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Inspirations Orphans Rehomed I think we all have odd blocks which don't quite have a home to go to; wrong size; wrong shape; oddments from workshops; ideas which didn't quite appeal enough to make 360 of them for a full-sized quilt... I have long had a policy of making samples in a limited palette, which does rather make them easier to put together later, but, of course, sizes vary... So, here's how to make them fit together... It helps to have some idea about what size you want them to be, and we make a lot of quilts Modular - that is, based on a set of measurements which nest together, so, perhaps 4, 8 and 12 inch blocks (don't forget to add your seam allowances, so actually 4-1/2, 8-1/2 and 12-1/2 inches cut). Or 3, 6, 9 and 12 inches, with added 1/2s... Lots of blocks can be made useful by trimming to size, like this one Not all blocks will do this, of course - if you have nice points at the edges you may need to expand them to the next size up Here's an odd Wonky Star to which I added sides from the scrap box Trimming each time One piece is too short, so I sew two together and match the seam... ...for a more interesting result And trim... Here's a little leftover Tiger which seemed to need to be set on-point Lay your block on a ruler to find out how big to cut your corner triangles - you can see here that 4 inches or so would do, but I wanted the block to "float" nicely and give myself some elbow-room So I cut two 6-inch squares and cut them again on the diagonal (this gives nice square edges to the finished block, most crucial!) Mark and pin the centres of the block and the diagonal edge of your triangles to keep it all even, and sew triangles on opposite sides Press, trim Add the remaining two triangles, sew, press, and trim to the required size... This little block needed matching sides, unlike the star above Like so Not wasted! And the green ones at the top? Simple curved blocks made as demonstrations on a handcrank were added-to quite randomly-sized on the same two sides each time. Pressed nicely, then cut to a set of chosen heights from 4 to 6-1/2 inches, with the widths slightly uneven and making the most of each block - these will be joined into rows of the same height and the odd widths will make the resulting quilt more interesting. I will do a tutorial for this block (Moonrise) later... Happy Sewing HH

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