Orphan Block quilt.....

and a truly great one! I have Bonnie's( http://quiltville.blogspot.com/ ) permission to post these pictures for Orphan Block Challenge gals....*VBS* This quilt in progress, appears on her Jan. 7, 2007 blog post. I absolutely love what a great job she did with these multiple orphan blocks. Off course, Bonnie is an old hand at working with scraps, and that's really a plus when working with orphans. It's definitely a challenge in balance, color placement, and focus. Lots harder than working with blocks you have made that compliment each other and fit together size wise.
The lights and darks are nicely balanced in Bonnie's...she did soooooooo well with what she had. Not a lot of filler strips needed. If you don't have this many blocks(and few of us do) you can piece blocks specifically to put into this type quilt. Personally I have a bad habit of wanting piece any new blocks that catches my eye. I don't necessarily want to make an entire quilts worth, and I'm not a big fan of sampler quilts, altho Orphan Block quilts fall very close to BOM tops and Samplers. Actually I think
there was a 'spin off' by pattern designers into the BOM as we see them today. With various sizes of blocks and piecing and applique mixed together. And we love them!! This is taking it a couple of steps further and putting in what you normally would say doesn't work..together,i.e. the black background Amish blocks. I've post all four pictures that Bonnie has on that 1/7/07 post so you can see the HUGE variety of blocks she had to work with. And a true Maverick,she
chose to add the wonky letters, ala Tonya http://lazygalquilting.blogspot.com/ . Makrs it uniquely hers....way to go Bonnie!
I know it's not a big deal, but I am thinking of beginning a second blog, based on Orphan Train Heading West, and posting all the pictures of orphan quilts that I can get permission to post. I always give full credit and acknowledgement and a link(if I can) back to where a quilt came from.
I think it would be nice to be able to see a variety of orphan block quilts and tops without having to link all over Blogland. Look for me to add that addy soon along with a link. Believe it or not, my creative juices are running wild and free again,
thank goodness. It's been a long dry spell for me. I start something new, but lose interest almost before I gain any speed. That should have told me I wasn't following my spirit and doing what I love best...*VBS*
I've finished the binding(finally) on that little drag around for Zander. And I'm ready to bind the Gees Bend Wanna Be's. I got all inspired by the Doll Quilt Swap that is going on, and whipped up a little One Patch, but that still needs borders. I'm also sewing HST's for the Depression Quilt I started about year ago and abandoned. Getting back into the Orphan Block mind set helped me more than I could have guessed. I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of some of what's happening in my sewing room *VBS*