Folk Art Friends

Long, long ago in a town far, far away.........

I feel like that is how this blog post should start because my oldest UFO is now officially FINISHED!!!

In the Fall of 2000 I started a Round Robin with eight quilting friends that I met at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. Six of us had done round robins the year before and had a great time. Now nine of us were going to participate. Our biggest challenge this time around was going to be the fact that we had all moved and were spread all over the US and one was even now living in Korea! So these round robins were going to be mailed every month and they were going to be doing some extensive traveling.

After much discussion, we decided that we wanted to do a wallhanging size quilt with a planned "puzzle" layout. One of the ladies in our group drew a diagram with dimensions for each block and assigned each block a month. Before we began, we each got the rules for our round robin and this drawing in the mail. 

You have to forgive my picture because I wrote on my paper to make it easier for me to remember whose quilt I was going to be working on each month. Our theme blocks were the 12X12 that are marked "Sept". We were to mail our blocks the end of that month.

The theme for my quilt was Folk Art Friends. I had never done any applique and it shows! This is VERY primitive-my blanket stitch is every size imaginable! The flower head was originally appliqued down too, but when I was quilting it in 2008 or so and I sprayed the top with water to remove my blue marking lines, the red floss that I used bled on my quilt! I removed the offending floss and after many attempts to get the red all out, I was so distraught that I put the quilt aside and didn't finish quilting it. When I went back recently to finish the quilting I decided to leave the flower unstitched as a reminder of what had happened. There is still a hint of pink in this block, but I finally decided that finished is better than perfect and I got over it.

I wrote in a journal to pass with my quilt and made a label for everyone to sign. 

So, month by month, as my quilt was passed from one person to another and each added a block to my quilt, I was busy working on blocks for theirs. 

In October we were supposed to use 3 3X9" rectangles as our background. I loved Pam's birdhouse hanging on the branch and her cat in front of a harvest moon. 

In November, the block was only 5X9" and Sue added a really cute log cabin. 

For December the block was a horizontal 4X12. Jan made this adorable angel-look at the stars at the tips of her hair! So much attention to detail!

January had our blocks turned on point and 14" square. I loved this Amish-inspired man and woman Judy made. 

For February, Pam D. used a flannel for a row of flowers in her 5X14" space. 

Beth made baskets in the 4 6" blocks for March. Look at the cute jute handles she appliqued on! 

April was a TALL skinny block 4X28 and Bev put a potted flower there. Just perfect for that space!

The last month was May and it was the biggest challenge for everyone. There was so much measuring and figuring-and curved piecing! Anne did a beautiful job with my flannel crow!! This crowning piece is 30X7!

We got together for a fun reunion and were all thrilled to get our quilts back!! The themes were so much fun and I had enjoyed working on everyone else's quilts all year too. Snowmen, Halloween, Primitive, Chickens, "Seedtime and Harvest", Flowers, Alaska, and "Home is Where the Army Sends You" were the other quilts. They are turned out fantastic and I wish I had pictures of them to share with you, too. 

I picked a fun backing fabric that I thought went well with my theme and I love the label on the back of my quilt. 

I'm so happy to finally have this quilt in the finished column so I can check that block!

Happy Quilting!

Grammy