Round Robin ~ Brit

I finished Brit's block. It's actually been done for awhile now (I finished it on Monday) but I had to sit with it before I realized it really is done. It's not exactly how I pictured it in my head; my skillz aren't that closely aligned with my imagination! I just have to put my hands up and say it's done, otherwise I'll worry it and stress over it until I literally make myself sick! (Have I mentioned how fun a round robin is? Because it is! It's fun! Just. It's stressful too!)

When Pippa and I were working on our swap project, she mentioned that it is a tradition, when swapping, to use the opportunity to try something new. I really took that to heart; in this case, I've always wanted to applique. It appeals to me, as I like to do hand-work, and I like to worry about little details. My friend Monica showed me how, and she's a great teacher so I was off and at it in no time at all.


I was inspired by the center block that showed her whole family running (via the magic of embroidery!) across the landscape. I knew I wanted to add turtles, because of The Turtledash Half Marathon that they host every year, and my original idea was to also applique leaves of some sort, since The Turtledash happens in the fall.

I fooled around quite a bit with pattern, fabric, and placement. Making these two turtles (they are Brit, and her husband, Scott) was a no-brainer.








And these wee little turtles were uncontroversial, as well. They are Moo and Wah, their adorable boys.







Everything else was pure drama. I decided at some point that appliqueing the leaves would be way too busy. Just too much. So I picked up on the embroidery from the center block by mimicking the trees in three of the border squares, and embroidering a heart in each of the corner squares.




Just today I decided to use french knots to put an eye on each turtle. But I think that's it. Unless she hates it. In which case, I'm prepared to take the whole thing apart and start over. Because did I mention it's not 'due' until August 1st? Yeah, I'm a badass.