Round Robin Wrap up!

Committing to a long term project like this will force you to make sacrifices in your personal creating. At some point you will be inspired to make some super cool thing with fabric you bought for yourself and you will have to discipline yourself to work on your Round Robin instead because you have a deadline and you made the committment.  If you are anything like me you'll have your BEST creative ideas when you CAN'T possibly put them to good use because of a looming deadline.  My advice is to WRITE THEM DOWN. You won't remember later. Do a quick sketch and get back to work!  
This same thing has happened to me when I have signed up for a block exchange, have a customers quilt to work on, or have a gift to make for someone.  
It is like Murphy's law of creating or something....?
Honoring your commitment really does pay off. It was like Christmas revealing everyone's completed tops to them. Worth every second I put off my own projects to work on theirs. It was a thrill for each of us each time a quilt was revealed because we had all had input in each quilt and all contributed something to each one.  Our group was especially successful because everyone was very committed. I don't think anyone was disappointed and that was the result of the group's dedication.
Here is my picture when my completed top was revealed:
 
 I hadn't seen it at all since I handed over the 12" square medallion I made in the Fall.

Everyone had worked so hard on it and it was fully of different techniques and styles! 

 I saw something different or something I hadn't noticed before every time I looked at it.

Here it is hanging in the Round Robin League's quilt show that spring. All quilted and embellished. I added antique buttons in several places and in the very center is a jeweled shoe clip that was my grandmothers. I put feathers on a quilt for the first time when I quilted this. I did them in black because I was worried they wouldn't be very good. Of course they were so good I wished I had used color! Wish I could say THAT every time but alas.... It had some bedazzling on it from the person who did the last round on it and I added some more.
Here are some detail shots:

It is still hanging in our livingroom and I still love to look at it.


The Round Robin experience got me to try techniques I had not tried before, forced me to DESIGN my own patterns and "get out of me box".  I had to think about things in many different ways and there was no giving up option on a project, so I had to find a way to make it work! It has helped me grow as a quilter and I approach my own projects in different ways now. Sometimes things get set aside because they haven't "ripened" yet or I haven't found the "thing" that they need but, amazingly I do eventually find it and finish most projects.  Which is not to say I don't have UFO's( Un-Finished Objects)... I just prefer to think of them as PhD's ( projects half done)! 
I want to thank my fellow Round Robin members for my quilt which as I said I still love and enjoy, for allowing me to blog their quilts and sometimes their pictures and especially Jennifer for having the foresight to take all the pictures as we went through the process and sending them to me for this blog series!
What will your read about next in my quilting journey? Joining a quilt guild...