International Round Robin #1 QUILTED!

I am so happy with how this turned out I can hardly stand it!!  I love the back just as much as the front!  And the best part is - this one is mine!  It gets to live at my house!

This project was a Round Robin that traveled between Canada and Austrailia.  My contribution was the center square and the quilting. Here is the label I made that shows the progress and includes the names and locations of the other participants.   You can see more about the process here.  

I used Superior's Monopoly on all the colored fabrics.  I didn't want to distract from all the beautiful clear colors, nor did I want to change threads countless times.  It was the perfect solution.  I knew I wanted to do a little more than stitch in the ditch on the piano key border, and after some doodling and playing around with my templates I came up with these curves.  I used a 6" circle.

For all of the quilting on the white fabric I used Invisifil thread with Bottom Line in the bobbin. I used two layers of batting for this one as I wanted to make sure the quilting would pop.  Quilter's Dream Blend on the bottom and Quilter's Dream Puff on the top.  Why that combination? It's what I have on hand! The blend is firm and stable and the puff is very light and lofty.  It is great in this wall hanging but would be too heavy for my taste in a bed quilt.

I was very happy with the pebbles around the feather sprays and the motif in the triangles.

I knew I wanted simple quilting on the center star. ( I'm glad I left some breathing room there.)  I really struggled with what to do in the background spaces behind the star.   I decided to attempt some feather sprays in the style of Bethanne Nemesh.  I just got her book recently, and they seemed to be the perfect thing to tie the other elements of the quilt together.

 I think everyone should take a chance on a fun project like a Round Robin once in their quilting lives.  I have had great results and a lot of fun each time out. If you really want to stack the odds in your favour be sure to surround yourself with extraordinarily talented people!  Thank you Kathy, Desley and Bronwyn - this quilt would not exist without you!