02 Import Blocks into PreQuilt

// Orphan Block Quilts //

TIP: Think of your orphan block almost as if it were a printed fabric swatch. We'll import it into the FABRIC section on your dashboard.

Now that you have photographed your blocks, we can import them into PreQuilt! To do this, we'll treat the blocks like a fabric swatch.

01 Bulk Upload to PreQuilt

Now that you have all the photographs of your blocks on your computer, you can now bulk upload them to PreQuilt.

1. On the dashboard, click on the 'FABRIC' tab.

   
2. Click on the 'Bulk Upload' button on the far left tile.

   
3. A pop-up of your computer's file management system will open. Select all the images of your orphan quilt blocks and click 'Open'.

   • Note: I am using a Mac - your system might look different.

   

   • Note: If you are uploading lots of blocks at once, this might take a few minutes. Please be patient while the dots spin.

   
4. You should now see your uploaded orphan blocks in your Fabric Dashboard.

   • Note: PreQuilt will automatically import the names of the files. So, feel free rename your files on your computer before importing to PreQuilt to help stay organized.

   

   My orphan blocks uploaded into PreQuilt as fabric swatches.

02 Prep Your Blocks

Now that the blocks are in PreQuilt, we can prepare them for use in a quilt. While naming your blocks is not essential, it will be very helpful to 'trim' your orphan blocks.

1. Click on the 'Edit' button on the tile for one of your orphan blocks.

2. A pop-up window will appear. First off, I'm going to change the name of the block to correspond with the label that I'm using to keep my blocks organized. In this example, I'll change the name to 'B01'.

   

   Block with imported name.

   

   Block renamed.
3. Next, crop the image so that only the block is visible and the background is cropped out of the image. To do this, increase or decrease the values for bottom, top, right and left. You can use the arrow buttons or use the arrows on your keyboard.

   • Tip: If you hold the shift button while pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard, you can change the number in increments of 10.

   • Tip: Cropping doesn't need to be perfect, you can still get a good visualization even if the block is warped.

   • Tip: You can even crop out the seam allowance, if you'd like. I usually don't, since the extra effort isn't necessary for visualizing the potential of the orphan blocks.

   

   Block cropped on the top and bottom.
4. Once cropped as desired, click 'Save'.

   

   Block completely cropped.
5. Repeat Steps 02.1-4 for all your blocks.