What Can You Do With Different Sizes of Blocks?

 

The problem of having blocks of different sizes has come up in a number of chats I have had over the past month or so.  There are lots of reasons why we end up with blocks that just won't fit together.  T-shirt quilts are notorious for this because the sizes of the logos are all over the map and there is always one that just won't fit in no matter how you try to make it.  Sometimes we get swap blocks where the sizes are all over the map.  Sometimes we have an issue assembling a block and end up with different sizes.  Sometimes, like in the quilt pictured, we have absolutely no idea what we are doing and we just keep winging it until it seems like it might actually fit together. 

 

The easiest answer is to trim.  Find the smallest block and trim everything else to that size.  If you are good with wonky, and believe me, I am often good with wonky, then just go for it.  If you aren't into wonky then you will need to center your blocks and trim them carefully.  Use the lines on your ruler to help you line things up to get the even trim.  In the image above I have drawn a 16 patch trimmed wonky and trimmed square.  Both are exaggerated to show the difference.   These 4, 9, 16 patch blocks are probably the easiest ones to trim up and make work.  You will know the sizes are off but they won't be seen from the back of a galloping horse so they just aren't there for anyone else!

 Blocks with points start to get trickier and you need to look for other answers. Using sashing is one way to address this.  Slight variations in the width of a sashing are less noticeable than a completely severed point. You just need to think carefully about how you are going to place your blocks and how to manage cornerstones if you are using them.  Perhaps put the block that has a wider sash in a bottom corner.  Leave off the cornerstones if you can't make them line up.

Trimming and sashing work for the slight variations you can get when piecing blocks of a similar size.  But it gets more complicated when your blocks are random sizes.  I have a set of wonky house blocks I received in a block swap.  I love them  But they are all different sizes.  I haven't looked at them in a while but I am about ready to address the issue. 

 

When you have blocks of completely different sizes perhaps from fussy cutting or orphan blocks you may need a slightly different approach.  The trick to dealing with random size blocks is figuring out how to make them fit into a common set of sizes.  First you need to figure out the measurements of the largest block you have.  Everything else will have to be sized up to match or paired up with other blocks to make the same size.  

 

One approach is to add borders to the blocks to bring them up to a consistent size.  This allows you to take one small block and make it fit with a bigger block.  Borders can be even but they don't have to be. The block in the center above has a 6 inch block in the center with 3 inch borders placed evenly around it.  The block on the left has a narrow border but it is still centered.  The block on the right is offset.  You can even make the central block sit at an angle (see my example at the end of the post).  It doesn't matter how you do it as long as you like the way it looks. 

 

The blocks pictured above represent a situation where your blocks are wildly different in size.  Let's pretend that the largest block measures 12 inches finished.  (That means the unfinished block is 12.5 inches on each side.)  You can easily put together blocks in units of 3", 6" and 9" (finished) that will all pair up in various ways to equal your 12" (finished) block.

You can also combine smaller blocks into a block of the appropriate size.  These are several examples of how to use 3, 6 and 9 inch blocks and strips to make a 12 in block.  We've already seen the first example of just adding a 3" border to a 6" block.  But each of the squares around it could also be individual 3 inch squares.  The picture on the top right shows a 9 inch block with three 3 inch blocks on the side and a three inch border on the bottom.  Lower Right is four 6 inch blocks.  Lower left show two solid 6 inch blocks and two 4 patch blocks (made of 3 inch blocks) themselves made in to a 12 inch four patch.  The variations are endless.

It is important to remember that you can add in your coordinating fabrics as blocks or swatches.  You can still add in sashing and you can split up a block if you like.  Perhaps adding two stacked 6 inch blocks to one end and finishing up the row with a set of six 3 inch blocks.  It will all come out even in the end.

You can add any other easily stacked up measurements like 2, 4, 6 8 and 12 inch (finished) blocks.  It all depends upon what you have and where you want to go with it.  

The quilt pictured at the top of the page was a quilt without a plan.  I had photos of all sorts of sizes and not idea how to fit them together.  I just kept sewing things together and then sewing them in to rows until it mostly worked.  There are definitely some weird fits and starts in that particular quilt but everyone sees the pictures and no one sees the weirdness.

I was still learning while making this quilt and chose to keep adding random strips to the pictures in this one.  It is vaguely log cabin style but it is mostly just weird angles.  I trimmed each block to the final size and then sewed them together just like they were 'normal' blocks.