My round robin returns!

Woo hoo!!! On Monday, I received my completed Once 'Round the Country round robin top from Kris. She wasn't able to post pictures, so I didn't know how it would look until I opened the box. Very exciting!!!


So cool!!! I absolutely love the way she echoed elements from previous rounds and really finished it off. This top just looks so modern and fresh to me.

Now I just need a quilting plan. I've got a few ideas floating around in my head, but they'll have to wait until the new year. I really think that quilting has the potential to really bring this design to life. I'm looking forward to the challenge!

Many, many thanks to all of the amazing women who worked on this quilt (and who trusted me to work on theirs!): Zonnah, Adrienne, Anne, and Kris. This round robin has been an amazing experience. You all inspire me.

The Last Round

November 1st was the send-off date for completing the last round of the fabulous Once 'Round the Country round robin. Whoops! I didn't manage to make that date, but Zonnah was wonderfully understanding and let me know it was okay if I was a little late. Nearly a month later (what happened to November???), I finally finished. Yay!

This is how it looked once Kris finished her round:


I spent a lot of time being stuck thinking about options. In my ideal world, I would have done some kind of awesome applique something. But I couldn't think of anything that really fit with what came before and there really wasn't enough fabric to create a cohesive background for the applique. So I started looking about the interwebs for inspiration and fell in love with the idea of a sort of "braided" border. I felt like it would sort of echo the style of the border around the center star without being the same.


I got out my graph paper and got to work. My husband helped me with some of the math (there was a lot of Pythagorean theorem going on in this one) and I eventually got brave enough to start cutting fabric and sewing. I actually created the four sides first and then figured out the corner blocks (because, despite all of my math, I didn't want to commit to a size until I knew exactly how wide the borders would end up being). I went with Dresden plates because I liked the idea of a little bit of curve on the outside, and I also thought they would echo the center star points as well as the spiky flowers in Anne's border. And I had always wanted to do Dresden plates (I just love the look of them, and now I definitely want to do a whole quilt of them!).

The finished border:


Oops! Someone sneaked in on that shot. Let's try again...


Once 'Round the Country has been so much fun! I've gotten to really work my creative muscles, try some techniques that I otherwise may not have (like a braided border and Dresden plates), and shared in the creation of some amazing quilts with an awesome group of ladies. It has been such a great experience!

Round Robin: Organized Chaos

For this round of Once 'Round the Country, the round robin quilt bee in which I am participating, I worked on Adrienne's quilt. I actually went into this one with a "vision," thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do. (I bet you know what's coming...) Unfortunately, the fabric allotment was not enough for me to confidently execute my idea and still leave enough for the next round. So, I sucked it up, took a picture, and started working on a new (improved!) plan:


The colors were really distracting to my eye and made it hard for me to focus on design, so I switched my photo to greyscale to "see" it better.

At the beginning, Adrienne told us that her vision for this quilt was "Organized Chaos"-- she really wanted to focus primarily on the prints, using the solids as just accents. The subsequent borders by Anne and Kris did a beautiful job doing just that, so I really wanted to follow their lead by keeping to straight piecing, using as many of the included prints as possible while still having a sense of some sort of organization. I got the idea for flying geese from the center block. It didn't use flying geese, but the outside edges of the block had that kind of flavor. I ran with it.


My border ended up being less "organized" than Kris's (the next one in-- if you look closely, you can see how wonderfully deliberate her use of color is), but maybe a slightly more organized than Anne's (the gorgeous fractured border surrounding the center block). Like Anne, I used every print available. Like Kris, I used very regular shapes throughout. I also tried to echo the center block (and Kris's border) by repeating the solid elements.

Overthink much, Robin? :P

I felt so out of my element with this one, wrapping my brain around it was a serious challenge. It was fabulous.

Applique adventure!

For the latest round of Once 'Round the Country, the online round robin bee I'm participating in, I had the privilege to work on Anne's quilt. I knew almost as soon as I saw her center block that I wanted to do some applique.


I don't have the earliest design drawings, but these were the last ones. My goals:

• Echo the organic symmetry of the print fabric (which was also captured so beautifully by Kris in her flying geese border).
• Use the designs of the print fabrics to inspire the shapes that I would use.
• Utilize some of the open space left in Kris's border to help create a sense of flow from hers to mine.
• Make it look cool.

Once I felt I was in a good place design-wise, I went ahead and made a full-size template.


I did it on freezer paper since that was the only paper I had that was big enough. Once I had it all drawn out, I used it to trace freezer paper templates for all of the leaf and flower shapes. I also created lots of bias tape to use for the vines. This was my first time trying out a continuous bias creation technique (I used a tutorial from Make It Modern and a video tutorial at Erin Compton Design as my guides-- both were super-helpful). It was a little bit labor-intensive, but it worked really well and I didn't have to cut a large diagonal swath from Anne's fabric-- I only had to cut off a small chunk (I think I used 1/3 yard). And there is a ton of bias left over (whoops!). So I guess if anyone else decides they want to do vines, some will be ready for them!


I started by reverse appliqueing the centers of the bulb-flowers.


Then I needleturned all of the leaves and the other flowers to the background. Next I added the vines. Lastly, I added the base of the white flower and the bulb-flowers at the ends of each vine.

This was my first time designing and executing an applique border and I definitely learned a couple things.

1. Don't use so many points! There were a lot of pointy-points in my design-- the leaves, the ends of the bulb-flowers, the petals on the white flowers... I'm not sure what I was thinking there as I'm not very good at executing pointy points. But, they got done (albeit, they maybe aren't as pointy as I'd originally intended).


2. Create the border wider than needed and then trim down after completing the applique. I didn't do that, and my border is a little wavy because I pulled the fabric a little tight at some spots as I worked. It shouldn't cause a problem for Zonnah (who is adding the next border and has mad skillz), but I'll definitely keep it in mind for future projects.

And the big reveal:


Yay! I think it turned out pretty cool. Hopefully, Anne will like it too.

Some Denyse Schmidt lovin'

In the first round of the Once 'Round the Country round robin bee, I got to work on this lovely block by Kris:


Along with the block, she sent a beautiful stack of fabric, all cuts from Denyse Schmidt's recent Hope Valley line of fabrics. GORGEOUS!!!! Kris also offered a little bit of direction, requesting "simple shapes and white space."

The block was kind of on the small side, only 8" square, and I was having a hard time envisioning it as a central focus for a quilt. So my approach became one of enhancement: I wanted to make the block stronger and even more of a focal point.


I printed a picture of the block and started drawing. The look I was happiest with was the one that sort of worked as an extension of the original block, echoing the shapes along the outside. My drawing was a little on the busy side, so I simplified it to create:


I am so pleased with how it turned out. Hopefully, Kris will be too!

Once 'Round the Country

A few of us who participated in the Snip.Sew.Send. virtual quilt bee have joined up again for more fun. This time, we're going Round Robin style, Once 'Round the Country!

Each of us is making a center block. Over the course of the bee, everyone will add borders to each of the center blocks. By the end, each of us will have a completed top. I'm so excited about the possibilities!

I had a tough time deciding what direction I wanted to go with my center block... modern? traditional? intricate piecing? applique? I finally ended up with this:


It is a take on a pattern sometimes called "Dutch Rose" or "Carpenter's Wheel." The traditional version involves lots of diamonds and inset seams. I went for a simpler version using half-square triangles using a pattern from McCall's Quilting to make my 12" block. It's not at all my usual thing (if I could even be said to have a usual thing). But I definitely love how it turned out!


My fabric palette consists of a selection of fat quarters from Patty Young's Sanctuary collection from Michael Miller as well as an array of coordinating Kona solids (1 yard of Snow and 1/2 yard each of the others). Seriously bright and happy. Definitely pink and girly. With orange! I'm obsessed with orange lately.



I have no plan for this, no direction to give. I'm just going to trust in the creativity of Zonnah, Adrienne, Anne, and Kris and see where their whims take it. It is going to be so exciting to watch it grow!

A map of my childhood

June was Anne's month for Snip.Sew.Send. She requested "Map" blocks which we could interpret as loosely as we wanted, and she said the same goes for technique. I really hope mine's okay... it feels pretty loose!


This is a map of my neighborhood as a child. We lived on 40th Avenue South.


My house is at the bottom of the cul-de-sac (Jeff is my brother). There were a number of families in the neighborhood with kids-- those names penned in the houses are theirs. There was always lots to do in the 'hood... playing ball, dance parties over at Stephanie's house (thus the music notes), climbing into the treehouse over at LeighAnne and Johnny's, or racing down from the top of the cul-de-sac on our bikes and big wheels (I'm not so good at drawing those-- but I tried!).


There was often baseball action too-- home plate was always in front of our house, the pitcher would stand on the blue reflector in the center, first base was the ever-present truck, second was the manhole cover, and third was at the mailboxes. When I was little, we also had a cat named Sammy... she's hanging out near Ben's house.

I used a number of techniques in this one, including some that were new to me.

• I started by using a Pigma pen to sketch out the cul-de-sac and things I new I wanted to embroider.
• Then I colored in sections with crayons (using Carrie P.'s tutorial for coloring on fabric as a guide).
• Next I used fusible web and did the "Sketchy Stitchy Applique" technique, as described at Bloomin' Workshop. I really loved how that worked! The look really appeals to me, and it was so simple to do.
• Then I went through and embroidered all over the place, mostly with two strands of floss, but sometimes with one.
• Lastly, I finished the trees. I used two different colors of green thread and threaded both of them through the needle on my machine (so two threads were going through the needle). Then I freemotion stitched the treetops. Using two threads gave it a nice thick look, and the different colors gives them a little more dimension.

Overall, I'm really happy with how it all came together. The only bump in the road was my inability to do math. The block is supposed to be 10.5" x 14.5", including 1.5" borders. Mine ended up 12" x 15". Whoops. I'm really hoping that Anne won't mind it being a little big, or trimming it down and ending up with slightly narrower borders. I blame my baby-brain! (I wonder how long I can get away with that excuse?) :)

June was the last month for Snip.Sew.Send. I can't believe it has already been a year! I've had so much fun making blocks for all of my fabulous bee buddies, and I've learned a lot too. This virtual quilt bee really gave me a chance to push myself and try some new things. It has been fabulous! I'm looking forward to participating in another, once life settles down again.

Snip. Sew. Send. May

I was excited to find some time last week to go into the quilty room and actually use my machine! It gave me a chance to make my May Snip.Sew.Send. blocks for Rebecca. She asked for pinwheels inside a non-wonky log cabin. She sent an array of fabulous greens for me to work with.


I enjoyed making it so much, I had to make a second...


It was hard to send these off, as I really love the look of them. But I did keep one of the scraps of leftover fabric to use in my Jane Stickle quilt. That definitely made it a little easier to give them up. :)

I'm really excited to see how Rebecca puts these together as all of the blocks I've seen so far look so cool!

Snip. Sew. Send. April

I can't believe I managed to finish a Snip.Sew.Send. block in a timely manner. Yay! April is Heather's month, and she sent me a pile of happy aqua fabrics to use in her block.


For this block, Heather provided very explicit directions on what she wanted. So there wasn't really a lot of creativity involved on my part-- but really, it was kind of a nice break for me (my brain is just tired lately!). Her instructions were very straightforward, the block went together quickly, and I love how it turned out (such pretty fabrics!).

Snip. Sew. Send. March

Phew! I just made it! March was Tina's month for the Snip.Sew.Send. virtual quilt bee. I loved all of the pretty pink and aqua fabrics she sent. She requested square-in-square style blocks, with the kerchief girl in the center. Her plan is to make a bed quilt for her daughter. I have a feeling this is going to be one super cute quilt!


It was a lot of fun getting my girly on for this one! I hope you like it, Tina. :)

House party!

The theme Kris chose for her Snip.Sew.Send. blocks this month is tiny houses. She requested 12.5" blocks with small houses (2"-4") centered in them. She sent the background fabric and requested we use our own scraps/stash for the rest.

Going in, I was a little worried because this kind of block is just so not my style (or so I thought) and rather out of my comfort zone. I knew I wanted to make some trees (because every neighborhood could use trees!). But then I was stuck. Fortunately, the deadline loomed ever closer helping me to get off my duff and just do it.


These were so much fun to do!!! I actually ended up making 3 blocks (well, nearly 3... I ran out of background to frame out the tree blocks-- hopefully Kris won't mind finishing them up). I'm sorely tempted to keep the little house, I'm so happy with how it worked out.

Here's a close-up of one of the trees:


I think the little kitty may have spied a birdie up there!

Based on the blocks I've seen so far, this is going to be a really fun quilt. I can't wait to see how they all come together.

I hope you enjoy your blocks, Kris!

Snip. Sew. Send. January

January is my month for the Snip.Sew.Send. virtual quilt bee! This means it is my turn to send out my block requests and fabrics.

Since I'm having a baby in April, I thought it would be fun to make a baby quilt. We aren't finding out the sex of the baby (I tell you, the suspense is killing me!), so I'm going with a sort of gender-neutral color scheme: rainbow!

These are my fabrics:


I've sent a different color grouping to each participant, and have asked that they include fabrics from their own stash if they are so inclined.

I've requested they create 9.5" log cabin blocks. They can be traditional or they can be wonky-- I'm looking forward to some variety.

As for potential layout, I'm kind of torn between a couple of options.


This one appeals to me because of the open center. I could to some kind of applique, or a spiffy quilting motif. But, it is a big expanse of white for a baby quilt. So I may end up trying something simpler like this:


We'll just have to wait and see how I feel when the blocks are all here!

I found some pretty nifty pictures in flickr and a couple of other blogs that really inspired me to go in this direction. Check them out if you get a chance, because there is some beautiful work:

Rainbow Cabins
Rainbow Block Quilt
Wonky Log Cabin Rainbow Scrap Quilt
Color Wheel Quilt
Wonky Log Cabin Inspiration mosaic

Woo hoo! I can't wait to see some rainbow blocks!

Planning can indeed be helpful

This was Gretchen's month in Snip.Sew.Send. She sent a beautiful array of fabrics and asked for 2", 3.5", 6.5", and 9.5" square-in-square blocks. Her plan is to create a quilt inspired by Kaffe Fassett's "Jewel Squares" design.

Here is what I came up with:


I really wish that I could have made more of the larger size blocks (9.5" and 6.5"), but because I didn't go into my block-making with a plan, I just didn't have enough fabric. I cut various widths of fabric and then kind of built my blocks randomly. I didn't waste fabric, but if I had planned better at all, I could have made at least a couple more 6.5" blocks and fewer small ones. On the bright side, this seems like a design where the small blocks will definitely be useful.

Judging from the blocks others have posted in the flickr group, it definitely looks like this is going to be a spectacular quilt!

December is a break month for this group, and then my turn comes up in January. At this point, I still have no idea what to do. Hopefully, I'll have a plan soon! Because, as these blocks have reminded me, having a plan can indeed be helpful.

Shot cotton love

Have you seen those gorgeous shot cottons from Kaffe Fassett? I thought I had, but let me tell you-- a computer screen does not do the fabric justice. I had not been so up close and personal with the fabric until Nichole sent some Thunder to use in her Snip.Sew.Send. block this month. I had heard people describe it as iridescent looking, but didn't really understand until now. It really is. WOW! LOVE I'm telling you!

Nichole requested a big block (16.5") with 1 to 3 individual flowers surrounded by the fabulous shot cotton background. She said she loves bright, bold colors, so that's what I tried to do:


It was a fun block to make. I started by cutting out my flowers and then measured them to see how big they were. Then I used graph paper to help me figure out the sizes background pieces.

Nichole is planning on combining all of our blocks to create a "Midnight in the Garden" quilt. I have a feeling that it is going to be spectacular!

With apologies for lateness...

Yesterday, I finally completed September's Snip.Sew.Send. block. Sufficit to say, I'm late. I have already sent some profuse apologies to the ever-gracious Lisa, and I should have her block in the mail to her on the morrow. Yay!

Lisa sent a variety of fabrics: red, blue, and green batiks, red and white prints, and some solid white. She loves scrappy quilts, and her fabrics really reflected an eclectic and fun style. Her block requirements: include each of the different fabrics in the 10.5" block, and include at least one star.

Sounds simple, right? Sigh... not for me. I felt overwhelmed by the array of fabrics and I just couldn't envision anything that seemed "right." But then one day, I ran across a post in Kathy Mack's Pink Chalk Studio blog that inspired me. She had recently made a wonky, free-form star block called "Maverick Star" AND she included some links to tutorials on how to do it. Perfect!

I used the Quiltville tutorial for "Maverick Stars!!!" and followed it pretty much to the letter, except that I used 2" squares instead of 2.5" (because I wanted smaller stars). It worked great. But then I kind of got stuck. I didn't have enough of the blue or green fabrics to make more stars, nor did I have enough of them to fill-in the surrounding areas (though that is what I had hoped to do). But I did have lots of red. So, I put red four-patches in the corners.


I think the result is kind of festive-looking in a crazy, scrappy kind of way. And I like the vibrancy of the red four-patches. I also like that I was able to push myself out of my comfort zone to make this. It is maybe not aesthetically perfect (at least, not to my mind), but I think it has a certain charm to it. Hopefully, Lisa will think so too.

Snip. Sew. Send. Month 3

After the last couple of months of doing everything at the last minute with no small amount of stress (I swear, I'd blink and then the month was gone!), I decided I needed to try something different and finish my Snip. Sew. Send. block before the end of the month. Crazy!

August is Zonnah's month and she requested a 7.5" block that included circles and/or curves. I've had flying geese in my brain lately (in more ways than one, maybe!) and I decided to try and get them out of my system.


Inspired by this and this and Gail Garber's book, Stellar Journeys: Flying Geese and Star Quilts, I drew this block.

Then I used freezer paper foundation piecing to create the geese (a la this fabulous tutorial from Twiddletails).


This was my first time trying this technique, and I was super happy with how well it worked. I can see why many prefer it to traditional paper foundation piecing-- no dulling of the needle and no having to tear paper away!

I decided to go ahead and applique the geese onto the background. This may not have been the best decision because I had a very difficult time trying to position them (I did them needleturn, using freezer paper on top) and there was a lot of bulk in the seams. I had to do a couple of the points twice before I was happy with them. I suspect it probably would have been easier to just do some curved piecing. Live and learn!


The points are still not perfect, but I'm feeling okay about them at this point and I am happy with the overall look of the block. Hopefully, Zonnah will be happy too!

Snip. Sew. Send. Month 2

July is Chen's month for the Snip. Sew. Send. virtual quilting bee. She sent out a lovely group of fabrics, most from Anna Maria Horner's Chocolate Lollipop collection for Free Spirit Fabrics and her instructions were to just go for it. How could I not be inspired?

I received 6 strips of fabric, ranging in size between 3 and 5 inches wide and then 18 to 22 inches long. Eeep! That's not a lot of fabric to play with. (There goes that idea for an applique block! Not enough to to really piece a background and have any left to applique... close, but not quite.) Fortunately, she sent along a couple of links to check out for inspiration, and in one of those I found a link to Andover Fabrics' free quilt designs. It was there that I finally found my muse:


I drew from the Sugar Snap Quilt design and scaled down the blocks to create a 12" block. It was only after I stitched it all together that I realized I had created a sort of nine-patchy look in the way I placed my fabrics. Funny how that worked out!

It's a simple block, but I was happy to find something that I could use all the fabrics in and that could easily accommodate the fabric pieces I was given. Hopefully, Chen will be happy too!

Snip. Sew. Send. Month 1

June is the first month of the virtual quilt bee I joined, Snip. Sew. Send. This month, Adrienne sent out a lovely batch of vintage sheets (some even hand-dyed):


Mmmm... pretty fabric. How awesome is that orange???

The instructions were to create a Hop, Skip, Jump-inspired block (a la the Denyse Schmidt Quilts Book) 6.5" by 12". This is how I went about it:


First, I drew a 6.5" by 12" rectangle on freezer paper, subdivided it into wonky sections and numbered them.


I cut it all apart.


I ironed the freezer paper pieces to the right side of the fabrics and cut them out with 1/4" seam allowances. (Since she said she wouldn't mind, I also couldn't resist adding a couple of fabrics to the mix she sent).


I used a pin to help hold the pieces together at the top corner (because freezer paper is slippery), and then stitched the seam. I worked left-to-right.


Here it is all stitched together.


And here is the completed block, trimmed and ready to go!

This first month was a lot of fun-- I'm really looking forward to the months ahead!

Feeling swappy

Last week, I decided to join in on a couple of swaps.


The Three by Three swap is being hosted by the ever-amazing Anina. There are 50 of us participating in this two (maybe three) month nine-patch exchange. The blocks are all supposed to include 2 different fabrics. I've been seeing lots of fabulous scrappy nine-patch quilts lately that have me feeling very inspired. It should be a lot of fun seeing what we all get at the end. I definitely need more scrappy fun in my life!


Snip.Sew.Send. is a virtual quilting bee organized by Adrienne. Each of the twelve participants will be sending out fabric and instructions to the other members and then in return will receive twelve blocks. It's a lot like the block exchange I'm doing with my guild, except that it's all by mail. The bee is starting up next month, but "my" month isn't until January, thankfully, so I have lots of time to figure out what I want to do. I'm really excited about this one. It is going to be a lot of fun "meeting" other quilters and being involved in such a collaborative and creative venture.

Swaps are pretty new to me. I've only participated in two previous ones, and those were for fabric-- so all I had to worry about was cutting an appropriate sized rectangle. Making and sending blocks is definitely a little different-- I haven't even started and am already feeling the pressure of creating perfect 1/4" seams! But at the same time, I'm really excited about trying some new things, and having some new crafty experiences. I can't wait to get started!