Nesting Robin - Tree of Life and Pomegranates complete my Flora/Fauna blocks

In the Nesting Robin Challenge that I joined, we were to make Flora/Fauna blocks this month.  I completed the Tree of Life block I've been working on.  I used needle turn applique for the trunk, and decided to use invisible thread and a blanket stitch on the machine, to sew it down - finally completed that step today. 

 

 

More Flora/Fauna blocks - three pomegranates sewn next to some of last month's triangle blocks.. 

 

Here's my layout so far.  Squares, triangles, & flora/fauna.  The blank spaces will have more blocks as a type of block we'll need to make is revealed each month.

Nesting Robin Update

My Nesting Robin is coming along.  I've decided to do a free form layout since I've previously participated in 2 row robins and 2 round robins.  I finished my design of the quilt and made the parts for the first several months.  The lady who started the Nesting Robin reveals each month what subject our blocks will be that month. 

-The 1st month we selected our "center/main block"
-The 2nd month we made "squares"
-the 3rd month we made "triangles"
-the 4th month (this month) is "Flora/Fauna"

 Here are the blocks I have so far.  The gaps are where other blocks will be placed:

 

This is the Center/Main Block

 

Here are the "squares"  

 

Here are the "triangles"

 

I'm making 3 blocks for "flora/fauna" - here's the first one:

 

Here's the second:

 

.....and I just finished designing and started working on the third block.  I've always wanted to make a Broidery Perse Tree of Life.  So here it is in process.  I need to applique the tree onto the background, then will fuse the flowers, leaves, & bird, and finally go around them with an embroidered  buttonhole stitch.

 

My plan is to use various background fabrics and other fabric from my stash.  I'm finding this to be a lot of fun and very creative.

 

 

 

Nesting Robin 2014/15 Center Block

Here is the block I plan to use as the center for the upcoming Nesting Robin Challenge on the About.com Quilting Forum.  It's an orphan block that I had planned to use on my previous Nesting Robin but it didn't work out.  I found the pattern for it in one of my quilting magazines but can't recall who the designer is (may be Blackbird Designs).  When I figure it out I'll give whomever the credit they deserve for designing such a lovely block.  I made a miniature version (8 1/2" x 8 1/2") of the pattern and did needle-turn applique on it. 

I'm thinking a few plain borders, some more applique, and maybe even some pieced blocks could make this into a nice medallion type quilt.  Or I could go a little bit out of my comfort zone, and try something entirely different than I've done before, by placing it and other various sized blocks in a random setting - with a layout kind of like this sampler that I found on pinterest (a Sue Spargo pattern):

I'm finally back on my Blog and pictures of Nesting Robin

It's been almost a year since I last posted to my blog.  No real excuse, just living life, and spending less time on the computer.

Over the next several weeks, I'll try to catch my blog up with the things I've been working on over the last year.
 
This week I decided to join a Nesting Robin Group on the About dot com Quilting Forum.  I did a Nesting Robin a few years ago and had such fun, plus all of the quilts turned out to be soooo nice, that I decided to do it again.  Plus in this one we need to post pictures of our progress on our blogs (or similar), so thought it would be an incentive to get back to blogging.  In this Nesting Robin we're also being challenged to use our stash.  I love that!  Mine needs a good thinning.

In the previous Nesting Robin we put theme's in a hat, and pulled one each month, and made a row or round of our choice using that theme.  I think there were about 8 themes in the hat to pull from and we pulled about 5.  I remember we pulled:  classic block, stars, buildings, flora or fauna, & things.

I guess I should explain what a Nesting Robin is for those who haven't heard of it before.  A Nesting Robin is like a Round Robin with the exception that it never leaves the nest (your sewing space). You work on a piece and continue to add rounds on it each month yourself. 

Here are the pictures of the nice quilts that the ladies made during my previous Nesting Robin:

This is the one I made

 

 

Nesting Robin

What a fun year I've had working on my Nesting Robin.  Do you wonder what a nesting robin is?  It's like a round robin or a row robin but it nests at our own home.  In other words, it's not passed around to other friends to work on; we work on it ourselves.  We're doing the nesting robin as a group in our guild chapter -18 of us are participating.  As usual we each pick out our own color palate, a theme, decide if we want to do a row or a round robin, and what size the blocks will be.  What makes it unique is that each month we randomly draw out of a hat to see which block we’ll all use for the month.  There are 8 categories in the hat and we decided we'd do 5 rows or rounds - what blocks we make is the luck of the draw. 

The first month the drawing was for "Classic or Traditional" blocks.  I decided on a theme of "Quilt My Own Story".  Along with my blocks I'm writing the story of the various places I've lived and some memories associated with those places.  This first row represents where I was born and raised  - in cold country - Wisconsin & Minnesota.  The main block is an 8 1/2" needleturn applique block called "Winter Still Life" - a pattern by Blackbird Designs that I found in one of my quilting magazines.  The blocks on either side of it are 4 1/2" paper-pieced blocks and are called SeeSaw - which was my favorite past-time when I was small.  Here is the first row I made:

The second month we drew "Stars".  I decided to do a swag with a couple of stars and a double star on it that I could use along the top of my quilt.  The stars represent the many friends I made along the way.  Since we moved every couple of years while I was growing up, it was always a case of making new friends and leaving old friends.  The story I'm writing to go along with this row is about some of the friends who enriched my life along the way - the "stars" in my life.  Here is my second row:

The third month we drew "buildings".  My row is a paper-pieced cabin block with some log cabin blocks around it.  Since my theme is about the places I've lived I may want to emphasize this block a little more and this row may undergo some changes when I work on putting the rows together.  Here it is so far:

The fourth month we drew "things".  I decided to make quilting related tools and quilting things since I spend so much of my time quilting.  There's a rotary cutter, a thimble, a button jar, a spool of thread, and a tape measure/ruler - just in case you can't tell from the picture.  My story for this row is about the time I've lived in Arizona and fell in love with quilting.

It's the fifth month and we drew our last category - it was "flora or fauna/plants or animals".  I decided to applique flowers that are either the state flower or flowers that represent/remind me of the various states where I've lived.  Since I've lived in more than 5 states, some states needed to be grouped together.  Somehow it all worked out and I was able to finish it last night.  Yea!  Here is my last row:

Now we'll take about 2 months to put our quilts together, maybe add filler rows, sashing, or whatever.  Then we'll quilt them and have a reveal tea to show them to each other.  We've shown our rows at our guild meetings as we went along, but combining them and putting them into a quilt will be a secret until the reveal tea.  After the reveal we'll take them to our guild meeting and show them to the whole group.

I can't wait to see everyone's quilts.  Here are a few pictures of some of the rows that others have done: