ROUND ROBIN--HOW TO ORGANIZE ONE

 Over the years, I have participated in more than a few Round Robin and Block Swap projects. Recently, when I featured this quilt, begun in 2004 in a Round Robin project, and completed in 2011, several of the Sunday Sew and Sews expressed interest in starting a Round Robin:

A-Round With My Friends

Round Robins became a "thing" about 20 years ago. It involves getting a group of interested quilters together and setting the rules and timeframe. Each person makes a center block of their choice. They select a theme or fabric colors/styles, and each person in the group works on each quilt for some specific amount of time. Each person adds the next "round", or border, to the top they are given. The project boxes are passed to each person in turn--each quilt gets bigger each time a "round" is added.  When the project is over, the owner gets their quilt top back, to do with as they please.

Here is the info I sent to the 15 Sunday Sew and Sews--8 decided to PLAY:

1. Strictly optional—only play if you really want to and are prepared to keep to the schedule
2. Group size would be 5-6 people, we might have two groups depending on how many want to play. The group will have a list of each person in their group—selected at random
3. Each person starts by making the center block of their choice, 12”-16”, you decide
4. Each person puts together a small fabric palette of fabrics they like, perhaps a few from their center, these will be added to by the participants
5. Each person writes a note with their “kit”, what they hope to see, what they like or don’t like—I remember Janet saying she just didn’t like pinwheels
6. Each person puts their Kit—center, fabrics, note—in a tote of some kind—to pass to others in the group
7. We will start at the June 6 Sunday Sew and Sews gathering
8. You pass your kit to the person below you on the list. You receive a kit from the person above you on the list
9. Each person has one month to add a round to the quilt—bringing the Kit back to the July meeting to  pass to the next person on the list—you may add a few fabrics to the kit but don't have to
10. We will have two months to complete the final round—as by now the quilt has grown and it’s much larger than when it started
11. It would be most fun to not share the quilt’s progress with the “owner”—she will only see it at the final reveal party--NOTE: we decided NOT to keep the progress a secret
12. You are free to ask for help/suggestions from anyone else in the group

We ended up with 8 total participants so we have two groups of 4 people each. If the group is much larger than 5, the quilts start to get pretty big as each round is added.

I thought I might be in two groups if we had an odd number so I made two center blocks:

14" block inspired by an antique quilt at the Shelburne Museum

12" Bullseye block from pattern by Becky Goldsmith

an extra 14" block made when I realized I had cut out two of them

My project Kit box. The fabrics can be used on this project only--no one can keep any of the fabrics that come in the boxes. They can add to the box or simply use the fabrics as suggestions for what kind of fabric and/or colors to use. The middle block above, the Bullseye, is the one I will put in my box:

Some Round Robin groups have lots more rules--like exactly what to make for each round: Half Square Triangles, then Flying Geese, then Star blocks, etc. Some have almost no rules--do what you want, when you want, no timeframe, get done whenever you can. 

For a new group, I suggest some specific rules, especially timeframes, and that your best work is expected. I trust this group completely so didn't need to stress that. It is important that those who choose to play really want to--it is a commitment of time and effort to participate.

Block Swaps are different and can be easier. Here is a detailed blog I wrote about that process:

 Swap Blocks for Confident Quilters  Choose units that don't rely on perfect 1/4 seam allowances, like half square triangles, or very easy blocks. Search "Block Swap" above to find several other posts on these swaps.

My Advice if you decide to organize a Round Robin OR a Block Swap:

1. Choose the participants carefully, those who will keep to the timeline and do their best work

2. Set clear rules, many or few, and be sure everyone understands the rules

3. Set a reasonable amount of time for completion

4. The organizer needs to keep on top of the passing of the quilts or swapping of blocks, to be sure it happens timely--especially if the swapping will happen by mail

Perhaps this gives you an idea for how to work with a group of friends on such a project. The process is a great learning experience for everyone and the finished quilts are usually better than if only one person made the entire quilt. 

In the featured quilt above, I loved it so much when I got it back from the two friends in that Round Robin, I knew it deserved to be bigger.  I added the needle-turned hand applique borders and spent two years, off and on, doing the detailed hand quilting. This quilt won Best of Show in 2011, was a semi-finalist in Paducah in 2012 and was included as one of the best 500 Traditional Quilts in the 2014 book by that name, and was featured in the Special Exhibit at Houston 2014 of some of the quilts from that book. 

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Doll Quilt Swap

I was fortunate to get into the Doll Quilt Swap organized by Needle Thimble and Thread on Instagram. see #ntatdqs2020 to see many beautiful little quilts being made to swap. Those who participated in the prior year get first chance to sign up for the current year and sometimes no one new is added. This year a few spots opened up and I was excited I got in.

The one I made for this swap is ready to take a trip in the mail to its new home:

18" square

Label

Handquilting with wool batting is so easy!

The rules were simple:

1. Reproduction Fabrics, quilt shop quality

2. No smaller than 14" x 14", no larger than 18" x 18"

3. Handquilting only

4. Theme is "Remember Me"

5. Do your best--make something you would love to receive

6. In progress photos were required at specific times--the top in progress, the quilting in progress

7. Label including the theme "Remember Me", the name and  location of the maker, the maker's Instagram name

8. Keep to the deadline

As the quilt must be in the mail by August 1, 2020, I am within the deadline. I used 3" blocks from the Temecula Quilt Company's Stay At Home Sampler--it was free on Instagram in April. The blocks are still there should you want them. 

I will put a few little "goodies" in the package and get it to the Post Office on Monday. I hope the person I made it for likes it.

Swaps are popular but do have pluses and minuses. I have written about them several times before. Put swap in the Search box on the upper left of this page to find them.

Have you participated in a Swap? Was it fun and successful?

Let's quilt.

Barbara

Sawtooth Swap Blocks

I love making 6" sawtooth star blocks. In 2016 I made 100 of them during Barbara Brackman's "Stars in a Time Warp" block a week sew-a-long:

So when I learned that Barb Vedder of Fun With Barb was hosting a swap I jumped in. Of course, I was at Houston when this was announced and saw it late so I was happy to be #38 out of 40 to make the reproduction list, phew!

Barb has a great tutorial for this block--try it, you might like it: Oh My Stars Swap Tutorial.

As soon as I got home from Houston I jumped on making these 40 blocks even though they aren't due until January. I'd rather get them done and sent to Barb before I start on the next project that awaits.

Here are mine on the design wall:

These go quickly and I enjoy working from small pieces of my repro fabrics.

I look forward to seeing what blocks I receive in return, early in 2020, when I will probably have forgotten all about it--the package will be an unexpected gift.

Thanks, Barb, for the Fun!

Let's quilt.

Barbara

The Village

In 2018 I was involved in two swap projects, one was 5" paper-pieced houses and one was 4.5" stars. I wrote about the Quilters Scrap Houses here and the Tiny Star Blocks here.

Recently, when I should have been sleeping, I wondered what I could do with thirty 4.5" tiny stars. And then wondered what I could do with thirty-six 5" little houses. Two  more quilts to make. Wait a minute...

What If: they were combined into ONE quilt, stars and houses. I ran the numbers in my head--what do you know? Ten 4.5" stars = 45" of stars, 3 rows of 10 stars each could be made.  AND nine 5" houses = 45" of houses, 4 rows of 9 houses could also be made. No extra blocks had to be made--I had just enough--that never happens!  It was meant to be, here is "THE VILLAGE":

A much better photo will be achieved when this is quilted and bound--in the not too distant future. I was just so eager to see it up on the wall. Good to have another top finished for 2019.

After I made the rows of stars and the rows of houses, I thought the neighborhood looked a little sterile--it needed some greenery. So each row of houses got one paper-pieced tree on either end of the "street"--much better. When I write the directions, the trees will be added to each "street" before the rows are sewn together, so much easier. If only I had thought about the trees earlier.

This will make a great 3 hour class for guilds--in 3 hours you can learn to paper-piece the house and one tree AND learn the adorable Tiny Star--and how to convert that simple star into other easy-to-make sizes. They are so good for swapping because the points "float" and don't have to match, always good in a swap project.

Let's quilt!

Barbara

Under My Needle and a New Swap

A few things I am working on.

The Temperature Quilt:

Last December I learned about Temperature Quilts and Blankets--those were made from yarn. Each color represents a 10 degree temperature band and each vertical row is a week, beginning January 1, 2018. By March I was losing interest and knew I did not want to complete the year--half a year would be plenty and be a reasonable size--this is 26" wide x 30" before the borders. I used the official high temperature at Huntsville International Airport for each day. Here is my Key:

It did not get over 100, which is fairly typical here, but the 90's with our high humidity is plenty hot enough. Glad I did it, I'm over it now. The border fabric came from the closet after the top was completely done--it pays to have a deep stash.

When my two best quilting buddies and I get together, usually for our annual retreat, the idea of a swap between us gets launched. This time we decided to make 5" scrap houses for each other. The original pattern I found was a 3" house, too tiny we decided. Other houses have two chimneys, too much effort we decided. So I found a simple house in Electric Quilt 8 that just needed a bit of tweaking to be perfect. Our 5" finished Quilter's Scrap House:

We will paper-piece 12 of these to give to each of the other two--if we make 12 for ourselves, we'll all have 36 5" houses when the swap is done.  The only thing I had to remember when printing the pattern was to mirror-image it--when paper-piecing, what you see on the paper will be reversed when sewn.

I have been involved in many swaps over the years. Here are my tips:

1. Choose participants carefully. All must follow the "guidelines"--RULES--and agree to meet the deadline. Limit the number of people--the most I have had was 13 and that was plenty.

2. Set a firm deadline and be sure everyone agrees to meet it.

3. The best thing to swap are "units"--parts of blocks that can be trimmed down, like half-square triangles and four-patches. When you do a block like this you learn everyone has their own "personal" quarter-inch seam allowance. Refer to tip 1 above...

4. Hold a "teaching" class if the technique is new to most participants. Paper piecing is not for everyone. Be sure everyone understands to use a very small stitch, tiny thread and lightweight paper.

5. If you allow people to request specific colors/themes, be sure each person is clear in their request and that everyone agrees to follow the requests.

6. If you are located close together, it is fun to have a sew-day to work on the blocks. If apart, sharing photos online is fun OR you can keep the blocks a complete secret until done.

 For this particular block and group the guidelines are simple: trim thread as you go, remove the paper when the block is finished, have them all done no later than Christmas. Only one house per maker can be in violation of the HOA rules--meaning ONE can be "not mirror imaged"--the door can be on the right, window on the left.

I made a test block before sending the information to the other two--oh my goodness, these are like Dorito blocks--hard to stop making them:

I had to stop making houses right now so I can do some Secret Sewing:

I am working on a big quilt I want to have ready to photograph for an upcoming blog. There was a lot of layout design time spent, now I am sewing, then I'll write the blog with all the information for this layout. Lots to do, yet but I like how it's coming along.

Let's Quilt!

Barbara