Monday, November 14, 2016

Mini Round Robin--Finished


This entire project has been a crazy train ride full of emotions and I would certainly buy a ticket to ride again anytime.  The journey for this little quilt started back in May when I constructed the center block, called The Attraction block (the free pattern can be found here).


My poor round robin mates, I think I'm the one that made it hardest on everyone.  If I had it to do over, I would have chosen a block that wasn't so simplistic.  I really kind of backed them into a corner color wise and well, it's not the most interesting block to build off of.  But I have to say the round robin team completely blew this out of the water and returned to me in September the most beautiful and creatively designed mini I could have ever imagined.  

You can read more about my mini's journey, if you would like me to pause my story for a minute or two...

The beginning...my post
Round one it traveled to Julie at Pink Doxies
Round two it traveled to Cindy at Stitchin At Home
Round three it traveled to Sandra at MmmQuilts

We had hoped to have our minis quilted by the beginning of October, but true to form, I am fashionably late to the party.  That's okay though, I was a bit intimidated by their creative work and had to wait for this little guy to speak to me.

This mini is about balance, change and movement.  Life is constantly changing.  In any given situation there is usually two sides pressing against each other and it just depends on how hard they are pressing as to whether balance is achieved.  My center square started out black and white, yin and yang.  I like to think of that red square in the middle as the pop of energy that forces things to change, for the better or the worse.  We need that pop; without it there is no chance to grow.

So until this epiphany hit me, this poor mini laid around my house, basted and ready to go.  My pop of red that made me realize, it was time to quilt or get off the machine, happened one evening while I was quilting at the Sweet Sixteen.  All of my fur kids were quietly playing in the living/dining room.  I had my glasses on top of my head so looking at a distance things were blurring.  When I glanced in their direction, I could see white stuff all over the floor and all three dogs were chewing at something...wtf?

  
For the first time ever, they had grabbed something off the quilting table.  Those three heathens, managed to paw the batting out from between the quilt layers.  Thankfully, the top was not ripped.  This picture is blurry because I may have been screaming like a raging sailor.


I have no idea what possessed them to do this, but lesson learned.  When I went to the store to pick up more batting, I ran into this fabric.


 For reasons not clearly revealed to me, I decided I wanted this for my backing fabric instead of the red print.  If I had to re-layer everything, I may as well re-layer everything.

Now on to the good part...the quilting.  


This mini called for three different colors of thread, Aurifil #2250 Red, #2692 Black and #2021 Natural White.  Three very classic colors.  Doesn't it make you want to dress up and go out on the town?

For my section, the center square, I decided on simple continuous curves for the red and feathers in the black and white.  Though the black and white fabrics are opposite each other, the feathers allow them to flow together.  


For Julie's round, I chose to do angled lines going opposite each other in the red and black sections.  Instead of adding the ribbon candy in the border, I left the small borders un-quilted.



For Cindy's round, those awesome chevron/arrows, I decided to echo the chevrons going in the opposite direction.  I LOVE when I can add ghost quilting to a project; those little designs you didn't know where lurking in a space.  In life, even when things are going smoothly in the direction you want them to go, there can be small little obstacle trying to take you a different direction.  Those little hiccups can lead to beauty, so we shouldn't fear them.  


This photograph shows how I marked the lines to quilt them to make sure I had the spacing correct.

In Sandra's last round of log cabin blocks, I knew I wanted to add some dot to dot quilting of angles and something similar in the corners.


Since this was a smaller project, I used a 1/4" tape to mark off the edge of my quilt, to help me easily see where I needed my lines to end and account for where the binding would hit the quilt.


Though, it's a bit  hard to see, those angles point down in the red and up in the black, with ribbon candy in the base of the red.  In the corners, I chose to add lines radiating from the corner out.


And of course for my binding, I went with a flange...gasp!  I seriously contemplated doing my binding in half red and black to blend into their sections.  I decided on the silver/gray and white flange to brighten things up a bit and show a distinct stopping point.  I think this quilt has achieved it's nirvana.  And so, I shall call my mini, "Nirvana."


And a quick peak at the back...


This quilt will always have a special place in my heart.  Being able to create with Julie, Cindy and Sandra was an honor.  All three of these ladies were able to translate exactly what this quilt was saying, even if at the time we couldn't completely understand what was being said.  I hope we all can fear change less and embrace the future with open arms.  Positive energy, thoughts and prays will bring about positive change.  I'm pretty sure nothing too great has come out of worry and fear except more fear.  With that I will leave you with Nirvana in the garden where her first pictures were taken.


Did I happen to mention this is the fourth finish from my 4th Quarter list?


Today I'm linking up with Let's Bee SocialLinky Tuesday, and  Main Crush Monday.

21 comments:

Ruth said...

Wilbur tore apart the foam in our sofa once, no idea what got into his head - never seen them go at wadding like that but glad it didn't affect your quilt top!

Julie said...

It just looks so beautiful all finished. Knowing the behind-the-scenes story helped me, of course, but it was a quilt with a real journey when you consider everything it came through, and all the caring hands that touched it. I know we've all said we loved the project, but not for a while again, but I'm just thinking we should make a date for spring. Just thinking...

Lisa J. said...

It's really a great quilt Tish. Perhaps the simplicity of the centre gave your bee mates lots of room for creativity. Thanks for always sharing the details of your quilting. I'm sure reading about this will be helpful to me at some point.

Jayne said...

I've enjoyed seeing this and the other quilts come together! Yours is gorgeous and you know...your quilting always puts it over the top for me! I may have heard you screaming when you saw the dogs with the batting! Oh my gosh...I would have gone ballistic! Thankfully they didn't hurt the quilt! Another well done and beautiful quilt Tish!

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Oh, what bad pups, but I do love the backing fabric you switched to. The dot to do and quilting compliment the designs so well and congratulations for saying yes to this quilt and journey; it was fun to watch you complete.

Also - whoo! Another finish! :)

Susan said...

Awesome round robin! As for those rascals, I guess a good thing they didn't swallow the stuff. No treats for them for a month!

Anonymous said...

Oh dear. I don't know what it is about batting, but my little dog does this whenever she can. I have to keep it away from her or she is there trying to chow down on it and she doesn't have a pleasant next day. Weirdo. Your Round Robin quilt turned out really nice. All the design choices created some really nice movement in the quilt.

Ariane said...

This quilt is beautiful!!!

Stitchin At Home said...

It was a pleasure to work on all the round robins. I think it helped all of us grow as quilters. I love the quilting Tish it brings this piece to life. A quilt isn't a quilt until it's quilted then I like to think it has personality. Yeah another off the list.

KaHolly said...

Well done, Tish! It looks so beautiful all finished up! Yournquilting is amazing! So glad those rascally pups didn't ruin it! XO

Rachel said...

Lovely! Such a bold little mini! I really like how you quilted it, especially those "ghost" chevrons! Nicely done crushing out your list too!

Sue said...

I love this quilt - it came together really well and the quilting is perfect for it.

Vicki in MN said...

I whole heartedly approve of you quilting;-))))

Bonnie said...

Vicki is a pro at quilting and if she likes it -- it must be golden. Which is to say I like it too. I find RR are really challenging and produces the most creative, interesting quilts.

PaintedThread said...

I had to laugh at your description why the one photo was blurry. I'm sorry. But the end result looks wonderful!

Jen Shaffer said...

This is a great finish!!

Cathy said...

It's beautiful!!!

Sharon said...

What a fabulous quilt! I love the quilting you achieved...well done! I am so sorry your heathens got to it, but you managed to save it and that is good.

Preeti said...

Oh no, what a setback!!! How did you maintain composure after the disaster? I would have been so angry and would have punished those beasts. And yet , the finished quilt is a beauty!!! Your quilting is exquisite, Tish.
Hugs,
Preeti.

Cheryl said...

I really like how the center block was more simple, your bee mates really highlighted and complimented the block as they added the rows. Sorry about having to rebaste the quilt, I am glad that they left the quilt top intact when they shredded the binding.

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

Great job on the quilting. Have they ever played with the batting before? I'm sure it wasn't funny in the moment, but I had a bit of a chuckle. LOL

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