THE FINAL ROUND ROBIN QUILT

This is Christina's Round Robin Quilt. She's my quilting buddy from Long Island, NY. Her quilt is as vibrant and beautiful as she is. I love the pinks and blues with that great gold, don't you? I think my favorite part is the flowers in the corner blocks. It makes the quilt really sing.


Since most of these quilts were going to go on a bed, we decided that the last addition would only be to the top and bottom to make them a tad more rectangular. For this quilt I tried to use all of the main colors and added squares in pink, gold and blue. I made the middle squares on each end a four-patch block.

I also included a picture of the back of the quilt as it was the prettiest of the bunch. I think this quilt could truly be called reversable as the back is just as interesting as the front.

This whole round robin project was a lot of work to be honest. But it was worth all the stress and frustration. The project challenged us to use our skills and our imagination to join together and make a true heirloom for each person. And I think it brought us a tad closer together. We may be separated by miles and miles, but we had a common goal and a love of quilting that brought these "quilting sisters" together. Maybe we should do this again? But not for a while.

ROUND ROBIN VI

Though picking a favorite quilt from our round robin project is almost impossible, this one would be near the top of the list. I love homespuns in quilts and this one has a huge variety of colors and styles. This super quilt belongs to Jen and I know she is so happy with it. When I got this one in the mail and saw the homespun, the first thought I had was denim. I love denim with homespun. So I dug out three partial bolts of homespun I was lucky enough to find when one of our local Walmarts closed out their fabric department. They were in shades of red, green and blue. Then I went to my precious stash of recycled denim and cut corner blocks for my addition. Of course I used my usual squares, alternating the different homespun fabrics. I don't have a picture of the quilt completed, but there was only one more person for it to go to after me so this is pretty close. It has such a homey feel to it, I know it will be treasured for years to come.

ROUND ROBIN V

The next round robin in line is from another of my Texas buddies - Lee. Lee loves purple! But, then, who doesn't? Here's her quilt as I received it. There's a beautiful star block in the middle with lots of lovely purple fabric all around. Of course I tore thru my stash looking for purple fabric to add my part. Not being an experienced quilter, I again chose squares for my addition. I added two rows of assorted purple fabrics from light to dark. This was a really fun addition, trying to get the sizes and proportions right. Good workout for the brain, I guess.

Here's the finished product. I love the addition of greens to the mix - a good color with purple. And the cream bits just add to the punch. I know that Lee will treasure this quilt for a long, long time, just like I do mine.

ROUND ROBIN IV

Here we are at the halfway point with Round Robin quilt #4. this came from my friend, Suzanne. How she finds time to quilt I'll never know since she spends so much time taking care of her family and running the family farm with her hubby. Nevertheless, she does beautiful work. This quilt reflects her sunny outlook with a beautiful appliqued sunflower on pink and white blocks. The challenges increase as the quilts are now getting bigger with more additions from other participants. How to top the previous addition? Well, I decided to pick up the pink and add in some yellow to highlight the sunflower. I added two rows of squares in three shades of pink and one yellow. In the corners I added a fifth fabric in black with a small sunflower print to carry on the theme.

Here's the finished product being admired by Suzanne's darling dog, Chloe Rose. I just love the way it turned out. This quilt will be a great keepsake for years to come, not to mention a bright and sunny quilt to snuggle under on those cold Pennsylvania winter days and nights. Did you notice the sunflowers on the corners? So cute the way the stem extends down the side of the quilt. What a wonderful, creative group of women!!

ROUND ROBIN III

Here's Round Robin Quilt number 3 as I received it. It is for my friend, Lynn, one of my Texas buddies. I think this quilt reflects her sweet personality perfectly. I just love all the pastel florals. Again, I love the pinwheel blocks, too! I'm going to have to work on mine so I can include them in future quilts. The original block is the pinwheel with the first row of squares. Next is how it looked after I added a row of squares in pastel florals in pink, blue and yellow. The hardest part of doing these round robin quilts is getting your addition to come out even when you're piecing it. Measuring and computing are not my strong suits, but this one came out pretty well. Here's a pic of Lynn's finished quilt. Isn't just precious? It looks so snuggly and pretty. The variety of prints is just astounding. I know that Lynn is very happy with her new quilt, too.

ROUND ROBIN II

Here's the second round robin quilt I worked on. It belongs to my buddy in eastern Pennsylvania, Maryellen. We call her ME for short. The first picture is how it was when I first received it. I just love the bright pinks, blues and golds in the original block. The second round picked up the blues and added shades of brown that really set off the original block. I love the pinwheel blocks at the corners. Since the blues were picked up in the second round I decided to pick up the pink in my round. I added strips of blue and gold in addition to the pink and I think it makes a nice impact. Below is the finished quilt. It is so beautiful and colorful, just like the originator. *smile* It's so much fun to see how each person's addition feeds off the earlier ones and adds another dimension to the quilt. Now this picture was taken before the seams were clipped so just imagine all the soft and fluffy seams adding even more to this unique quilt.

Everyone who quilts and has quilting buddies should try a round robin project. It's fun and a great challenge to your imagination. And you get a beautiful keepsake quilt at the end. Thanks to the ladies of the Quilters Corner Group on eBay for this great experience. Stay tuned for the rest of the quilts.

ROUND ROBIN I

Since I posted about my round robin quilt, I thought I would show the progression of the other round robins that passed thru my sewing machine. It's an interesting process to be sure.

The first block I received was from our group leader, an experienced quilter. I mean she has a quilt shop and teaches classes!! Talk about pressure! After thinking long and hard I came up with a simple block pattern in two tones of blue, to pick up the blue in the starter block. I didn't think of taking the "before and after" shots til round robin quilt 2, but below is a picture of the finished quilt.


The light block in the middle was the orignal lock and I added the blue squares. The other participants finished it off with mostly 30's reproduction fabrics. It turned out really cute, don't you think?

MY ROUND ROBIN QUILT

Last summer, seven of my online quilting buddies and I decided we would do our version of a round robin quilt project. Round robin quilts are quilts that start with a center block and are sent around to the other participants for their additions and then returned to the originator.

Normally the finished project would be a completed quilt top, ready to layer and quilt. Since not all of us are experienced traditional quilters, we decided that each addition would be joined rag quilt style. That way, when the quilt returned to the originator, it would be finished except for clipping.

This project was the most fun I've had since I participated in an art doll project a few years ago. It is indeed a challenge to come up with something interesting and new to add to the quilt that's come to you. Each person sent preferences as to colors and other things, but it was totally up to each person to add whatever she wanted.

This is a picture of my completed quilt, still unclipped at the time. The block in the center was my starting place. All I requested was that the additions be in earth tones. When I made my block I used some fat quarters I had that appealed to me in color and print. I had forgotten that I got those fat quarters in a swap some time back. How wonderful that some of the round robin participants also participated in that fat quarter swap. As a result my quilt has some of the fabrics in the center block continued throughout the quilt.


This quilt is HUGE!!! I know from the postage on the box that it weighed 7 lbs! The bed that it's shown on is a queen and it extends down all four sides. I can't tell you how thrilled I was when I opened that box and saw my quilt. I actually shed a few tears.

As soon as I get the quilt ready, it will go on my bed permanently. I am actually changing my decor to match. As you can see from the above picture, I even have someone just waiting to nap on it.

If I can get permission, I would like to post pictures of the other round robins as they came thru my sewing room. I took "before and after" pics of each one. All the participants posted pictures of their finished quilts in our group. It was really neat to see how each one turned out, especially the ones received early in the process.

Although our quilts went all over the country, this would be a nice project for a local quilting group. Even though it was hard sometimes to come up with something, the challenge was good for the brain. And the sense of accomplishment was wonderful.

HAPPY LABOR DAY

Happy Labor Day, y'all!! Are you laboring today or taking some time off? Whatever you are doing, I hope you have a great day.

I'll be doing some sewing, but I wouldn't call it laboring. The most laboring I do these days is making quilts or whatever for sale. Today I'm working on a round robin quilt. My Quilters Corner Group is doing this and it's a lot of fun. If you aren't familiar with the process it goes like this - everyone makes a center block for their quilt and then sends it on to the next person designated for them to add to it. On it goes to each person in turn for more additions, while each person's quilt does the same thing. At the end each quilt returns to the originator and they have a one-of-a-kind heirloom quilt.

I'm working on quilt number 3, if I remember correctly. I wish I could post pictures, but no one is supposed to know what's going on with their quilt til they get it back. I'll post before and after pics when this is all done. Well, for most of them, anyway. I didn't take pics of the first one or of mine before it left. Although I'm no where near an experienced quilter, this process hasn't been quite as hard as I expected. I have to admit that I've gone to the internet for inspiration as I don't know all the possibilities, yet. Anyway, I'm having fun with it. I've already decided what to do with this particular quilt and all I need to do is finish cutting out the backing and the flannel and putting it together. I'll make the Sept. 15 mailing deadline with time to spare, I think.

For "labor", I'm working on an interesting project. A former custom quilt customer asked if I could make a quilt out of baby clothes. My first thought and my response were "I don't know why not!" So that's been my project for a few weeks. It's been an interesting creative process and is moving along nicely. I have one ready for clipping and have started assembling the second. There will be two more after this. I'm thinking of offering custom baby clothes quilts in my Etsy store when I'm done with these. You send me the clothes and I'll make the quilt. Do you think there's a market out there for that? For heirloom raggy quilts made with baby clothes? I'll post pics when I'm done with the first two. Please let me know what you think.