design a block – Page 2

Thinking about what I have done so far on the round robin quilt, I have concluded that the work needs some breathing room. A little space and lightness from the intense colors and diverse border designs will give the eye a place to rest. So for this challenge I had already decided to add a wider border of the light blue fabric.

**Here you see the effect next to the checkerboard border.**

I like that the light blue speaks to the blues in the checkerboard border while still providing much needed contrast in value. So I was pretty happy with the next prompt – Wonky Stars – suggested by pieceful quilter Wendy. Stay at Home Round Robin Border 5 – (piecefulthoughts.com)

First of all, I like everything improv. Wendy gave us a link to a wonky star tutorial, and I recognized the same technique I already knew and had used in my tropical fish blocks for Under the Sea.

https://www.berrybarndesigns.com/blog/wonky-star-tutorial

The pile of fabrics you see in my featured photo will form the substance of the stars. I will embed the stars at various places into the light blue border, which I expect to be at least 5 inches wide.

Today I got started.

**Four blue patches with star points added**

**Central patch is one of my painted fabrics. The patches are sewn together in the photo**

The first star is finished. Tomorrow I will start early and work in earnest to complete the round.

Okay, so I got started on this project through fellow blogger Chris Knits.

SAHRR 2021 | chrisknits (wordpress.com)

In a traditional round robin, quilters make a block, then pass it to the next quilter who would add to it, then pass to the next, and so on, until the piece had completed its circulation. The final result is a big surprise to the original quilter when it returns to her.

This is a COVID version. Each quilter keeps her original block, but responds to weekly challenges by adding a border around her block. Each quilter in the round robin is responsible for providing one prompt to the group.

Can I try? I’m kinda new to quilting, but I have a few pieces of fabric left over from projects I finished last year. I invited myself to participate. Chris said, “go for it.”

Today each quilter is unveiling her center block. I better get started. First I pulled a few leftover strips that seemed to be big enough.

Both fabrics were experiments. The center piece is overpainted with opaque turquoise. then stamped with a metallic bronze color. The orange piece was painted pale pink, then a resist applied, followed by a deep orange paint. Removing the resist reveals pink lines.

So I have my palette, but I need supporting fabrics and a plan for the rest of the block. During my stash rummage, I turned up this beautiful batik that I had bought just because it was on sale.

The other two fabrics are too small, so I went to the hobby store to buy similar colors.

That part was easy for me. Selecting a block design? I needed help, so I got out a quilting reference book by Celia Eddy.

Gosh, I am so glad I bought this. Now, focusing on patterns that feature a center design and are not too hard for a beginner, I selected this one.

The pattern is called Economy, and includes a square, a right-angle triangle, a focus fabric and three supporting fabrics. It is rated for beginning quilters. Within an hour or so, I had put together my block.