I Sent My Heart to a Robin and It Has Returned

This is the fourth year (I think) that I have joined a round robin called Cotton Robin.  You send off a center block, get someone's block to add a first border, get another block to add a second border and finally get a little quilt top to quilt and bind. 

I like to join in to things like this because it gets creative juices flowing, sometimes takes you out of your comfort zone and you always do your best work because it's someone else's quilt.  I'm not very good at adding borders to quilts so this gives me some practice. Plus at the end of it all you get a fantastic little quilt ready to hang on the wall in return. 

In January I sent off the middle six inch postage stamp heart and this is what was returned. It's always a surprise to see what other's think of adding to your center block. WOW. I love it! 

The first block I received to work on was the feather and white background.  I first added the thin black border and then the rest.  I thought and thought and thought and couldn't come up with what to add for a border and so finally remembered I had some scraps left over from making my Feather Bed quilt.  The scraps were already sewn on the diagonal like the center feather so all I did was cut strips and sew them on. 

I then sent it on to someone else to add the second border. 

 The next block I received to work on was the chicken with the leaf/stem border.   I added the yellow batik with red "chicken scratch".    There were a lot of little pieces sewn together for that one!   Then I sent it on to someone for quilting. 

 This is the little quilt I received for finishing.    

I wasn't sure what to do with this one. I finally quilted it by hand with different colors of thread. 

I finally quilted it by hand with different colors of thread.  For the backing and binding I used some orange scraps. 

If you want to see all the participant's starting blocks and ending quilts visit  the Cotton Robin Big Reveal post. 

If you would like to read more about other improv quilting that has gone on recently visit the 

AdHoc Improv Quilting link at Kaja's (Sew Slowly) and  Ann's (Fret Not Yourself) blogs. 

Cotton Robin

At the beginning of the year Julie (aka Floribunda) hosted a round robin. This was my third year of participation.  This year there were 16 Round Robineers.   Every round robineer starts out with a small block and mails it to Julie by the end of January.  

This was my center block. 

Pictures of all of the center blocks, makers unknown, were posted to the Cotton Robin blog. 

Next in the mail we received a center block and our instructions were to add a border. 

I added a beach and an ocean and sent it off to the next person. 

Then I received this block that had a second border added to the center block - the flying geese on neutral background.   I was instructed to add a second border.   I had a difficult time with this one because the block seemed lopsided to me because the border didn't go all the way around. So I had to ponder long and hard what to add for a second border. My first inclination was to "unlopside" it and continue the flying geese around.   But how creative is that? 

So, this is what it looked like after I added a second border. I was not completely happy with it because I wanted to even it all out but I tried.  And off to the next destination it went. 

Then I received this block in the mail with the first and second borders added and I was instructed to quilt and bind it. 

So I did a lot of hand quilting.  And sent it off home to the maker of the original center block. 

Then I received my center block back with first and second borders added and some awesome quilting added.   I love my little quilt. 

It's fun to see the final reveal of all the quilts on the Cotton Robin blog. 

It joins my little quilts from years one and two. 

This round robin stuff involves a lot of improv thinking. 

So I'm going to do some improv linking:

Ad Hoc Improv Quilting with Kaja and Ann

What If...

Earlier this year I joined up to participate in a Round Robin called Cotton Robin.  All members start by making a center block no larger than 8 inches and we send it off to our lovely hostess, Julie (Floribunda Quilts), who mixes and matches and sends us a block to add the first along with further instructions as to where to send the block when the first border is added, etc.  For some further fun we don't know who belongs to the blocks we are working on nor do we know who is working on ours until the BIG REVEAL months later after all quilts have arrived back home. 

This year Julie suggested we all challenge ourselves to make our starter block in colors outside our comfort zone.  Well, actually no colors are outside my comfort zone but I don't really like lime green so I chose lime green and purple - a wild combo.  AND I also chose to make the block with some freeform letters...free form being a challenge for me. 

So, above you see my starter block..."What if..." 

Tami of Lemon Tree Tales added the first border. 

And then Sophie of Sophie Junction added the second border and what a border it is!!!  Helen (no blog) added the backing, quilted it and bound it and added a hanging sleeve.   

Don't you just love Sophie's addition of  "Thinking Lady"?  She tells more about her method and has more photos on her blog post about the Cotton Robin. 

What a bunch of talented ladies worked on my little quilt!  I took it outside for photos but it hangs in a prominent spot in my sewing dungeon.   I sometimes look almost exactly like "Thinking Lady". I'm sure she has better thoughts than I. 

The first block I received to add a border to was Sandra's (no blog). 

I added the first border to it and sent it on to Jay to add the second border. 

Kate of Kate's Quilting sent in that center block in this pic of her finished quilt. If I remember correctly she requested we stay with neutrals.  Shannon of I'm Working on a Project added the first lovely border which didn't leave me much room to stay within the finished size guidelines to add a second border.  So I added some neutral scraps and HSTs for a narrow border along with some circles in the four corners.  I sent it on to Rachel (no blog) for quilting and finishing. 

I was only supposed to quilt and finish Cathy A's (no blog) quilt with the first and second borders added by others when it came to me. However, I thought the first border needed a fix so I added some embroidery and trim and blogged about it in an earlier post.    This is how Cathy A's mini quilt looked when I sent it home to her. 

If interested you can see all of the starter blocks and the finished quilts at the Cotton Robin Big Reveal. 

I'm waiting for the next one! 

Last year I started out with a jar of chocolate. Hmmmm...what should I start with next time? 

Round 3 - The Challenge and The Quilting

Shhhh....it's a secret but I don't think I'm revealing too much at all as to the owner of this little quilt. 

I've been participating in a mini quilt round robin.  We each start with a center block and it gets passed around several times  - once for the first border, then the second border and finally the last person does the quilting and binding. 

I'm the last person to work on this little quilt so I'm supposed to do the quilting and binding. 

But first I had to fix the first border.  The first border is the green,yellow,orange-red strips along with some little prairie points.  I'm not even sure what that fabric is but I am told it can't be ironed. The strips were not sewn together but were kind of overlapped and in one spot (above) the green fabric didn't meet up and cover the yellow border so there was some green  frayed exposed edge.  I did the best I could to tack it down but decided to embroider some vines and leaves all around the center block and then added some daisy trim in places here and there.  Those daisies covered the frayed area splendidly.   

I then added some big stitching on the first border in green and yellow. 

Now that that part is finished I've been working on quilting the rest of it with regular hand quilting thread.  But I can't show that part yet.   It will give away too much.   All will be revealed in time!  I'm almost finished! 

I'm going to join the virtual quilting bee Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts where there's a whole bunch of hand work going on.