Tutorial Tuesday - Orphan Block Box

A cute little box with a quilt block interior. A fun way to use up and show off those leftover blocks.

Supply List:

Quilt Block of your choice
Batting – cut to same dimensions as quilt block
Backing fabric cut per instructions below

Cutting the backing fabric:

You will be wrapping the backing fabric around the block and batting to form the binding using an “edge turned binding”.

You can make this binding as wide or as narrow as you wish. Simply determine the finished width of binding you desire (I like somewhere between ½ and ¼ inch) and follow the formula below to cut your backing fabric.

Size of block + (width of binding *4) = size of backing
Example: 10” block with a 1/2” binding
10 + (.5 * 4) = 12” backing square

Assembly

Layer the quilt block with the batting and backing fabric. Be sure the block and batting are centered on the backing fabric. Pin or baste in place so they do not shift during the quilting stage.

Hand or Machine Quilt as desired. Please remember that your quilting stitches will show on the outside of the box.

Measure in ½ inch (or width of your desired binding if different from example) from each corner OF THE BLOCK and make a mark.

Fold the corner of the backing in towards the center, being sure it is even on both sides.

Trim off the corner so that it is even with the mark made in step 3. PRESS

Fold the backing fabric sides in half towards the center, pressing lightly. Fold them in again, press, and pin in place – aligning the corners as you fold in.

Stitch down this “binding” by hand or machine.

Pinch in each side, finding the middle, and pin about ¼ of the way up. Do this on each side, being sure each side is even with the others.

Blind stitch these edges together, and fold the flaps of the box back.

NOTE: To make a taller box with a smaller opening, stitch further up the sides of the box. If you go much further than ½ way up, it becomes harder to see the beauty of the inside of the box, but you can play with your block to see what works best for you.

For another variation – try stitching up the corners to make a wide, shallow box.

This works well for blocks with solid color corners, while the basic version shows off more detailed block corners.

(this block was made using the Lazy Angle ruler from Lazy Girl Designs.)

(.pdf version is pending -check back here soon. Thanks for your patience)