortly after plunging into quilting. Not really being a lover of autumn colors, they languished out of sight for a long time. Then I won a few autumn blocks in a guild block raffle, and was given a few more, so I finally got inspired to put all of them together. Right after I finished it, her husband died--in November, so it seemed like it was destined for her."
I've decided to split the quilts into 4 seperate posts *VBS*, come back tomorrow to see another lovely creation by the very talented Del Jeanne. As far as I know Del Jeanne doesn't have a blog, so be sure to leave her some compliments here!

Rolling.....

onward in my new quest *VBS* Have you decided to join Michele and I in the Virtual Quilting Bee for Charity? I hope so *VBS* This box of "goodies" from Chris in San Diego, CA has been adding and fueling my actions the past couple of days. As I use her generous donation of parts, bits, strings and blocks, I feel like a pirate with a treasure chest. As I mentioned yesterday, the hospital wash basin,filled to nearly overflowing with MAM beguns(or as friend Ila called it this a.m., "quilt seeds"...don't you just love it?)jolted me into action. I mentioned, over at Pieces, that I would estimate one to two hundred "seeds" that would become MAM blocks. I decided it would be fun(for me, who loves a challenge)to ACTUALLY count them. But not just count...to count out 10 PER DAY and finish them into 6.5" blocks. Why 10? Well, at 6.5", 10 of them gives a vertical row of 60". And that's a good length for a donation quilt *VBS*
 Here's the collage I made of various parts I found in Chris's treasure box. Some of these are already part of a quilt, some before the picture was even taken back in May. I am re-running it in thanks to Chris and all the others great gals who have donated orphan blocks, scraps and parts over the 2 years of this blog. The variety I have to chose from really makes it fun and much easier to make the Orphan Train and associated quilts. Thanks to ALL of you! *VBS*

In the midst of the letters and numbers.....

I sometimes get lost!! This is technically NOT a second post...*VBS*...I manage to mess up where I inserted the text in the post below. When I try to correct it, I get an error message that will NOT let me re-publish...soooooo...here are the links you need to Michele's Virtual Quilting Bee and to my post about the pan of scraps.

"Goin' take a sentimental journey....."

...gonna set my heart at ease". Yup, another old favorite song *VBS* Life is a journey, altho we tend to lose track of that little fact. Life doesn't happen all at once, it's a process and mostly we are too absorbed in our daily life to step back and measure. I don't know how other people feel about "measuring", I wish I did. I'm rather old to have just come to the realization that I'm an 'inchworm' in discuise. That's a song I like also *VBS*. The lucky inchworm measures the marigolds. I am, undoubt, a more sinister measure-er. The passage of time fascinates me. I might as well try to count the grains of sand on the beach as to grasp the passage of time, of things in motion, of movement. And yet, it is that ability to measure time that helps seperate us from the animal kingdom. So why all the talk of measuring?? Well, yesterday I blogged about scraps(and pieces)yet again at my regular blog, Pieces from my scrapbag. This sidebar, as well as that one, contain pictures and tutorial about my approach to scraps. I showed this pan(an old hospital wash basin)of "beguns" for MAM blocks. Read that post if you want all the details, cause to make a long story short...in order to find out JUST how many "beguns" were in that pan, I'd count out 10 PER DAY, finish them and set them aside, until all were finished 6.5" blocks for a mile-a-minute quilt top. The first half of the collage is the pan of "beguns", the second half is today 10 completed blocks, sized and ready to go!
 And since I finished that us, lickity split, I made 3 more of these string blocks that I need to enlarge the string quilt in first half of the picture. My friend Michele, of With heart and hands, a quilting journey, departed on a Virtual Quilting Bee of Charity quilts this past week. I joined her, but never got around to blogging about it. Last week, and part of this week, I have made MAM blocks from an abundant pile of flannel trimmings and scraps. As of today I am finished with them... they number 54-8.5" squares(to be made into a donation quilt). I'm going to carry on with sewing the bits and pieces, the backbone of frugal quiltmaking, the :scraps to treasure" way of thinking. I'm not sure how long this will last, but if you are so inclined, and not too busy measuring things,*VBS*, please join us!