... what do I do now??
The row robin that you signed up for 8 months ago is about to come home. You've worked on seven other people's rows, trying very hard to keep within their theme, picking colors from your stash, or searching high and low in town for that perfect fabric for a matching row. You are very pleased with the effort you have put into the others' quilt rows and are confident they have done the same for you.
You wait in great anticipation for the eight rows to return home. What a magnificent quilt you will make. If it's half as nice as the one you just sent out, then you will get it quilted as quickly as possible and into that quilt show coming up next!
The box arrives, and you work through the tape and cardboard as fast as you can.
And … oh dear... what the heck is this?
Each row in itself is beautiful! Some of the quilters did use the fabric you sent along, some didn't - but they did very well in their choices. Points match, adjacent blocks match up without so much as a thread out, the details on the paper-pieced squares is exquisite - but not one-row co-ordinates with another! All you can think is "what on earth am I going to do with this?". One of the rows carried on a theme the starter row had - and it became a wall hanging very quickly. However, as the days and weeks go by, the other rows are arranged and re-arranged, little thank you notes are sent out to the quilters thanking them for their beautiful work, but the quilt just does not come together. It finds its way to the shelf, and as a new trip to the quilt shop brings home new fabrics, the row robin migrates to the back of the cupboard.
Fast-forward five years.
A new project is in your mind as you pull out your piles of stash for possible fabrics. What's this? My goodness - the round robin from years back - and so it comes back into your world. Again the rows are laid out in various patterns, fabrics are pulled from the stash to see if they can act as sashing to tie it all together, but alas, no success. Time to call in the troops. Off to the guild meeting we go with our rows in hand.
Show and share time arrives and you take center floor and display and lament. Out of the crowd comes the inspiration of the day! It's your quilt - break up the pieces and put it back together however you like!
Of course!
For those who say "Finished is better than perfect." I add a corollary - "Finished is best".
Lez Zwaal
Maker of quilts
Edmonton, 2006
Juju's
Lez's (Smoky) starter row - and
Butterfly Brenda's (Blaylock) continuation below it.
Dr. Beth's courthouse kitties will be made into a quilt for the Zebra Society - quilts for abused kids. The kitties are very cute and it won't take much to make them into a quilt of their own.
Joan Weckop's friendship stars and sunflowers are on the sewing table - surrounded by coordinating greens and yellows - that will be another quilt for the next newsletter!!
Ann-MO Harstons' maple leaves - well - I'll have no problem putting that into a quilt with lots more maple leaves... why didn't I think of the myself!! Sheesh.
Andrea's (NL) churn dash squares - they will accent a quilt to be sure.
And Judy's (TX) pastel garden colors fits in a several fabrics in my stash - that is also on the sewing table at the moment.
I am so sorry I took so long to get back to these rows - but I feel so good now that I have overcome the need to put them all together into one quilt! Out of this row by row from 1999 I will end up with many wonderful quilts!!
THANK YOU !!!!!
The various rows as they came thru my place were photographed too... has anyone finished their row robin and did they take pictures?????
