Quilt U Be Mine Big Reveal

Happy Valentine's Day!

Last October I entered in another one of Michele's Round Robin Swaps with a little trepidation. This round robin was only 4 months long, and it required each participant to add on 2 borders up to 6" in width before sending it on to the next participant. This was a big commitment to enter right before the holidays. But I agreed. I was in the middle of designing my first block when Hurricane Sandy hit, which totally threw my schedule off balance. But my teammates were very gracious and understanding ladies and and did beautiful work on my block even though I had sent it out 2 weeks late.

In mid November, I sent out my 8" starter block.

I received from Rachell  in Utah her center block.

I wanted to play with the rhythmic flow the center hearts gave and added the applique tulips and the dancing squares. Here is a closeup of the machine applique.

In December, I received from Michele, Rachel's block from California.

Michele took the center block and tilted it a bit which created a waving movement. I wanted to repeat the polka dots somewhat, so I made log cabin blocks with white centers then appliqued dots on top of the top border.

In January, I received Michele's block. I broke the rules a bit with hers. I made my border additions wider than 6" so I could play with my new Dresden ruler.  I also added applique birds and flowers to give it a Pennsylvania Dutch feel to it. I knew that Michele has plans to attend the Lancaster, PA quilt show in March. Then to make the Dresden plates fit the quilt, I added another border at the bottom. Not sure what that design is called, I quickly sketched it out on graph paper.

 Here are close ups of the applique and half Dresden plates.

 

 At the end of January, I received my little block back, and my, how it has fattened up!  I love it. I haven't done much to it other than add a leftover applique bird to the center pink border, but I like how the different shades of red make the eye dance. It will be fun to add on to this one more to make it into a lap sized quilt. The borders were carefully constructed, and the color balance is very playful. A very fun combination. Thank you to Rachell, Rachel and Michele for not only putting such careful thought into their additions, but also for sending me their tops on time, giving me plenty of time to construct complex additions. I was able to test new skills, new rulers and border designs. A wonderful experience!

Thanks again to Michele for coordinating, or more accurately, corralling such a diverse group of quilters into keeping deadlines and doubling up on the border additions each month. I invite you to go to her website, Quilts from My Crayon Box, to see the links to all of the other finishes.  They are stunners!