The Great Reveal!!

Oh, finally the day has come when I can show you the round robin project we eight did with eight like minded quilters in Germany.  I've been so anxious to show you these beginning blocks and finished tops I feel absolutely carbonated!

In case you don't remember some of my previous blogs, this is what happened.  I asked seven of my quilty friends if they would be interested in doing a round robin with seven of my friend Elke's quilty friends in Germany.  We would send a 12.5 inch block and they would add four borders. Elke and her friends would do the same.  There are eight of us so we were divided into two groups of four.  We all didn't get to work on each block.

 On January 2 I mailed our eight blocks to Elke.  She mailed her eight to me.  Friend Marilyn, little Adelaide and I opened the box, drew names from a bowl and divided up the blocks and the people to work on them.  A schedule was made.  Our group asked for 6 weeks for each round.  Elke's group took two months for each round. This accommodated busy schedules and vacations during the summer.

Now, because Elke's group opened their box of quilt tops last night, I can finally show you the blocks they sent and the quilt tops we returned.  I don't mind telling you how puffed up with pride I am about what we sent back.  And how the center blocks were transformed into something truly beautiful.

I can't stand it any longer!  Here they are:

 Angela sent this center block and requested only red and white......

 And we sent her this!

 Anja  sent this center block

 And we sent this back to her!!  I know!  It's amazing, isn't it????

 Anke sent this starry batik center block

 And we sent this back!

 Annette sent this (and I dare you to find fault with her points...phew!)

 And this was what she received back

I wanted to zoom in to those corner blocks Jan did. She is a very meticulous quilter and on her borders she usually featured embroidery which really enhanced the quilt (see Angela's block at the top)  On this blue one she sent away for just the right color thread!

 This was Maria's center

 And we worked this up for her.

 Marion sent this stunningly done block.  I would NEVER attempt this block because of those points, which were perfect, by the way.

 We sent this back

 Ulrike sent this,

 And look what we did!

 Elke sent us the most challenging center.  Hers honored sculptures called Nana's on display in Hanover.  She wasn't comfortable with applique and was a bit nervous about doing an applique center that was going to be worked on by others. She even padded it!  We were all intrigued with the Nana sculptures and googled about them, thanks to Elke.

And this is what we sent back.  The final border continues the celebration of the Nana's.

SO! There you have it.  From such humble beginnings a quilt is born.  We have not received our blocks yet, they will be mailed in two weeks and then we will have our great reveal part two!  We are very anxious to see them.

All in all this project was a huge success.  The reason I started this blog was to meet people overseas and I certainly accomplished that!  But this project was something I've wanted to do for a long, long time and after meeting Elke and approaching her about his idea, well, it just took root and grew into something very special.  There were few concerns on all of our minds....and it turned out we all had the same high standards and concerns.  Workmanship,  materials used, fitting this into already busy lives.  Their concerns about us were the same ones we had about them so I knew it would be just fine. Really, it all just fell into place and worked out.  Some email each other regularly now - new friendships made.   Mission accomplished!