givio

Well, since today is the day I'm supposed to be posting my picture, which I didn't take, I thought I'd just let everyone know what my idea for my round was...

Immediately upon seeing sewbizgirl's center I knew what I wanted to sew, and for the months I waited until it was my turn, I didn't change my mind. I had a quilting book with a whacky alphabet in it that I'd never used. I bought the book specifically for the alphabet although there were other patterns and projects in it. The book gathered dust, waiting. At last, I could use it! But alas, when I moved and downsized in 2019 I had got rid of a lot of books, and that book had gone to the library. Not to be deterred, I bought a second one from Amazon. I intended to used the alphabet patterns to write something like 'Fly, Robin, fly, from my house to your house!'

And, that colorful center was just right for using Kaffe Fassett fabrics. They are such rich and beautiful, vibrant colors. Not that I had any! But I ordered a couple of charm packs from Ebay to get a good selection of prints, and went to my LQS for some more.

When Reba added her round with the circle and our names, I decided to use in my text that the robin was flying around the circle, so I wrote 'Fly, 'round Robin'. When IceBlossom added her hearts and explanation of Home Sweet Home, I changed 'house' to 'home.' When Mary added her round, I brought Robin home from the pet store. Yes, I bought a canary and named him Robin. He has a brown back and an orange breast and so, anyway, he looks more like a robin than a yellow canary would. :-) His name was easy to come by. Oh, he sings so lovely, and every morning! And when LeeAnn added her round of children, I imagined that in the circle of houses, there were children, and families, living with love, like a neighborhood of friends. And in our own homes we were quilting friends, one with another, and so I imagined that when the Round Robin top came to us each month it was with a friend. So, I added to my text the robin would 'be with a friend.' I tweaked my words until I had 16 letters and spaces for each side of the top. With 4" blocks I could span the side nicely.

For the cornerstones I wanted to put the robin. I searched for a paper pieced robin, a paper pieced bird, robin print fabric, then any bird print fabric. In the end, I decided the bird didn't have to be a robin or the color of a robin-- I just wanted a bird. I wanted it to be whimsical so it would go well with the houses, hearts, and children. I came upon just the right fabric and was pleased to find it. The print had a flying bird to travel to the next home, and a sitting bird to be staying at a friend. Wow, it was just the right size bird too. What a great find, a great buy, perfect!

I had taken a picture of my stack of blocks, but when I went to post them, I thought they would give away my idea of using the whacky alphabet, so I didn't give the sneak peak at the time. Now, I've told you all about it and it's the picture I've got today, so here it is. :-)