Hello, friends! Louise here to share some lovely quilts donated to Covered in Love by Penn-Zion's Evangelical Lutheran Church and Brush Creek Evangelical Lutheran Church cooperative ministry. They are located in the Harrison City-Irwin, PA area. Aren't the quilts beautiful? All are clearly carefully planned and lovingly sewn.
As you enjoy the quilty eye candy, I'd like to share some thoughts about orphan blocks and how they end up in my hands. Kat receives donations of blocks from many quilters, and most don't have any explanation of why they have been sent. She forwards them on to me in a big box of exciting, mystery blocks.
Here are my theories on why blocks become orphans.
1. The sewist's skills have improved, or the 1/4" seam that wasn't. We all know the importance of that scant quarter-inch seam. It takes time to get it right, and if you're just starting to make a particular block, sometimes the first few will come out the wrong size. I receive quite a few 8.25" blocks, 12.95" blocks, even 8.25" x 12.95" blocks.
2. Tastes change. It's easy to fall in love with the latest, greatest fabric line only to cool your jets about it a couple of years later. Maybe she bought a fat quarter bundle of the cutest unicorn design and started a quilt for a child, only to find that child now is going through a goth stage. Time flies!
3. She bit off more than she can chew and the blocks are too hard. The Double Wedding Ring king size quilt is such a classic and many a quilter has met her match trying to finish even making all the blocks.
4. The sampler turned out to have too many challenging new skills and she hates making some of them. Applique, paper piecing, AND curved blocks? Argh!! It's okay to learn that you never want to embroider another stitch. However, it does make it tricky to finish that 20 block sampler.
5. She made a major mistake on a complicated block. 87 tiny pieces and three right in the middle are turned wrong. Why does my circle of flying geese look like one is heading north for the winter??
6. She made a major mistake on ALL the blocks. I've seen beautiful sampler blocks in gorgeous fabrics all carefully trimmed to 8" instead of 8.5". So many points trimmed off accidentally. Ouch.
7. She made extra blocks that just didn't make the final cut. Maybe one fabric in the line wasn't as pretty as the others, or the contrast of the values wasn't quite as bold as the other blocks. It's smart to make 26 blocks when you need 24, just in case, but two must be banished. Because let's face it, most people don't need two matching potholders to go with their bed quilt.
8. She finished the beautiful pieced center but hates making borders. I get it; borders can be boring and tedious. It's absolutely fine to donate that center because I *love* making borders. And binding, too. Something about long, uniform strips of fabric floats my boat.
9. And finally, she thinks her batch of one-off orphans can't play well with others. These are her mistakes, her extras, her frustrations. The weird colors that don't match her stash. Seven blocks in a ziplock bag in a drawer.
Here the good news: Louise's Home for Wayward Blocks has a place for ALL of them. I have seven storage boxes of orphans, in every color, design, size, and quality of construction. Big, small, not-square, points cut off, colors from the 1985 Sears catalog, half-appliqued...all have a place and all will eventually find their tribe and make it into a quilt. I love working with your orphan blocks and appreciate that it takes a village to make my Covered in Love quilts. Thanks for sending them in.
And thanks again to the Lutherans who stitched up these gorgeous quilts!
Covered in Love is a 501(c)(3) charity that donates quilts to patients dying in the hospital, over 1700 so far! The Summer 2026 block drive is live now. Check out the main post HERE if you want to get involved.
