SAHRR Border 6, our final border for our 2026 Stay at Home Round Robin quilts! How can that be? The weeks have flown by, haven’t they?! It has been grand fun to check out your work each week, and see how you choose to make your borders! Thank you for joining in with us, and please be sure to mark your calendars for the Parade of Quilts on March 25th.
This week, Anja is our host for SAHRR Border 6, so please be sure to go visit her blog today and read her post. You will link up with Anja this week to show off your creativeness. Please do stop by the other host blogs as well, so you can see their choices for SAHRR Border 6.
- January 14 Center Block Reveal
- January 21: Border 1: Brenda @ Songbird Designs
- January 28: Border 2: Kathleen @ Kathleen McMusing
- February 4: Border 3: Emily @ The Darling Dogwood
- February 11: Border 4: Wendy @ Pieceful Thoughts
- February 18: Border 5: Gail @ Quilting Gail
- February 25: Border 6: Anja @ Anja Quilts – we are here!!
- March 25: Parade: showing all of your finished SAHRRs!
Anja has given us choices this week. Choose your border blocks, choose your colors, you get to choose, it’s Quilter’s Choice this week. I thought I knew exactly what I was going to do for a border until I sat down to sew. Then I changed my mind . . . about three times! I have a nice little stash of improv snippets from blocks I tried and rejected. In the end, I opted for doing some improv strip piecing for my last border.
Choosing an improv piano keys border was fun and quick. I tried not to overthink the placement of colors in each strip set. I just kept rearranging the sets around the border until I was happy with it. The quilt is now somewhere around 24 inches, and it is square (although the angle of my photo doesn’t give that appearance). After the two color border, I wanted to bring all the colors back in, and I think it’s safe to say I managed to do just that!
This is your last week to link up before the Parade of Quilts at the end of March, so be sure that you link up. your borders this week. One more time, here’s the list of our generous sponsors.
- Lumin Fabrics (Island Batik) – 3 Fat Quarter Bundles: Playful Posies, Geometric Symphony and Paradise Palms
- Hobbs Batting: wool batt
- Sew Fresh Quilts: 3 patterns
- Aurifil Thread
- Oliso mini Iron, mat and carrying case
- Fat Quarter Shop: Gift certificate and 2 charm packs
- Devoted Quilter: 2 patterns
- Songbird Designs: 1 pdf pattern
- Grace & Piece Co: t-shirt
- Quilter’s Dream: 8 assorted batts
- Crafty Quilter: 2 patterns
Since I did something a little different this year, deciding to make a small quilt, would I do it again? What did I learn?
I would definitely do this again, but only using an improv method. With 2-inch blocks unfinished, those pieces get very small, and trying to piece traditionally, or even by paper piecing would be tricky. Using the improv method allowed me to make the small blocks, but also allowed me to change up the size just a bit if I needed or wanted to. Using small improv blocks can be challenging, though, depending on the border prompt. For example, I had to think a bit to come up with the Animal Kingdom block. Even a simple Monkey Wrench block is tricky at that size! All in all, though, it was delightfully fun to work on the borders each week.
Okay, now it’s your turn to get to work on your SAHRR Border 6! I cannot wait to see what you all come up with! And don’t forget to link up with Anja this week!
Have fun!
Wendy
I love everything about this, Wendy–the mini size, the riot of colors, the joy!!!
Colorfullllllll! And the yellow keeps it all hanging together!
Your final border is perfect for this quilt. Great fabric choices and great improv piecing!
Your piano key border is perfect – I love it! Good points about things you learned, I’ll try to remember to do that when I finish. It has been a really fun ride with SAHRR this year!
This is fantastic, Wendy. The piano keys are perfect for your border. I love your little bright, colorful SAHRR!
Seeing your completed improv quilt makes me think about listening to a jazz trio. Bravo to you.
That was the perfect choice for the border! It complements all the other elements in your top!
Love your piano key finish! Overthinking these prompts tends to be my biggest problem. Hmmm – ideas are swirling around my brain already. LOL
This is so amazing and fun! I can’t imagine doing 2″ blocks, especially with the curves. Or the slashed blocks. This shows your expertise in such a bright and cheerful way!
Your piece is so bright and happy! I think the organic / improv piano keys border finishes it off perfectly and was a great way to make sure all the colors were used again. When finished, I hope this is a quilt you’ll get to hang in a place you will get to enjoy daily!
I love it, Wendy! That is the perfect border to complete your design with all the pretty colors in your quilt. Will you finish it this way or add a final border of some type?
I l.o.v.e. it! I hope to see a (future) picture of it finished and hanging in a place of honor in your home!
First of all, your composition is so cohesive. I wouldn’t guess that you made it as a round robin but rather that you planned it that way all along. Second, the tiny size is so fun! It’s an achievement and still feels playful. I love it!
Though it was challenging, it’s great you tried this with smaller blocks. I definitely enjoyed watching it progress.
Fun! Bet you smile every time you look at it. Whatever room it goes in, it will surely be the star!
Oh .. wow … your improv piano keys are the perfect finish!!!! LOVE it!
I love the piano key border and 24″ square is a feat! This is gorgeous and a really fun way to do a SAHRR!
That really frames it nicely.
If there will be a grey day… you look at this … it brightens your day.
If it rains cats and dogs… you look at this… and sun is shining
If you feel alone.. you look at this… you are surrounded by friends
If you feel sad.. you look at this… you feel hope
If you feel it is a task you can never solve… you look at this… and you know you can
Bravo Wendy!
What a great culminating border, and it’s so you! You’ve done an amazing job designing this eye-catching quilt.
A great choice for the final border! Working small is definitely a challenge. I can see where improv is a lot more forgiving on that front. Your final SAHRR is such fun. Very bold and bright.
Oh Wendy … It grows brighter and bolder and more beautiful with each new border.
Thanks for sharing your process and the challenges of working with small blocks
Oooh I always love piano keys! A great touch and a perfect finish!
Beautiful design and composition! Modern and fresh!
What a fun quilt!
That quilt is just so vibrant! Isn’t it fun doing a scrappy piano key border.
Sooooo perfect!! I wondered how you were going to cap off this little masterpiece, and the piano keys border is just the thing. Thank you for all your hosting of this SAHRR and for the bright spots of beauty every week with your quilt. It’s wonderful!!
I can’t say anything better than what Eva so eloquently stated already! This is a very busy and wonderfully chaotic shock of color and you pulled it off, Wendy! The cheddar anchors it very well. What a joyful expression this is! 🙂
Wowza Wendy! So bright and fun and it just makes me smile. You couldn’t improve on your improv! And with all those small pieces it makes me want to touch all that texture.