Red, White & Blue Orphan Blocks
I always want to create something with red, white and blue during summer. While organizing a closet recently I found these red, white and blue orphan blocks. I saved them for a scrap “leftovers” quilt that I forgot all about. I put them up on the design wall to look at them and think. What additional blocks should I make? How should I fill in space? There is a LOT of white here – evidence I made them years ago. What would you do with them?
The block below is a leftover from my Anthem quilt. Anthem is my first quilt pattern. I love it, and I also love it’s sister version, Peppermint, which is most popular (instructions for both are included in the pattern). Right now I’m working on an updated Anthem that is similar to Peppermint. It’s fun to see a block from so long ago.
I also found this lone star block. It’s crazy to think that this little block started my journey with lone stars and pattern writing. My tutorial is used by many people and I’m grateful to contribute to the online quilting community with it. I cherish this little block. It definitely deserves a spot in a quilt!
Below is another fun lone star block. I remember this as the first time I swapped out diamonds and stood the star on a tip. I just finished a very personal quilt with a lone star on point like this. I’m grateful for where that exploration has led.
I had also forgotten about my Anchor quilt block tutorial. That was a fun block to design!
All these blocks were test blocks or extras, or parts of a quilt pattern I never finished. I can’t remember the designer or the quilt name for the other two large blocks. I felt uninspired and quit making them after the first two. But they will be useful in a leftovers quilt. And that little boat block was a long ago experiment. I have a vintage quilt top from that block which needs quilting.
As I asked earlier, what would you do to pull these together and create magic? I will definitely add more color! Lots more red, white and blue needed here.
Life is really crazy right now and I don’t know how much time I’ll have to play. I hope I don’t have to take them down and put them back away because I like these red, white and blue orphan blocks. I hope to use them well!