oh my! You have all been so busy! I love all the new quilts posted. Each of them so different and wonderful. What an amazing group of quilters we are.

Lois, hugs to you and your family. The grief, the sorting and the memories... they are difficult and heartwarming. Take care of yourself.

The days have slipped by for me. I try to get to the sewing room to continue to sew the 4 patch square in a square. But I've been busy with life. My mom is sick again, my grandson had minor surgery (he is absolutely fine) and I am in south New Jersey visiting my granddaughter s and their parents. Such fun. I don't know if I'm swimming or winding my watch. Good thing I don't wear a watch.

I'd like to participate in the row by row. I've seen the round robin process before. My only concern with the square and adding borders is making sure everyone's borders lie flat. The row by row seems simpler. But I'm game. I'll try to email you LuAnn.

Thanks for being here even when I'm not. The catching up is fun. Love the ducks Lotti!

Geneva

AnnieLu wrote:
Luanne, I don't suppose you have actually looked to see how many pages we filled up whilst we were NOT TALKING about the Chinese Whispers Quilts , as they were a bit before your time. Lets just say, that it might well not be as quiet as you think it might

I just checked - we managed to not talk about the CW quilts for 214 pages!

Personally I would prefer a separate thread for notifying of postage progress etc, rather than the information melding into this retreat, as it would be easier to find - jus' sayin'.

idaho wrote:
We can certainly start a different thread, but considering that we don't show what we've done until the end I think it would be a pretty quite spot. And if we all stay here, and post a short note about finishing border #? on so-and-so's piece, and that it's on the way to (name of next person). It would keep the original owner updated as to where-in-the-world it is, and the next person would be keeping an eye out for the package. I know that if I receive my next piece to work on early in the month, I may send it off before the last day, just to stay tidy around my house. Staying here keeps more lurkers informed. We can change the idea of NOT showing progress to show ALL progress if others would like that. It's pretty open to what 'we' decide to do.
The other issue is for me to connect with each person, that is 'interested' , via personal email, so I can get everyone's physical addresses to coordinate the best mailing routes. I would also want to send the full 'plan' to each person ahead of time so they can 'confirm' that they want to be involved at this time.
Anyone else that wants to put their ideas in on this are encouraged. Even if you plan to not join in, your ideas are welcomed.

Luann

It turned out wonderful, Heather! Another idea for quilting the bows would be to use freezer paper instead of the card stock. You can iron the freezer paper right onto the quilt so it's easier to get on than with pins or tape, and the freezer paper bends so it can hug the quilt top a little more easily while quilting. Then you just pull it right off when done. Just another idea to add to you tool belt in case you hadn't heard of that tip.

Lois, I am so sorry to hear of the loss of your MIL. Prayers for you and the family as you walk through this grief. (((hugs)))

Dawn, your minis are beautiful! I love both, but that white piece and all the things you used to embellish it....very beautiful! I love the juxtaposition of sea shells and "winter white" -- very cool!

Wendy, your started row is really striking! I hope you have fun! A friend of mine did a Round Robin, where they started with a center (as Luann is trying to organize), and I thought how fun it would be! A row would be neat, too. I hope you enjoy the different rows to make and love your piece when it comes home to you!

Lotti, those duck (it's a duck, yes??) photos are stunning! How wonderful to catch him while fishing....very cool! I'm quite jealous, of your access to such beauty, and your skills as a photographer. Truly a gift!

I did finish the quilting on my lone star; it's only about 38" x 38" square, since it's a baby quilt, so not that big. I don't know how much it shows in the photo, but I outlined the various "ribbons" in the star (following the star shape in each row), about 1/4" from both seams in each row. The one "interrrupted" row (the darker pink in the middle, where the points are the white fabric) I did a decorative stitch instead to accent it, alternating one stitch through the center and then a stitch along the inside of each edge (it's a scallopy looking stitch).

Then in the blue/white I tried to enhance the "woven" look, making gentle curves along the inside edges of each color, one direction (vertical) for the white and the other (horizontal) for the blue, the way ribbons sort of bow a bit when woven in together.

In the 4 corners where the white ribbon fabric is, I did a giant bow (like tied ribbon); I drew this onto card stock, cut it out, pinned/taped it to the fabric and used my walking foot to slowly quilt around it. Then took off the paper to go in and do the detail in the center of the bow. Then I used a cream thread to do a squiggly fill in around/behind the bow, with my free motion foot. I do not free motion quilt very much, so practiced first, and it turned out okay. This machine (I think I mentioned, I upgraded to a preowned Janome Memory Craft 3500) is easier to manage it and I've been sewing longer and quilting longer and so it was easier to get the movement of the fabric at a good speed for nice sized (and mostly fairly even) stitches.

Binding is on the front, I will hand stitch today and possibly take it to the fair as well if I finish, but I also won't rush it. We shall see. I did drop off the other 2 little quilts, so we'll see what happens.

Anyway -- pictures. The front, a close up of the front, and a close up of the back.

I'm sorry to hear about your MIL, Lois! I know you were very close!

I will also lurk on the round robin. Would be fun, but I just don't have the time right now. I know you guys will produce some pretty incredible quilts!

I like the idea of row by row too. Have to think about what I've got going. Been too busy with life happening to comment much lately but I have been lurking everywhere when I get a chance. MIL passed away and I've been involved with sorting home items -keep/donate/trash/sell- accumulated 70 years in the same house. We'll see about the Round Robin. Many, many 100 mile trips back and forth to get pieces of this work done. It seems I don't know if I am coming or going. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Yeah!

email sent - love the idea of a row-by-row-round robin

luann fischer: just for you - i came accross this little guy fishing on sunday night

I'm going to be the lurker this time, I've got too many monthly challenges going on that I struggle with at the moment. Bet I'll regret it when I see how much fun you have.

I'm interested. I like the row upon row idea. I've always wanted to make a row quilt, but I'll go with what everyone says. Note: This is my preliminary response, I reserve the right to withdraw before the deadline. It's late and I might be thinking straighter in the morning.

Luann...things are not cooperating tonite...private message won't work for me ..don't know why! and my reg mail is not
behaving either!GRRRR I'm out of town for DH's Dr. appt so will try tomarrow PM. Could you just make a new topic
here and we can work thru that ??? Worked well in the past.

Marilyn, and others interested in doing a Round Robin,
Can you send a message to me at
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. that way I will have your personal email and be able to put it in my contacts for getting this Round Robin going. I will send you a letter about the idea I have based around a center square or block. If the group is international some of my steps will need to be more refined, but I can work on that once I see how many are interested.
If my email doesn't show in this message, I'm hoping you can get it from my personal page.
Let me know if you have any problems finding it.
Luann

Luann...I'd be up for a round robin...international would be fun...The last group effort here
was totally over the top wonderful !! All our exchanges were fun, too..."Whispers across the Pond''
had 10 members and we worked from each others quilts for inspiration. Keep me in mind .