Starting Over

I just wasn't  happy with the center of my RR, and my Step 1 didn't improve anything.  If I didn't start over, I knew I'd lose interest in the RR and I didn't want that to happen.

So  I began again, this time with triangles left from a long ago traditionally pieced quilt and added more triangles cut from 3 old (traditional) blocks. That became my liberated center . Next up was making fabric from more of the original triangles. I cut the made fabric into triangles and added them to the top and bottom of the center block. Then I made more fabric from tiny blue scraps and added a 1" wide border to all sides.

Now I'm smiling and I'm ready to add color for Step 3.

An Old Block

Last month I started with an old block, slashed and then added the black inserts. Today I cut it twice diagonally, moved the pieces and put them back together with more black. The borders for this round are from  blocks leftover from my liberated "Wedges" quilt--I cut the blocks into strips. Well, I'm not excited about my small piece, but I've "challenged" myself to make something of it!

Step One: I've Made a Start

I've made a simple block for the center of my liberated round robin quilt by taking an old 9-patch and adding the blue scraps to the corners. But some of the blues weren't large enough, so I added the burgundy. Then came the slash and two black fabrics from my scrap bin.

the block is 6.5" x 6.5" so my quilt won't be too large.

(As I'm typing this, all the words are underlined--I don't know why; I wonder if the lines will show up when I hit 'publish'? :).

Almost Finished

I thought I'd have my RR #1 quilt all hand quilted by the end of the winter, but it's not going to happen. Since the RR #2 is about to begin, it's time that I posted a photo of the almost finished 60" x 70" liberated quilt.

Do you see the hand in the left corner? I quilt around the shape of my hand on all but my small wall quilts.

I'm quilting with embroidery thread, making up easy quilting designs as I go along.

Thanks for a fun experience with the Round Robin!

Kathleen C in CT

A Good Time!

Thanks to June and Nancie for organizing our Liberated Round Robin. I've had a good time working on my quilt, and I learned some new things from making my quilt. It's been fun to see what everyone has done with their center square.

This morning I figured that I would call my quilt finished and tie it for a charity quilt, because I like some of the borders but am not crazy about the entire quilt. My daughter came to visit today, and just as she was leaving she saw the quilt on my design wall: "That's wonderful, Mom!" "Really, Libby? Do you want it?" The answer was "Yes, but could it be made bigger?", so now I'm motivated to add more borders and make it big enough for her to nap under.

It's good to remember that we all see things differently. I don't like the quilt's center square, yet my daughter told me it's just right, don't change a thing.

Again, thanks for our Round Robin.

Behind Schedule

I thought I would have Round 4 done quickly. My mind went to vines just as Heidi described. Then I talked all about easy curves, remember? Well I made some curves, discarded most of them, set the quilt aside, then decided on one curved border and three plain. But the borders aren't yet stitched. The style of my curved border doesn't seem to go with the rest of the quilt. I'll get back on track as soon as I can, though, and post a photo soon.

Round 3: Rectangles

I surprised myself by completing Round 3 so quickly by using strips for a slanted border. I cut a piece of thin scrap fabric, 5" wide by the length of the quilt to use as a foundation for the strip piecing, then stitched the strips at a 45 degree angle. I made 2 of these and planned on making 2 more for the round 3 borders. Then....a little laziness crept in. I wondered, "How would this border look if I made it 2" wide instead of 4.5" wide? So I cut each of the 2 strip pieced borders in half lengthwise, and I had 4 borders for round 3.

Auditioning fabrics for a plain border before round 3 wasn't working; nothing looked right. So another quick decision was made: Cut strips of various brown fabrics and stitch them to the quilt in log cabin fashion. My quilt is definitely ready for a wide border in Round 4, so that it will grow to be a lap quilt. It's now 42" x 42".

Liberated Squares On Point

I made my wonky squares on point with the directions in Liberated Quiltmaking II by Gwen Marston. It's an easy and fun technique which uses scissors-cut squares (not quite square) and triangles.

I like my Round 2 borders. When it came to the corner squares, I wanted to introduce gold in case I wanted to use gold later in the quilt. I tried out different gold scraps and chose one I liked, then stitched it all together--and now I think the gold looks weird. Like it's saying: "What am I doing here"? Maybe the gold could have been introduced earlier as a very narrow border near the brown circly print border.

Or maybe I'll want to introduce olive green in Round 3! I'll have to wait and see what Nancy and June have for us next. I'll probably separate Round 2 and 3 with a plain border to set off the patchwork borders. The quilt is now 33" x 33".

Round #1 Completed

Instead of squares made with liberated triangles, I decided to work with rectangles; I split the rectangles unevenly and added liberated triangles to make the top and bottom borders of Round #1.
Before I attached these borders, I recut the light fabrics around the center shoofly block so that the block sits straight. Originally the light fabrics had surrounded the shoofly block with the "recut" technique so that the block sat at an angle. Now I wish I had left the shoofly block at an angle--but I'm sure this will work out fine.

I'm trying to use fabrics that are less traditional in design than I have been using recently. I can't escape the traditionals completely, because that's what I have, but so far I've worked in the brown-turquoise print plus the brown circle print. Ok, they aren't exactly wild, but I'm trying!

I'm looking forward to the next round. This is the perfect project to experiment with techniques and with "wild" prints.

RR Center Block

I made a simple liberated shoofly, then added recut borders to give the block some movement. The borders looked dull so I pinned on some curvy strips; I'll decide if they stay after I've done a few rounds on the quilt. Now that I look at the fabrics, I think the curvy things need to be brighter and stronger.

My previous liberated quilts have gone through many changes as I worked on them, because there is no right or wrong way to do something. I like this freedom, especially when I'm working with fabrics already in my collection. This round robin will be fun!