Round Robin Quilt: Round 1

I’ve never participated in a round robin quilt before, but the idea is fun: start with a square or strip for the center, then pass it around a group of quilters, each adding to it (borders or blocks or whatever they want), and passing it on to the next person each month, until it makes it way to everyone in the group and comes back to you as a completed quilt top. And if your group is as talented as the ladies in my modern quilt guild, it’s sure to end up awesome!

This year my quilt guild is starting two Round Robin groups, and we kicked off the six-month challenge at our February meeting.

In case you’re interested, here are the guidelines we started with:

Round Robin Guidelines

1. Six people per group = 6 months of the Round Robin. If you cannot be at a meeting, please mail or deliver your quilt top to the meeting via a friend.
2. You can use a strip or a center block to begin your quilt.
3. For a block, a minimum of 10″ and a maximum of 16″ seems about right. For a strip, a minimum of 6 – 10″ could be good. Feel free to change the sizes if you want a wall hanging or baby quilt. The largest quilt should be lap-sized.
4. No patterns, just a size and preferred colors. The idea is to see how each quilter adds to/changes the original block. Lots of creative ideas this way!! Remember even if you have preferred colors, your swap partner may see things differently. That is what makes it fun!
5. Quilt shop quality fabric. Optional: bring fabric you want to see in your swap for your swap partner, but your partner is not required to use your fabric and can just pass it on to the next person.

…

I made a 12″ wonky star, using the Joie de Vivre Joyeaux alphabet fabric with Amelia’s initial in the center, with low volume prints (Tula Pink, Heather Ross, and grunge) making up the star and a green Heather Ross print for the background. I included a few scraps to go along with the starting block, but otherwise gave free rein to the group… I can’t wait to see what happens next!

My block is going to Maria (with the pink hair!) and I can’t wait to see what she adds to it. While Maria is working on my block, I’ll be working on Marcia’s block (she couldn’t make it to the meeting, so it’s in the mail to me). If the other starting points are any indication, it’s going to be a lot of fun (and a creative challenge!) to work on these quilts each month. It will be so cool to see how each quilter adds their own spin to the starting blocks and how they evolve as the months go on.

When I get Marcia’s block in the mail, I’ll add sneak peeks of what I’m working on to WIP Wednesday posts, and I’ll be sure to keep you updated on the upcoming rounds after each guild meeting. I’m excited!

In other Round Robin news, we’re also doing a guild-wide quilt that was started from HST scraps when the guild participated in the Hearts for Orlando charity quilt project last year. After Libby constructed the center, two more people added borders, and I volunteered to do the next round. I think I’ll add a strip to one side instead of continuing the square borders, and stick with the low volume/bright scraps theme. Still thinking on this one!

And last but not least… I can’t resist sharing a peek of the library where we met! Our usual meeting spot was overbooked, so we moved to the Brentwood library and now I can’t stop gushing about their beautiful children’s section…wow!!