The Saga of Karrin's Blocks


Block for Karrin, originally uploaded by ivoryblushroses.

One of the things I really enjoy about doing Round Robins, is seeing the way different people put together their blocks and the different color combinations they choose. Working on these blocks inspires me to move beyond my comfort zone. When Karrin's blocks arrived, I loved the muted tones of green and red mixed with gold. They made me think of an old fashioned country Christmas. (Karrin's pic of the original blocks is at the left)

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Rita was the first to work on Karrin's blocks and she had embroidered a brilliant white Christmas tree, which really popped on the muted colors. (see Rita's pic of her work at left) I knew I wanted to do something to coordinate, so I crocheted and tatted a couple of white snowflakes and added an embroidered one as well. Over the years, I've received so many Christmas cards with robins on them, that I knew I wanted to use one on this block as well. I drew a robin on felt and embroidered it, then appliqued it onto the block with a little wool stuffing behind it to add dimension. The holly leaves were crocheted from a pattern found in the book "100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet" by Lesley Stanfield. I added lots of bead berries to finish them and added some pine branches in variegated pearl cotton. I loved working on this block!

While finishing the block right after Christmas, I wanted to compare it to Rita's block. That's when I discovered that the unthinkable had happened and I was unable to find the rest of Karrin's blocks! For the better part of two weeks, I searched high and low, tearing the apartment apart, looking through the trash, my sock drawer, under and behind the furniture, removing books from the shelf, unpacking the Christmas decorations (more than once!) and searching through every box, bag and cupboard. All to no avail. How distraught I was at having been so careless to lose not only the 4 unfinished blocks but also Rita's lovely work.

new blocks 4 Karrin
After several weeks of being consumed with looking for the blocks, I finally had to acknowledge that the blocks were gone and not likely to be found. With trepidation, I e-mailed Karrin and thankfully, she was very gracious about it and agreed to send me her leftover fabric from making the blocks so I could re-make new blocks to send on through the round robin. From the picture she had posted on CQI, I was able to nearly copy the original blocks, though they are slightly different. I only wish that I was able to replicate Rita's lovely work as well.

joint block 4 Karrin
Early on in this round robin, one of our participants had to drop out, so to make up for the "extra" block, we decided to jointly work on one of the blocks in each group. I choose the wreath block to be our joint block for Karrin and got it started by doing a buttonhole stitch around the center and adding clusters of sequin berries. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone adds to this block!

At last Karrin's blocks are in the mail to Margreet and I am starting to find renewed energy for working on other projects. I've also taken measures to ensure that I never lose another set of round robin blocks! The positive of all this searching is that everything in my apartment is more organized, especially my art and crafting supplies than it has ever been!

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