Stem Stitch vs Whipped Back Stitch

from left to right: two strand whipped back stitch, two strand stem stitch, one strand whipped back stitch...medium sized back stitches on top, smaller on bottom (far right only).

Karen, I can clearly see that at least one of your blocks is done with two strands, so that's what I decided to use...but mine looks heavier than yours for some reason! I'll finish doing this one block this way, but am thinking of doing the whipped back stitch for the other one(s). Here are what they look like...what do you think about the example on the far left??

The Schedule...and Karen's Starter Row!

Well, ladies, it was fabulous seeing most of you last weekend. Of course, I say "most" because our dear Rebecca couldn't make it! I hope next year will bring us all good health, and we'll make the draw for retreat!

I've worked out what I hope is a reasonable schedule for MAILING our rows. Remember as always, we are sending precious cargo so always ship with a tracking method, whether you use FedEx, UPS, Priority USPS or something similar.

So without further ado, here we go:

Round 1 - we all have our own rows done, and 5 of them were delivered at retreat. Rebecca is mailing hers asap to Pat
Round 2 - mail by May 5th
Round 3 - mail by  July 14th
Round 4 - mail by September 22nd
Round 5 - mail by  December 1st
Round 6 - bring to the 2013 retreat, or mail in time to be delivered prior to retreat!

Since it shouldn't take longer than a week (I hope!) to get each package, it gives us 9-10 weeks to work on each round. You're more than welcome to mail early if you are ready.

If you've forgotten who you are mailing to, here's the line up again:

Colene ---> Dee
Dee ---> Karen
Karen ---> Misha
Misha ---> Rebecca
Rebecca ---> Pat
Pat ---> Colene

If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know!

And....drum roll please...here is Karen's first row!

Sorry the pic is so small, I had to use my phone to get the colors to show correctly. Karen is sending around fabric, DMC floss and a book. Now before you start to panic, let me say that she is NOT requiring us to do embroidery! It's just an option, ladies! If you would rather do pieced blocks that's perfectly acceptable, no pressure :)


Here are some close up pics...again, from the phone:

 I'm excited to get started as soon as I can!

2nd try

I like these a bit better, I think the problem was lack of texture. my fabrics were too similar. They still need "something", perhaps some sashing. Or maybe some ideas from some AZ retreat friends ;-)

first two blocks

well, here are my blocks. I think perhaps I'm not liking only having 3 fabrics in each block? I may redo them. I've cut the fabric for the other two but I'm not going to make them yet. need to think for a bit. I may try a different kind of block.

tried my first block

Well I tried my first block last night. Honestly not real thrilled with the result. The block is fine, it's the fabrics that kind of left me flat. I think the problem is I'm just not used to these types of colors. they just seem kind of blah, especially the tan background. I think the problem is there isn't enough contrast, so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what the rest of you come up with. I'll post a picture tonight.

Misha's Row - New Twist on My Theme

So I've been following the threads on the quilt forum where people are talking about house blocks...and I started to think how cool it would be to make that the theme of my Row Robin quilt. Then I tried to decide, do I want everyone to use the same pattern, but different fabrics? Or wonky houses? Or....? So I started googling house quilts and found all sorts of neat pictures! I then came across this little cutie:

http://www.quiltersmuse.com/images/billings-winter-friends.jpg

And I'm thinking that all those previous blocks I've received (stars) could be interspersed with other rows of houses, trees, log cabin blocks, etc. So that's my theme! Still blue & white & wintery, and I'll send some fabric around that you can use if you want to, or you can use your own. You can do an entire row of similar items, or it can be a mix of things. Note: the only thing I'm not too crazy about in the above example is the rather plain row of pinwheels. Pinwheels would be fine, but I'd rather the row had more variety in it.

Any questions, feel free to ask!

The Order

Previously, the order was:
Misha  ---> Pat M  
Pat M   --->  Becky 
Becky  --->  Rebecca C   
Rebecca C  --->  Colene  
Colene   --->  Misha

This round I thought maybe we'd go in alphabetical order, but that would have me sending to Pat and Rebecca sending to Colene again...so I swapped Pat and Rebecca:

Colene ---> Dee
Dee ---> Karen
Karen ---> Misha
Misha ---> Rebecca
Rebecca ---> Pat
Pat ---> Colene

We'll exchange mailing addresses at retreat if anyone wants theirs going somewhere other than the address on the retreat attendee list (like me: mine go to my Mum's house).

It's only a month away, ladies!!! I fly into Phoenix on the 16th!!!