Cotton Robin: First Border

Once again this year, I took part in the Cotton Robin, an international Round Robin hosted by Julie in California. I sent away a centre block (more of that later) and in due course, will get a finished quilt back (mine will be a little late returning due to health problems with one of the ladies working on it; this is fine - it's only a quilt!)

We were asked not to show what we did while we worked on the round robin, but now that it's finished and the Big Reveal has been shown on the website, I can show what I did. 

So, this is the block I received in the post to work on: 

and these are the fabrics I pulled out as possible additions.   The block at the top, however, is how it looked when I finished and sent it on.  The person I sent it to would have added another round, and the final person would have quilted it. To see how it ended up, check out the Big Reveal on the Cotton Robin Blog. 

ATC Friday

Another few sets here where I was the second player, so again, like last week, you can see all three stages. Both these cards ended up with quite a minimalist look - only a few things added to the background in each case. The nice thing about round robin cards is the different finished effects you get, depending on who is working on the cards - it's what makes them fun. I've often thought it would be fun to send identical backgrounds to different people and see what happens!

ATC Friday

I know I haven't blogged much recently; partly this is because I've been letting my blog slide a little, but mainly it's because I simply haven't done much sewing or crafting during the spring - so busy, and with all my Saturdays in June and July taken up with university visits, there just isn't much happening.And one thing I did work on - Julie's Cotton Robin - I wasn't allowed to show photos of while it was in progress. As soon as it's done, though, I will share some. I have hopes for a little work  in the summer, though, so don't despair completely!

Anyway, here are two sets of round robin cards I worked on - in both cases, I was the second player to work on them, so you can see what they were like when they were started, what they were like after I added to them and what they were like when I got my finished card back. 

Yes, another finished quilt

Amazing, I know. This one is also a wedding present, for someone who has already got married (without really telling anyone in advance) - but Geoff is going to see him in person, soon, so it seemed a good time to give a quilt. The blocks in this one are from a win in the Block Lotto some time back. 

A little fabric in

...but only a little. These two charm packs are all that I bought at the quilt show yesterday - just done so little sewing lately I wasn't that inspired by fabric. These packs were both from New Threads, my friend Meg's shop (which reminds me, there was an excellent fabric with a Venetian scene which I did want to pick up as well), and I spent quite a while - in the quiet moments - catching up with her. A definite plus of the show!

Quilt Show

The National Quilt Championships at Sandown (unfortunately, less impressive than it sounds, these days) is just down the road from me, so I always try to go, even if only for a few hours (which is usually enough). This year, I even got around to enterring a quilt - if no one does, there won't be any to see, right?  It used to be a bigger, more impressive show, but between a move from Ascot a number of years back and the advent of the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham in the summer, these days, there's a lot less to see. A shame, really, especially as it's literally a 15 minute drive for me...

Cotton Robin, Sneak Peak

One of the very few things I've actually been sewing in the past few months is my share of the various pieces of Julie's Cotton Robin. This was the last round - the quilting round. These two tiny snips really don't show much, but do offer proof that my sewing machine is good for more than just piling mending on top of!

Oriental Lantern Quilt - finished

OMG, I know. Actual sewing type work. Crazy, isn't it! Not sure what's worse at the moment - the lack of time for sewing or the lack of time for blogging about anything. Close run thing.  This will be a wedding present for a wedding Geoff and Sarah are going to in early July - I can't go, as I am still in school until mid July, and it's in Germany, so it's a bit far away to drive up for the weekend. Oh well!

These blocks were from a swap many years ago and have been made into a top for quite a while as well, though it's taken me ages to get around to doing anything more with them. I have so little time for making quilts these days that I am actually beginning to make a dent in my stash of quilt tops. This is probably a good thing.

Binding on

Made some binding today for the next wedding quilt. Stitched it on. Of course, I have to stitch it down by hand now, but luckily I have a quilt group meeting this week as well as the usual evening time watching television in which to do this...

Oh my gosh, it looks like actual quilting!

Of course, in this case, it's not work that I've done, but a quilt which has come back from the longarmer.  Looking good, though.  And soon I will have to make a binding and stitch it down.

So you might see actual sewing from me, as well. Crazy, I know!

ATC Friday

Another couple of sets of ATCs - these are ones where I was the final person to add something.  If it seems like all I'm doing at the moment is making a few ATCs and not sewing, well, there's a reason for that.  Maybe next month!

ATC Friday

These are my favourite round robins to show - the ones where I was the second player. Not because they are any nicer than the others, but because I can show all three stages of development - what they started like (i.e. before I worked on them) - after I worked on them - and the finished product.

ATC Friday

More ATCs on which I was the first person to work on the card. This top one came out particularly well, I think.

This one is quite 3D, so the scan is a bit blurry, but it's a fun card.

ATC Friday

A few more sets of ATCs - these are all ones where I provided the starter and then two other people worked on them. And finally, I received the finished cards back.

It's always interesting to see what direction these go in, as starters are often quite neutral.