SAHRR - Stay At Home Round Robin

This is the fourth year I've participated in this fun, great for the creative brain activity, dreamed up by Gail of Quilting Gail, when we were all in lockdown. The first year I participated was in 2023, and I haven't missed a year yet. If you'd like more information, click the link to Gail's post that explains how it works.

Here are the my previous year's quilts. There are four because in 2025 I made two, one in the round robin style and the other all blocks.

Lower right, coneflower—2023; lower left, fishies—2024; top right, Arabesque—2025; top left, aquamarine blocks—2025

Each one is so very different, no? Three of those four were built in the round robin style of adding a round around the centre. The blues and greens quilt was done in the bloc style where each week’s prompt saw me making a block as opposed to a round. It’s your quilt, so you can choose how you want to build it as long as you fulfill the prompt.

In order to choose a starting block, I opened that drawer...the one where my orphan blocks all hang out together. I decided to approach this with the idea that I was going to organize these blocks into potential quilts. You may recall Louise, formerly of Quilt Odyssey does this with stacks of blocks she gets which she sews into quilts for Covered in Love. I did something similar with a group of the blocks in that drawer and it resulted in the quilt below. Granted some of those blocks clearly were originally made to be together.

Global Garden

Here is what resulted when I sorted through allll the orphans in that drawer.

Starting from the top row, the set of solid blocks on the left was a quilt along started several years ago, which I lost interest in. That was an easy grouping. The middle group is all fall colours. The group on the top right is what I'd call vintage fabrics, more greyed in tone, some half blocks or extra ones from previous quilts made, some trying a new method I'd seen on Simply Quilts. (yep, we're going back 15+ years).

The bottom row, on the left is another set of sort of vintage, though in brighter and lighter colours. In the middle are two batik blocks, one another I made after seeing a cool method by a guest on Simply Quilts, the other an extra block from a quilt I made for my brother and his husband's wedding. The last one in the bottom row is a group of Christmas or Christmas colours blocks. Some of these blocks in both rows are from block exchanges at guild retreats back in the day (again 15+ years ago).

 

These two groups are comprised of a set of blocks along with all the patches needed to make even more. these were originally going to be the final trellis border in fleurs, a round robin quilt I did with the Kingsville guild I used to belong to when we first moved here. 

I preferred using two greens for that trellis border, so these were set to the side. This was a similar way to do a round robin: the guild executive gave the prompt each month, and you did it on your own quilt. Stripes, curves, appliqué, words were some of the prompts.

The other little pile beside the rejected trellis blocks consists of a bunch of random little blocks, from extras to experiments, including hexagonal stack 'n whack ones. They may end up in some placemats I'm thinking. In any event my mission is to clear that drawer right out!

Finally, there is this 14" finished block, another I did from an episode of Simply Quilts. I nearly chose it for my starting point as it's got lots of potential with size of a centre block, shapes, pattern, and colours. However, for all of those reasons, and the secondary pattern I know this will create, I'd like to make even just eight more using colourful and monochromatic or tone-on-tones fabrics, basically a study in value, and I've it as a donation or comfort quilt somewhere.

This is the set of blocks I chose to start with. Three are totally a group: blue and yellow. The fourth, a purple and cream one, is not, yet purple works with the indigo of the same pattern. At first I thought I'd go with the three blue and yellow blocks, and put the purple one on the back, but then I thought, no, it wants to be with the others, and it could work... The indigo and purple blocks are 10" finished and the blue and yellow ones are 9" finished, so I'd need four ½" finished borders, or, which is what you see I did, two 1" finished on two sides only. 

Of to the stash I went to find a blue and yellow print that could work. I found a great one with suns on blue bricks... but it didn't help the purple. I searched through the yellow stack...nothing really, so I went to the purples on the off-chance...and look what I found near the bottom of the stack!! Cue the choir! I bought this waaay back for a blue and yellow quilt for Brianne's room in our new house that never got made. It has blue and purple on a yellow background. I will definitely be using it all up, front and/or back!

I almost forgot to take a photo of the original four before anything was added

And here we have it, this year's starting point of four orphan blocks. Of the four I've made in that first photo, the fishies quilt started with four blocks, two fishes and two hearts, so it will be fun to watch where this one goes. I have absolutely no plan other than using up that trellis fabric, and I love this way of designing. At this point, the centre measures 20 ½" square.

Linking up at Gail's blog.