Round Robin Work - I Love Paris, Spring 2013

One of the things I want to do on my blog is get caught up sharing some of the Round Robin work I have done this year.  Last winter and spring I was in two round robins with the Crazy Quilting International (Yahoo) group.  They were “I Love Paris” and “Victorian Ladies”.  This post is about the “I Love Paris” RR - work done on my block as well as work I did for the other ladies.

The “I Love Paris” Round Robin was a traditional RR.  We each sent out a 12” square (30cm) block and it was returned to us fully embellished after the other participants (in this case, there were 5 of us) had a chance to stitch.

My naked “I Love Paris” block

Finished Block.  Work by Wilma Van W., Kathy S, Theresa F., Darlene

Didn’t they do a lovely job?  They treated the lavender curved pieces as an “avenue”. That fantastic Eiffel Tower was stitched by Wilma and the bistro set by Kathy.  I love the whole thing!

As far as my stitching on others’ blocks, I showed what I did for Darlene here and for Wilma here.

This was my work for Kathy Shaw. It’s a girl sitting on a wall (see her bike leaning against the wall?), gazing out over the city to the Eiffel Tower (rather crude, but it is supposed to be in the distance).

I also did the seam treatments on either side of the gray patch. It was a particularly fun motif to stitch.  :-)

On Theresa`s block, I was the last stitcher, so I had free rein to “fill in the blanks” and tie everything together.

Wilma had stitched the sitting lady, but I added the pearl bow (button) at the waist to hide marks (stitching guides) that wouldn’t come out.  At the very top I added the flower and leaf, then the pink vine that meandered over the top 25% and the black trim - to break it up and guide the eye.  The lovely decoration of the Eiffel silkie was done by Kathy Shaw. I added  the scallop lace seam treatment to the right and the pink trim and black lines over the black lace (which was very visually heavy) on the bottom right. I also beaded that little flower.

Finally, I added the pink pleated ribbon and its decorations, along with some vintage millinery and painted lace “flowers” for the lovely lady to sit amongst.

Next time I'll show my work in the Victorian Ladies RR, as well as the beautiful blocks that returned home to me with stitching from the other participants.  I was so thrilled!

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This morning, I decided it was time to lay in a supply of food in the freezer.  So, over 2-3 hours I prepared lots of things for dinners, divided them up, labeled them and froze them. There was one little accident with a container of chili that we won`t talk about, but suffice it to say that my kitchen rugs are now in the washing machine.  :-)    The results of this morning’s efforts:  4 meals of split pea and ham soup; 4 meals of meatloaf; 3 meals of chili (would have been 4, LOL), and 4 meals of pancakes. We like “Breakfast for Dinner” occasionally, so if I have the pancakes or waffles done ahead of time, then I can just do scrambled eggs/omelets and add some fruit for a nice dinner.

I still plan to make Carmel Apple Salad this evening to go with our split pea soup and muffin dinner.  Next weekend I am planning to do lentil soup, lasagna, beef enchiladas and bran muffins.  Cooking in batches is great, especially when I have had a busy day working at home (my Etsy shop).  Then all I have to do is zap dinner in the microwave.

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And speaking of my Etsy, the busy Holiday season has started.  If Christmas is too far off for you to think of yet (I do have all my Christmas motifs listed), then check out all the leaves, pumpkins and other goodies I have added.  

Well,  Alfie and Darla are asleep at my feet here under my desk.  I think I will take advantage of that (they are soooo curious about everything, so when they finally conk out, I can do things that would be hard if they were awake. Like little kids!).  Off to dye some more lace.

Until next time,

Hugs,