How it worked

Each Round Robin participant chose a Traditional or Improvisational style and prepared a center block, which would be added to by 5 other quilters. Each quilter had about 2 months to design their addition before passing it on to the next person.

The final exchange, which returned the quilt top to its initiator, happened in November on the walkway near Bay Quilts, where the quilts were revealed and displayed along the railing--a dazzling sight!

A Zoom reveal in December allowed everyone to view all the finished tops and discuss their Round Robin experience. Photos of each starting block and the resulting quilt top have been placed in the 2021 Round Robin Gallery. View here.

Guidelines but no "rules"!

Traditional quilters created a center block that could be pieced, appliqued, or whole cloth, square or rectangular, and 10 -12" on a side. Subsequent quilters added a 3” to 8" border on all 4 sides. Improvisational quilters created a similar center block, however they could make additions between 2 to 6 width on one, two, three or four sides.

A notebook was included in each bag, where the initiator could make requests about future additions. For example: no blue fabric, no curves, smaller than lap size, etc. Traditional quilts tend to get quite large by the last rounds since additions are always made to all four sides. Improve quits tend to finish smaller. After finishing their round, participants often added a short note to the originator about their addition.

Some originators added fabrics to the bag with their initial block, but this was not required. Many fabric stores were closed when the Round Robin started in January, so often those fabrics were appreciated, especially for the beginning rounds. Using fabric from your stash was always acceptable. The Round Robin provided the opportunity to use different fabrics and colors, and to try new techniques. 

Sign up for the new 2022 Round Robin here.