Don't read this post Marion or Emily!

Now I'm hoping that Marion and Emily have greater restraint than I would with such a post title. For me, that's an invitation to keep reading! But then again, I was the child who would do some "research" once the Christmas presents started appearing beneath the tree!

I'm following Mischelle's great advice to just warn off Marion and Emily in the title so that I can actually show y'all what I'm working on. Especially since that's the only sewing I've done in ages!

First, you remember Emily and Marion's great medallion centers with the gorgeous work done by the other ladies in our round robin? Marion's is the one on top with the adorable Matryoshka dolls all in a circle and Emily's is the gorgeous star in reds and blues. 

Here's what I did with Marion's:

Given all that was going on with this quilt so far, I thought I might just add a quiet border that pulls from what others have already done. So I added this cute material from the Sew Mama Sew collection:

This is the material that Marion used in the very center of the quilt (at the feet of the nesting dolls). It's also what is in some of the lighter colored squares in the great purple and black checkerboard border. 

I love the center and I love Jeanette's phenomenal appliqué, so I wanted to do something that would highlight them by not distracting from them. I figured something too busy might not be good right next to the birds. 

I added a 3 inch border (not including seam allowance). That's the minimum border we're supposed to add in each round. 

And here's what I did with Emily's quilt:

Excuse the lack of pressing! I added the red and blue borders. Jeanette again did her magic with her appliqué on either side of the square. I decided to square it up by adding an imbalanced red border (which mirrors the fabric used in the center of the star), and then added blue to frame it all and to mirror the blue checkerboard border surrounding Emily's medallion. Emily said that she wanted to emphasize blues and reds, so hopefully this is what she was thinking!

For those interested in the house progress, we've finished stripping wallpaper and ripping up carpeting, and we've repainted the stairwell, upstairs hall, and den Coastal Vista blue:

We were still finishing touching up the upper part of the stairwell, so that's why the handrail is blue (tape) and the banister is covered with a plastic bag. 

And for those who have requested puppy photos, I will leave you with a picture of Sophie in her and Zoey's favorite spot in the house (on an ottoman in the den). Isn't she cute with her chin resting on the window sill?!

Going Round and Round

Am I blowing you all away with my renewed blogging vim and vigor?!! Now that I'm ensconced in my new home and not driving cross-country or living out of my mom's house (which we did for weeks waiting to get into our house—thanks mom!), I'm actually able to sit down a little bit every day to blog. Yay! I've missed chatting with you all!

One of the project I started with my friends back in Utah was a round robin. We each made our own 18 inch square medallion center, then passed it along to the next person on the list. A new talented person every month. I thought I took a picture of my center before I passed it along, but now I can't find it. Sigh. So picture this: I made an extra large spool using selvedges from favorite fabrics. I then waved it goodbye and handed it over to the ever-talented Ella to work on before she passes it down the line. Each person adds at least a 3 inch border, so when we get it back (sometime at the end of the year), we'll have a finished quilt. I'm not sure what size. It'll be so amazing to have a quilt collectively made by such special and talented friends. Oh wait! I already have a quilt like that (see my Gratitude post!), but now I'll have another!

I've been so so amazed and humbled by the incredible talent of the women in this round robin! I don't want to give anything away about what others have done, but let's just say that everyone has set a high bar and I'm a bit freaked out about keeping up with the quality and creativity!

I totally want to write about what I'm doing on this round robin, but have to find a way to do it without giving it away for anyone who might be involved and reading this . . . any ideas? I'll at least show you some of the centers that people have done, editing out the borders that have been added.

Here are two that I'm about to work on:

Aren't these just gorgeous?! So different and each so creative!