2013 Round-up

Once again its time to look back over the year and {hopefully} surprise myself a little.  It has been another growing year for me in many ways.  Enjoy the pictures and a little reflection and introspection ...

MMMRR Reveal

At the last minute, back in January, I decided to join in the Modern Mini Mystery Round Robin hosted by the amazing Michele at Quilts From my Crayon Box.  I was going to pass, but couldn't quite do it :)

Here is my original center block.

I love the Joel Dewberry florals and the Courtyard Garden block.  I was super excited when I mailed it out and I was NOT disappointed!  While I waited for this beauty to come home, here are some pics of what I worked on to keep my mind distracted:

Quilt U Be Mine--I'm in LOVE!

... with mystery round robins, that is.

Welcome to everyone who is stopping by to see today's mystery round robin reveal!  So nice to visit with you.  For those of you who don't know me yet, I'm a mom of 3 wonderful kiddos, a wife, a volunteer, a crafter and much, much more.  I started my blog just over a year ago as a way to explore my creativity and expand my horizons.  I didn't find my love of quilting until several months later, and lately, that is my main focus.  I also post about other things from time to time, but that time is less often than I wish it were.

Yay, I finally get to show everyone my awesome round robin quilt.  It was with some trepidation that I set out on my first round robin experience back in October.  I remember wondering to myself why I was worrying about Valentine's Day before even Halloween--yikes!  I decided to start with this heart block.  I love the scrappy look and I hadn't attempted anything like that yet.  I was so pleased with how it turned out!

So, off it went into the mail and now my butterflies really began ... not just because I was sending off my project, but now I was being entrusted with someone else's ideas and hopes.  I was worried I wouldn't know what to do or know how to put my ideas into reality.  The first block I received was from Pippa in France.  I love her center block!  It was embroidered as a remembrance of her two kids.  I added the XOXO borders to share the love, then the ribbon border to tie it all together.

Next I got to work on Rachelle's block.  Her LOVE was so darling, but it already felt a little busy to me, so for my first border, I kept it simple.  The second one I added was a scrappy braid.  I like the symbolism of families and friends knit together in love and the braid seemed the perfect way to say that for this project.

Lastly, I worked on Sami's quilt.  Since mine were the last two borders, I knew I wanted a spectacular finish for her.  I really liked the tumbling hearts of the center block and tried to pull them out with the first border.  I made all those  hearts with 1" squares.  For her second border I used a scrappy rectangles to offset the first border that was added.  I think it turned out super cute!

**UPDATE**  I originally included only portions of my borders for Sam's quilt because I didn't want to trump her reveal on her blog.  I was reminded, however, that she intends to add to hers to make it full-sized and quilt it for her reveal.  Sorry, Sami!

Finally, I got my own back home--you can see all the fun that my group had with mine.  Didn't it turn out *AMAZING*?!  I love how the center block is not-so-centered and it reads all red-and white.  There are only small touches of pink here and there, but they are subtle.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the wonderful ladies of Group 2 and especially thank you to Michelle for co-ordinating this fun project.  I'm already on my second round robin (Thanks to Michelle's gentle nudge :) and I'll be posting the first sneak peak for that here in a couple of days.  I haven't quilted (or named) my topper yet, but I will ...  Thanks for stopping by--and Happy Valentine's Day!