The challenge started in February with the construction of our center blocks. We had our group of six that we would swap with roughly every month give or take. Time for each round was set pretty loose.
This was my center block. The only rule I had was to have fun, no pressure and enjoy it! You can read about my block here: Round Robin :: My First. That's easier said than done! I felt pressure every single round! I didn't want to disappoint or mess anything up!
Wanna see how it all came together after all the rounds? You'll be surprised! I was! I intentionally avoided seeing round because I wanted it to be a surprise at the end. Here it is!
What a transformation! A metamorphosis took place with each round, slowly changing the vibe and design! How fun it's been seeing what each person added for their round.
I was thrilled to see that each person wrote a little something about round. It's a very nice touch for this kind of challenge I think.
A few detail shots! Love the drunkards path butterfly from Marcia! Emily added the last round of geese. She used fabric from her previous rounds in the geese! Libby did the round next to the geese. Hers reminded me of a quilt I recently finished called 'Finely Tuned'.
Katie added the pink 'ombre' stripes (above) and the Anna Maria Horner stripes (bottom). Gotta love plus blocks! Maria added those along with her usual sassy rebel-ness!
I don't think it will happen anytime soon, but I will do another Round Robin one day! It was all you'd expect...stress, stress and stress! But, it was also worth it, fun, challenging and rewarding! Thank you ladies for making my first the best!
Here are some of the other quilts from our group:
Marcia's Quilt
Katie's Quilt
Emily's Quilt
Stay tuned for Libby and Maria's! I told you we were playing it loose!!
This is from the other Round Robin Group, Debbie's quilt! It's fun and festive!
I wrote about each round on my blog if you'd like to read more about it!
I think for my rounds, each one I added somehow was tied to a project I was working on at the time or had just finished up!
When I do another Round Robin there are a few things I will do differently.
First, try not to stress as much. It won't work, but it's worth a try!
Decide if I want to see the progress after each round. If not, be sure and state that.
Give more direction, not much just enough to guide whoever is in line. That could be in the form of colors, fabrics or shapes. Then maybe they won't have to stress as much.
If I would like a certain background, include fabric to keep it consistent.
Include a note (which I did this time) with my wishes, thoughts and ideas. And then...be sure to ask each participant to write something about their experience with their round.
I was perfectly happy to let everyone do what they felt and wished with my block. I didn't want to give too many rules that would make it too serious. A few guidelines are not a bad thing!
When will I ever do another one?! I'm not sure. Would you want to join in with a Round Robin? If you hear of one going on, I wouldn't mind hearing about it!
LINKING:
TGIFF
Your Round Robin turned out fantastic Jayne! Not sure more guidelines would have been better ... And your stress is normal since you don't want to disappoint others. It's a part of the journey ;-)
ReplyDeleteI tend to agree with you on the guidelines. There will always be a level of stress involved and should be expected. It didn’t deter me from wanting to try it again one day!
DeleteI too would do another round robin, but like your idea of maybe a few loose rules. It should be fun and not just stressful.
ReplyDeleteAll of these round robin quilts came out wonderfully! I have never done a round robin but I think that I would like a few loose rules or suggestions to help narrow down what to add on.
ReplyDeleteHaving gone through one now, a few guidelines would have been good. One day I’ll do it again…lessons learned are always good!
DeleteI loved seeing your review of all the rounds. I wish we had spent some time at the meeting going discussing our thought/design process. Maybe a subject for a meeting or a private robin party.
ReplyDeleteI haven't done a round robin quilt before -- don't know if I would do one at all because of the stress involved. I tend to self-critique to the point of not participating in something that should be fun. (Don't want to disappoint the quilt maker with my choice of fabric or design.) Love the way your quilt turned out! The others in your group are terrific, too. Nadine W. in N. Cali.
ReplyDeleteHow big is your Round Robin quilt now (when you received it back)? Those butterflies are really adorable. The addition of the short written description from each participant is a great idea!
ReplyDeleteSo interesting! I've particpated in a few Round Robins. We had a label with space for each oerson to sign so we had the label done but also knew the names of the participants. Some of the workmanship wasn't the best. Including fabric helped keep the colors more consistent. I totally agree that not seeing your own work in progress is best. On the very first one, I stitched many triangles together for a tree, Christmas or otherwise. The guidelines said to return the block in the paper bag. This participant arrived with the block in hand and totally opened so I could see that she added Victorian figures to my tree. I wanted to throw a tantrum! I didn't but hopefully learned something about myself in the process. One time the guidelines stated what had to be added. Ex. Round two - add triangles. Round three - rectangles. All were learning experiences. Thanks for sharing!.
ReplyDeleteoh these are fun to see! Sounds stressful to me too, but what great results!
ReplyDeleteI really like that your quilt morphed from light to dark while still keeping the pinky peachy colors. Perhaps those butterflies represent the metamorphosis!
ReplyDeleteLooks great. I agree there needs to be a bit of direction/guidance. Otherwise, it it too overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand how a round robin works. You said you intentionally didn't want to see it as it progressed. Is the quilt in progress returned to you after each round and you then pass it to the next person in line?
ReplyDeleteI really like how yours turned out but I can't tell how big it is because no one is holding it up like in your other pictures.
Oh my! They are all downright amazing. I've done round robins twice. I love both of those quilts. The first time there were 4 of us. The second, 6. I did have to do some serious repair, 6 hours worth, to get the second one to lay flat. I definitely prefer not seeing the project until the end.
ReplyDeleteRound Robins are by far one of the best ways to challenger yourself, but I do 100% agree, it can be very stressful. I think all of you knocked your challenges straight out of the park. I'd love to do another one, but I'm not sure enough time has passed to convince myself to do it again :)
ReplyDeleteI love what you have done with the flying geese in the first photo.
ReplyDeleteThis is SO COOL! They are all completely different, and yet each one is FABULOUS! I am surprised that these quilts came out looking so cohesive and intentional, even thought they were silent collaborations between quilters who never created and discussed an overall plan. Now I want to do a round robin!!
ReplyDeleteI’ve never done a round robin and to be honest although the thought appeals I’m torn for the very reasons you state. It’s so enjoyable reading about it though, and especially as I got to see all the finished quilts too. They look great.
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed watching your round robin, and to see the final results must be so gratifying...both of your own and to see how each of your rounds fit in with others! It is a creatively fascinating prospect, but one I don't think I could venture into unless with really good friends, who all knew to expect HSTs :D
ReplyDeleteI would need major quilt courage to join a round robin and was impressed at every round you added. My own stress level went up just imagining what I would add to each quilt! What an incredible skill builder. Excellent work by all of you.
ReplyDeleteI love it! It came out beautifully!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very fun round robin. The quilts have a lot of unexpected twists and turns, which is really fun to see. I've done one round robin where we all put fabric in a sack and the sack was passed around and you had to make a block from the fabric. It was fun, I learned a lot about color theory with that one. But not everyone played fair, I didn't get back all my unused fabric, nor did I get a full set of blocks. So I won't do another round robin unless I really know and trust the people in it.
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