Round Robin - 2021-2022

 Well, I did it.  I bit the bullet and decided to give another Round Robin a chance.  The group that signed up is AMAZING and I am truly excited.  We've given ourselves enough time for each round and it should work out for everyone's schedule.  The first step is to send out our center medallion/panel/block.  I've decided to order some fabric and see where that takes me.

5/9-11/21 My fabric is here and I'm at retreat with it!!  Oooooh, look at these pretties - let the fun begin.

Tiny, tiny pieces.  The pattern I've chosen is too big so I cut the size in half.  THEN I discovered that you can't just do that.  Those pesky seam allowances need to be accounted for as well so I cut some more.  Fun and games runneth amok.

These are, by far, the tiniest HST's and Flying Geese that I have ever made or ever want to make.  Ahhh, I'm not sure about that.  There are days when I absolutely love these tiny bits and want to give miniatures a go.  Then, sanity sets in and I'm moving on.

TA-DA - my center block is ready to mail and I've included all the fabric along with it so that it stays constant throughout.  I can't wait until next June.

5/20/21 - My block is mailed to Fawn.

5/24/21 - The first round for me to work on has arrived and belongs to Terry.  What to do, what to do.  I've got to work in those purple corners somehow and also bring back a center color.

6/1/21 - Well, fabrics are chosen and I'm ready to cut.  I don't have the EXACT purple, but some that are pretty close and I've gone with green to pull from the center.

Naturally, the fabric does not match the plan, so back to the purple bin and I've found another that will work.

NOW, it's cut.

6/8/21  A little sewing happened as leader/enders on another sew-along I'm in.

6/9/21  Just like that, the round is on and it's ready to pass on to the next person.  Little stars in the corners leave lots of possibilities for fun.  Into the mail it goes.

7/25/21 - My next round has arrived and it is Sam's.  I am round two and am thinking that the center pattern kind of needs to come back out again.  I have an idea, but . . . 

8/9/21  When I said "but," I wasn't joking.  Drafting the pattern is making me doubt.

8/13/21 BUT, I'm going for it and the fabrics have been pulled from stash.

Cutting commences - it's a LOT of HST's in various colors with a few challenging units to boot.

8/16/21  Well, the parts are sewn -

8/17/21 It's a sad day.  I've discovered that some parts were sewn wrong.  ARGH.

8/19/21  They are back apart again.

8/26/21 and resewn.

8/27/21 - Another piece is added and these units are finally ready for dog-ears to come off.  However, it did not all go smooth.  At the end I was short a unit and the hunt began.  Oh, there you are.

SOOOO much sliver trimming, but they are ready to work with.

8/28/21 - Here goes nothing.  Laying out and hoping it will all go as planned.

8/29/21  Sewing commences.  This is going to be a much bigger round than I envisioned.  Oops.

9/9/21 - I am making progress at last.

Borders are on.  This is BUSY!!!!  I hope Fawn calms it down a bit and it's in the mail.

9/30/21 -While at retreat, I received Karen's top from Terry at retreat.  Oh no - I KNOW what it needs but am I able to do this?  It will test me beyond measure, that's for sure.

10/6/21 - Fabrics are chosen and I'm trying to match the inner ones.  I've completely missed the part about civil war fabrics.  Ugh.  Isn't it funny that the way the fabric is folded gives the illusion of a person in a bikini?

10/25/21 - It's time to work on this.  Yep, I'm nervous and have put it off.  Backgrounds are being cut.  I have a trip coming up and this will be the perfect take-along project.

I've decided on some leave/berry appliques

These rulers are getting put to use for a change.

A peek at how they work - 

TA-DA --- finished vine from bias strips.

10/26/21 - Now for the leaves and berries.  All of the patterns are drawn, cut out, and pressed onto the fabrics.

10/27/21 - Cutting and trimming ---- we're ready to travel.

11/1/21 - Up in Montana and starting the whole gluing process.  I love how the leaves are looking.

11/2/21 - Onto the berries --- I'm not near as happy with these but it's my first attempt at circles.  Sooooo much harder than I thought.

11/3/21 - They are as done as they are going to get - Onto getting the vine laid out.

11/5/21 - I have the first couple hand stitched down.

11/7/21 - Now to lay out the leave and berries for a glimpse of the final product.

11/9/21 - Leaves are all on - stitching away today.

11/12/21 - Adding the berries.  It's looking pretty cool and that's as far as I can go here in Montana.

11/14/21 - When I returned from Montana, Gilley's round was in the mail.  LOVE how this beach one is going.  Time to get the brain cells going.

11/15/21 - I am still working on the applique round, but my brain has figured out what I want to do on the new one as well.  Time to pull fabrics.

Draw a pattern and cut --

11/16/21 - Back to the other round.  As I get to putting this together, I have LOTS of issues and have to figure out how to bring them together.  That requires adding background cornerstones and more vine.  This one is pinned and ready to finish.  It's the last picture I took, though.  (Only AFTER I have given this to Fawn, do I realize that it's missing red berries in one corner - argh)

11/18/21 --- All my little whales are sewn and added onto the top and bottom of this one.  That's it and I've handed it off to Fawn as well.  I am ON TOP of this.

2/8/22 - I have COVID and am unable to go to retreat, which is where Frieda's round awaits me.  It was dropped off and sits there waiting for me.  So . . . I'm going to get started on the blocks I've selected and hoping my colors are right.  Fabric pulled.

2/10/22 - These blocks are paper pieced and so, once again, I'm out of my comfort zone.  The approximate sized pieces are cut and ready to go.  Hopefully, I can get enough small pieces out of these.

3/6/22 - I start in on a prototype block.

3/7/22 - The second side is on and there are issues, for sure.  Back to the drawing board.

BUT - I focus on the parts that were right and make all the blocks to that point.

3/8/22 - Now to start on the next side with the pieces that I know are correct.

3/21/22 - I have finally gotten home from another retreat and have this top to figure things out with.  It looks like my colors will work and I'm thankful for that, at least.

4/11/21 - So much has happened - emergency trip to Montana, retreat, sick.  I now have two tops to get out and one of them is late.  Drat is anyway, but Fawn's top is ready for me to put the final round on.

4/12/22 - finishing up the blocks and having made the corrections to the pattern, these blocks seem to be larger than I thought now that they are done.  Sooo much work in them though.  Can I scatter them around the edge and fill in with the fabric from the center?

I think there is enough fabric so I'm going to give it a go.

4/13/22 - Well, it's together and I HATE it, but am out of time.  In the mail it goes.

4/15/22 - The parts I ordered for Fawn's round have arrived.

4/16/22 - I am cut and ready to go.  We are off to Montana again and I'm taking a machine with me this time so that I can finish this.

4/25/22 - Border strips are sewn along with the flying geese.

4/26/22 - Side Borders are on.  The whole flying geese thing worked better in my mind that in reality, but I still like it.

Working on the corners.

4/27/22 - And it's a wrap.  This one is ready to hand over to Fawn at the May retreat.

When I returned from Montana --- this post card was in the mail as a thank you from Sam for hosting this round robin.  How sweet is that?

5/1 I have been thinking and thinking about Frieda's round and how unhappy I am with it.  So --- I Contact Fawn to get Frieda's top back to fix it.  She's bringing it to retreat for me and I'll work on it first thing.

5/5/22 - All borders came off and I rearranged things, put it back together again.  It's better.  Not wonderful, but better.  My mistake was using such large blocks and my heart is kinda broke.  Hopefully Fawn can pull it all together in the end and make it look good again.

Also --- I am able to give Fawn her finished top.

The smile says it all - 

6/3/22 - Gilley's Final ----- LOVE!!!

6/9/22 --- I'm home from Montana and my finished top is waiting for me.  The VERY first thing I do is open it up.  TA-DA - They all did an amazing job.  

6/10/22  - Karen's Final ---- Fabulous!

6/14/22 - Samantha's Final --- Speaking of LOVE - 

6/16/22 - Frieda's Final ---- so much fun!!

7/4/22 - Terry's Final - just fabulous!!

Thank you all so very  much for participating in this Round Robin.  Once again, I learned a ton and am in awe of all the talent in this group.  Onto the next project ----- and stay creative, y'all.