quilting

SAHRR Border 1

January 23, 2023

I’m here to show you my SAHRR Border 1 today. Have you been inspired by all of the center blocks? I’m still checking them all out, but there is such a fun mix!

For those of you new to my blog, let me give you a quick explanation of this quilt along. It is called the Stay at Home Round Robin, but we shorten it to SAHRR. This is the third year of this quilt along. Quilting Gail is the originator, and she has an excellent introductory post which you can read right here. Unlike traditional round robin quilts, where the center block is chosen and then sent to another quilter who adds a border, then on to another, and so on, the SAHRR stays with you and you add each border. A new border is announced each week, but you won’t know what that border is until that week – so it’s a bit of a mystery too. I’ve participated as one of the co-hosts with Quilting Gail for the past two years. To see my past SAHRR quilts, go to this post. We have a lot of fun, enjoy encouraging one another, and this year, we have some amazing sponsors! We’d love to have you join in! If you have any other questions about the SAHRR, leave a comment below. 

Okay, let me show you my SAHRR Border 1. Roseanne and Sue of Homesewn by Us are our hosts for this week, and they’ve chosen the spool block for the first border. Make sure you stop by and read their post for more details on the spool border. 

My last experience with spool blocks was in a quilt class – I was one of two that didn’t get the spool blocks done, so I have spool block trauma. It’s time for me to take another spin at a spool block. Let’s see how I do. 

The first thing needed was a coping border for my little robin block. 

A green coping border added to my round robin center block - piecefulthoughts.com

Isn’t that phrase “coping border” calming, like a little bit of therapy? It is for me – it kind of gets me ready to go on the next step. Now, before I go any further, I need to make a little correction from my center block post. In that post, I said the background fabric for my block was Grunge in Faded Denim. However, I realized this week that it is actually Grunge in Ash. You can see that the background is dark, so I added a green coping border to brighten it up a bit. At this point, I am thinking I will add a green coping border for each round, but we’ll see. It’s all subject to change! 

So, the spool blocks. I wanted to keep my border narrow, so small spool blocks were in order. Which design of spool, though? I tried making an orange spool like Aurifil thread, but that didn’t look right. I tried a traditional spool block at 2.5 inches. I didn’t like that either. What to do?! Then I realized that I could sketch out a spool and appliqué them to a border strip. 

My Stay at Home Round Robin center block with spool border - piecefulthoughts.com

It turned out just as I wanted it to – I wanted the spools to dance around the robin. I have to admit those little spools were fussy, with all the fusing of those little pieces! I did enjoy digging through my scraps for the “thread” though. I fused them to the border strip and stitched around every single one, not altogether neatly, so I’ll just let you look from a distance.  With this border added, my quilt measures about 20.5″ (I forgot to measure). 

Now that you’ve seen my progress, or if this is the first time you’ve heard of the Stay at Home Round Robin, and you’d like to join in, you still can! Just choose your center block, and work on your spool units this week. Reading through the introductory post from Gail in the link above will be helpful, so be sure you take time to do that. 

Remember that this is your quilt – it stays with you – so you can be creative with your borders. Just spool around and have fun! 

When your border has been added to your center block, don’t forget to link up so we can see your progress. This week you will link up at Home Sewn by Us. 

For inspiration, pop over to the rest of the co-hosts to see their SAHRR Border 1. Here’s the list and schedule – just click on the link to each blog. 

I’ll see you back here next Monday, January 30th, when I will be introducing the second border for our quilts! See you then! 

Wendy

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