Monday, September 3, 2007

Round Robin

Have you ever participated in a Round Robin? If you don't know what I'm talking about, a Round Robin is where a group of quilters decide to pass their quilt tops around to each other, and each quilter adds another "round." Eventually the quilt makes its way back to the originator.

About a year and a half ago, a small group of us--I think there were six--decided to start a Round Robin. Each of us created a center and passed on any fabrics we wanted to be used in the quilt as well as thoughts we had as to color, etc. Our instructions were few in order to allow the others to be as creative as they wished. Here's what the center of mine looked like (ignore portions of the first "round" that you see--the center that I began with was simply the star background with appliqued vase and roses):



We were supposed to each have each person's quilt for about a month before passing it along. In some instances, personal issues arose in a quilter's life that kept us from staying completely on schedule, but we didn't do too bad. I think all the quilts found their way home in about eight or nine months. In addition to our six quilt tops, we also passed around one that was a surprise for a friend, so in effect, we were working on seven tops.

I decided to get mine out today and add the final border. My plan is to give the quilt a scalloped edge once I'm done. Here's what it looks like now:




I didn't quite get it squared up with every line straight on the wall, but I'll take more care once I pin it for quilting. It's not perfect--I'm not sure that you can expect perfection when so many people work on one quilt. The same thing goes for swapped blocks. All of us have different sewing machines and the measure of a 1/4" is a little bit different for each of us. All of the gals in my Round Robin group are experienced quilters and did a nice job in deciding what to add. A couple of us applique, a couple of us prefer piecing, and one of our group loves paper piecing, so each and every quilt is the result of using different techniques. We also passed along journals with the quilt top so that each quilter could write about what she added, why she chose the design she did, and the date she completed her round. I love this quilt top because I can look at each round and think about the friends who created it.
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9 comments:

Yvonne said...

Wow Kim...that is really nice. I really like how special it is.

Mar said...

that is one of the best results of a round robin that I've seen! No wonder you are a proud owner.

Vicky said...

That really is a great RR. I participated in one. The problem I ran into was the folks ahead of me not squaring before they added their round. Some of the quilts that got to me were real wonky and really difficult to deal with.

I really do like yours. You need to get that one finished up - after you find and work on your T'berries!!!

Thimbleanna said...

I love your RR Kim! The quilty peeps and I have often talked about doing one, but we've just never gotten around to it. And I certainly know what you mean about differing styles, etc. on shared blocks/quilts. Years ago, we had a member in our group who would routinely turn in blocks where the seams had come open. She was trimming her seams too less than 1/8" and we just couldn't get her to stop doing that.She finally moved away.

Darlene said...

You RR is beautiful. Yes, I participate in one and my quilt never came home. :-(

May Britt said...

This is a lovely RR. I love the way you have made the roses. Is it a sort of crazy log cabin and then you have made the flower??? Or did you have a pattern on them. I would love to hear how you made them. I have participated in a RR too and I was very pleased with the result of mine. Do not think I've blogged it yet.

Julia said...

What a special quilt this will be. It turned out beautifully!! I really like it!

Kairle Oaks said...

Hey, I recognize that quilt! Who made those amazing 3D hour glass blocks? lol!

Sharon said...

WOW! what a beautiful quilt, look familiar for some reason. lol

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