I belong to a small, close-knit and supportive group of women who enjoy quiltmaking. I guess you could call it a "bee," though I've never belonged to a bee, only to guilds. Several of the members were intrigued by a randomly-set quilt I made with a combination of contemporary and vintage quilt blocks of various sizes.
"How did you sew these blocks together?" "How did you lay that out?" "I wouldn't know where to start," were some of the questions and comments.
There's nothing like going through a process oneself to gain experience, so...
Through a brain-storming session, we conceived and decided to work on a
Round Robin project. Each person picked 3 fabrics, chose 3 words or phrases that described the "personality" of the quilt they wanted to make, and randomly drew a size for a quilt block they would make for each person. We can also add fabrics from our own stash when needed. To make it more interesting—and personal—I designed
Quilt Journals for each member. The journals travel with the fabrics and each person writes in the journal during the time they are making a block.
The group meets monthly and the first month's results were delightful. Everyone was so thoughtful and creative with their choice of block designs and fabrics. We are on the second round and here is my 10" pomegranate basket block for Sandy's "traditional, Christmas, and holiday" quilt. The smaller blocks were Pat's contribution to Sandy's quilt. I saw the block that Camille made for my quilt and I love it! I can't wait to see this month's blocks at our next group meeting. It can't come fast enough.
