Saturday 31 October 2015

The Orphanage Quilt


If old WIPs make a satisfying finish, imagine all the good feelings brought on by finishing six at once! This quilt has been on my mind for along time, back when I asked my Do Good Stitches bee back in February to send me some scrappy improvised blocks. And then as they arrived, I added them to my orphan block pile, wondering when I was finally going to take the plunge and sew this thing together. To say it made me nervous was an understatement. This is not usually how I quilt. It's not a pile of squares sitting next to the machine and sewn together at random and it's not carefully laid out blocks that need concentration and working out. It sits somewhere in the middle, not in a happy medium kind of way, but in a road-less-travelled, throw-the-rule-book kind of way.


My orphan block box is a scraggly mix of leftovers from finished projects and abandoned quilts that started with a bright future but quickly resulted in disillusionment. It is a place of discomfort and guilt, bereft of inspiration.What else do you do with leftover blocks? It's times like this I realise that in my quilting life, more than anywhere else, I am a hoarder.

And it's a good thing I am, don't you think? I used only about half of my leftovers, but with the ones that made their way back to the box, I now feel a sense of peace and purpose. One day I'll do this again. Maybe it can be a yearly ritual. Like a jubilee. Setting those old expectations and dreams and "I don't know what to do with this so you can go here" into a quilt to start afresh with new projects and a little less guilt.


As I was showing my progress on Instagram, a few folks asked me to explain my progress, so I took lots of photos to give you an idea here. Like I said, there's no rules in improvisation. I went mostly by feel.

There's no way I could have achieved this without my design wall. I laid out the blocks, keeping in mind that I want to sew them together without going around corners. So I made them into bigger blocks of 2-4 pieces. Coincidentally, most of these were divisible by 3. That means they were 3", 6", 9", 12", etc, so a little mindful arranging made them fit together easily. When they didn't, I had strips and strips of leftover half-rectangle triangles from my Tent City quilt that I added to anything that was too small, and then trimmed back down if I needed to without worrying about keeping my points intact.

I sewed those bigger blocks into 3 large slabs and was almost going to sew those together when I realised I was out of wadding. This actually felt a lot like providence because I did have long, wide strips of wadding, leftover from other quilts mostly the perfect size for my slabs. The one that was too narrow, I sewed to another and pressed the seams open so it would fit.


I used a Quilt-as-you-go method I first came across on Maureen's blog, which I had only ever used with smaller blocks. I spray basted the quilt top slab to one side of the wadding and then quilted lightly over the two layers. Then I trimmed all the way around the excess wadding. And then I did the same with the other two slabs.



I trimmed the whole quilt a little again, just where there was uneven edges. Then using a 1/4" and my walking foot, I sewed the quilted slabs right sides together. I lay out my backing fabric and taped it to the floor so it would stay taut, sprayed and laid out the quilted top.


I then went back to my machine and first quilted either side of the thick seams to hold them down. Then I used a straight, meandering stitch, basically zig-zagging my way around the quilt. I wanted to try something different and more improvised than straight line quilting, but now that I'm done, I wish I'd stuck with my favourite! I used a mix of hand-quilting, thick variegated Aurifil thread, and my go-to white. It was a fun experiment, trying to keep with the improv theme, but I think simple, horizontal lines would have held it together more.


Undoubtedly, the very best part of quilt-as-you-go is when you suddenly remember that you can use you backing as your binding! I simply trimmed around the backing 1" from the quilt top edge. I then folded it in half towards the quilt, then over the edge of the quilt again, and top stitched. When I came to a corner, I folded the overhanging pieces to the left to make a little triangle. The I folded the same method, folding the fabric in half and then over again to make a neat mitered corner.


I'm not sure if I would usually use a binding this dark, I generally pick out a colour somewhere in the middle, but I love how this all hangs together. In a quilt with a lot more low volume than I usually try in scrappy quilts, I think it makes the darker tones shout out happily.


There is much joy in this quilt, in the trying something new, using something old, freeing myself of quilts hanging over my head, some for years. Some were hard to let go, like my Penny Sampler. I would love to make that quilt again someday! But for now, the colours stumped me, I was never sure about them. Other blocks were a relief to use, like the Ohio Stars and the leaves. The leaves were generously made for me by an old bee and the colours just didn't go together like I hoped. Oh, it's good to see how much I've learned about colour over the last five years! I also love the contrast and interest the lovely flowers add, but I was sad when they arrived late, lost in transit for weeks before getting here. I'm glad they finally have a home!


All in all, this quilt was made by about 20 people from about 15 old quilts! Because half were for do. Good Stitches, it'll be heading to a charity next. A quilt of previously hope-less blocks for someone struggling for hope. Gosh I love long-coming finishes! I love new starts, renewed confidence, and stories with happy endings.

22 comments:

  1. That is just stunning. I love how it all came together, and your willingness to get out of your comfort zone. We could all use a bit more of that. :)

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  2. It's beautiful! I love your approach to using what you had...it looks very cohesive!

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  3. A stunning and inspirational piece. Thanks for explaining your process, too.

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  4. Wow! It's fantastic! The recipient will be thrilled. The colors are so beautiful all together. It's a very happy quilt.

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  5. I can only imagine that this quilt will bring someone joy. It is a lovely quilt with a great story.

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  6. Hi Jodi! I love this quilt very much! It has so beautiful colours and it is most exciting to watch! There is so much to look and to find! x Teje

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  7. You never fail to amaze me. Your work is always incredible.

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  8. This is a gorgeous quilt and all of the blocks fit together so well that it looks like you may have planned it. I am actually collecting orphan blocks - deliberately making them from time to time between quilts - so I can make a quilt like yours.

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  9. Very very beautyful :-)
    You are so clever, wish I can sew.
    Happy Halloween.

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  10. Very well done! I like your tip for doing the corners on a self-binding. Whoever receives this colourful quilt will have hours of fun looking at all the different blocks!

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  11. I do love it! And hey you know it doesn't have to be quilt as you go to turn the backing to binding?! My first few quilts I did it cause it seemed the easiest method in my how to quilt book Xx

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  12. Lovely, I think all the low volume is what makes it work....

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  13. I discovered your blog yesterday, and just wanted to tell you how much I'm enjoying it. Not just the quilts, which are gorgeous, but also that you blog frequently, and talk about your process, both the thoughts behind what you do and the actual construction. I live in the tropics now, but at one time I too was a NSW country girl, and I loved the life! (BTW, I'm a WordPress blogger and your blog won't let me comment with my WordPress ID, so I'm using Google+ by default)

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  14. It turned out great, like these blocks were just waiting for each other. Awesome!

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  15. Fabulous, you have inspired me to get out my ufo's and see what can be done with them! X

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  16. Wow your quilt looks amazing.
    Hard to believe it is made from orphan blocks.
    What a great finish

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  17. This is beautiful Jodi! I recognise my bee blocks in there and so glad you were able to use all of the blocks to create something fabulous for a good cause. Thank you for explaining your process, I have yet to do quilt as you go but really want to try it!

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  18. Jodie, your quilt is beautiful and so cohesive, which takes a lot of talent. I am putting an orphanage quilt on my dream list for 2016

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  19. It was lovely to see those feather blocks Id forgotten about sitting there happily amongst the flowers and crosses and geese and stars and.... great job Jodi.

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I so love your comments! I read all of them and reply when I can. If you don't hear back, I'm lost under a mound of scraps or outside jumping on the trampoline with the kids. Jodi. xx