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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Random: Short and Sweet

Blair, my bee-mate in the SMQG, wrote a book! It's called Wise Craft: Turning Thrift Store Finds, Fabric Scraps, and Natural Objects Into Stuff You Love. I know some of you are thrifters, so I thought you might enjoy hearing about it. Here's a little video to pique your interest. I know it did mine.

Blair also has a blog called wisecraft. I'm really enjoying a series she's started sharing her "friday favorites," such as a recent post on vintage quilt photos.

I love a good quilt finish whether it's mine or not! I had just a very small part in FAITH Circle's recent finish (that row of Courthouse Steps on the left), planned and completed by Debbie/Blue.Ridge.Girl. Isn't it something?! Click here to read all about it.
Faith Circle Row Quilt

Do you sew with leaders and enders? If you don't know what that means, click here. I often piece two or more projects at a time, cutting my threads and restarting as seldom as possible. Just curious if you do that too.

I'm also wondering if you've ever done a Round Robin quilt. "A round robin quilt is a quilt made by a group of quilters rather than by one person." At our upcoming guild retreat, we will have the opportunity to participate in an improv round robin experience. {kinda scary}
We will be divided up into groups of 4, each of us bringing 4 fat-quarters, plus a baggy of scraps to incorporate into the quilts in our group. I believe we will each start our own quilt, then rotate every 15 minutes, so every person works on all the quilts in their group. Have you done this before?? Any tips for me? Yikes. I'll be sure and report back.

Linking up with Really Random Thursday.

16 comments:

  1. Love that faith circle quilt! It's gorgeous. I do sew leaders & enders.... though I Have not turned them into anything, LOL. And the round robin sounds fun but a lot of pressure! I like to have time for things to resonate with me, 15 minutes is scary!

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  2. I love the quilt. Have fun with the round robin, I bet people will laugh a whole lot as it goes, as 15 minutes is not that long.

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  3. The first round robin I did was almost 20 years ago. There is a picture on my bulletin board of me holding the quilt top and baby Julia! We had a month between rounds. I can't imagine having only 15 minutes! How fun!

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  4. gorgeous quilt Debbie. And I just love that round robin quilt idea. It does sound scary, but I'm sure you'll come up with some amazing idea. so looking forward to seeing the results.

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  5. I get twitchy when I don't have a leader/ender project! Love the concept. But eek - not sure I love the improv round robin! Fifteen minutes? I'd still be thinking about something to do!

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  6. I always have a leader ender or 2 going. I have started using quilt assembly (sewing blocks together) as a leader ender also. I found a lot of my UFOs were blocks in a box just waiting to be assembled. This has helped me to finish some of these up.

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  7. I am making a Christmas postage stamp quilt so that's my current leader/ender project. I don't have one going all the time so I keep a few scraps nearby to use.

    The round robin sounds totally scary to me. I think I would have to tell myself that it would just be an hour of fun and not to expect anything lasting out of it (that I liked) and if by chance I loved the outcome, then that's just a bonus.

    Have fun!

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  8. Oooh, 15 minutes is lightning fast, but I'm sure it will be hysterical! The one I was in took a year lol

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  9. I've tried sewing with enders and leaders, and just didn't like it, so no, I don't. I love the idea of thrift store quilting. I have bought several items that I someday intend to sew into a quilt, but still haven't yet. Beautiful quilt, and good luck with the Round Robin.

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  10. The one time I tried the leaders and enders, I ended up getting so excited that I dropped what I was quilting and finished that little quilt! The round robin sounds like so much fun--kind of like speed dating, right?

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  11. That round robin sounds fun and yes, scary! I haven't done leaders and enders before, though I try and chain piece as much as human possible before ending, but after reading about them, I really think I may start doing that, such a good idea to get a second thing pieced while working on something else!

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  12. I have used leaders and enders - not consistently, but I've used them. Does seem to help save on thread somewhat. I've never done a Round Robin quilt - sounds like it will be fun, for sure!

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  13. I am fascinated with round robin quilts and would Love to be involved in one. When I heard 15 minutes I thought simultaneously that's way too short and oh my gosh fun! It's like the art assignments they'd give us in school with 2 lines and a dot and they said, make them into something. So we did. I think with such a short time you have an opportunity to let your subconscious/gut/talent jump forward with solutions. You let go and trust yourself. At the least you'll have a lovely remainder of a great time with friends and at the best let your innate artistry shine :)

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  14. Really? Has it only been 3 years that you have been blogging? I started following you during the "Zakka Style" sew along which is when I started blogging. I've enjoyed watching ALL of the things you've made and gotten involved with. I seem to be making lots of little items instead of actual quilts. You have taken on some big projects and gotten them done in record time. I hope your next year brings you even more great experiences.

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  15. Thank you for your kind words Debbie!! I hope to make it to a guild meeting soon, life is slowly resuming to a regular pace again.

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