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2020 Lone Robin
A typical round robin quilt challenge is full of surprises. After the originator creates the center block, it is passed from quilter to quilter, each one adding a new "surprise" to the quilt top until the originator receives the ultimate surprise—a finished quilt top.
In 2020 Julia McLeod developed a Lone Robin challenge, where a quilter works alone, and each month gets a new design element to incorporate into their quilt top. After creating a center block using the first element, the quilter adds elements month by month to create a quilt top. Never knowing what element lies ahead provides a Lone Robin with continuous surprises and challenges to integrate each element into their design.
The 2020 Lone Robin design elements are listed below in order of release. Quilt tops could be constructed in Traditional Medallion style adding each new element to all sides, or Improvisational style, adding the new element anywhere, as long as it touched the previous element.
View the gallery of the completed Lone Robin tops shown at the January Meetup here...
Lone Robin member uploads are in the Lone Robin Member Gallery , and a slideshow of works in progress is below.
Monthly ElementsElement Release dates in 2020: June 23, July 13, Aug 10, Sept 7, Oct 5, and Nov 2 6th Element: Your final round is...wait for it!... YOUR CHOICE! (with one condition). Add anything you like – plain, fancy, wide or skinny, patterned or solid. You get it – anything you like to wrap up your quilt design to your satisfaction. Maybe there's enough compositional drama already and all you need is a plain border to complete your quilt. Or perhaps it's time to create a dazzling final element. I leave it to you. The one condition is that in this final border, you must use one of the colors that appears in your first curved/circles block. 5th Element: Your fifth element must include crosses or Xs. They can be 4th Element: Your fourth element must include squares. They can be neatly square, or loose quadrilaterals, big blocks or tiny checkerboards. The squares can be pieced, printed, appliquéd, embroidered – you decide! They can be evenly arranged or just feature in a few small areas. You could combine them with another motif of your choosing. Use your imagination! 3rd Element: Your third element must include strips or stripes. You could piece your stripes or use a stripey fabric. They can be straight or wavy, chunky or pencil-thin. The stripes can be evenly distributed or just appear in a few small areas. The possibilities are endless! 2nd Element: Your second element must include flying geese that connect to the 1st element in some way -- you decide how. You can paper piece them, foundation piece them, stretch them out so they're skinny and long or wide and flat. They can follow the shape of a circle or wind randomly. You can make a string of ten on each side, or just include two or three randomly. The variations are endless! 1st Element: Your first element must be something that involves curves or a circle. Go for a paper-pieced block, cut your curves free-hand, appliqué something circular, or even feature a face! Your first block can be any size or shape. It’s up to you. Have fun, Lone Robins! | ExamplesWorks in progress |
regular or wonky! This could be the moment where you cut your entire piece into quarters and put a cross through the middle of it. Or maybe you’ll make some miniature “x” blocks and scatter them in the corners of your quilt. You could combine crosses with another motif of your choosing. It’s your choice, Lone Robins!