Welcome to Week 2 of the SAHRR 2021! I am the host for the 1st Round of prompts. Before that, let me recap what’s going on.
A few bloggers are joining Quilting Gail for the 2nd edition of Stay At Home Round Robin. I joined Gail last year for this fun QAL and finally that quilt is loaded and ready for quilting!

This year 7 bloggers have chosen a prompt for the rounds and we will show you how we interpreted each suggestion. You will keep your Round Robin in your possession and use your own fabric to make the rounds. There’s no shipping your center block to others, it’s all done in house. At the end of the 7 rounds you will have a flimsy that is ready for quilting! And maybe it won’t take you 7 months to finish!
Be sure to visit the other designers to see how they use my prompt. And then link up your version. Each link party will stay open until the next round.
I callied the first round and chose Piano Keys. I used PKs on my first SAHRR and thought it would be a great way for you to dip your toes in the water. Simple, easy, and fast. Hmm, maybe I should have used these at the end when the piecing is more involved?
I mock up all my designs in EQ8, it’s a great way to audition colors and designs. For this round I determined how wide of a border I wanted. Knowing that small was the key word for me, I decided a 1.5″ finished border was the way to go.

EQ8 Mock Up
Before designing my round I needed to add a “coping” border to the center block. This gives your eye a resting spot, but it can also even up your center to fit the next border. Our math may be precise, our sewing isn’t always as precise. Any extra fabric in your coping border can be trimmed down to fit the borders perfectly.

Sometimes you need a little extra!
I determined 1″ coping strips would give me breathing room for the block to border gap.
I did the math and knew I needed 14 keys on the first side and 16 for the next side. I alternated my 3 colors with my black background to create a bold contrast.

EQ8 Mock Up
I want my borders to start slim and grow as I move out to the other rounds. I also decided 2 sides would constitute my “round”. So it was doubly fortuitous that I chose to go first, now you can see alternate ways to handle your rounds. Remember, it’s YOUR project, make it work for you,
My numbers were:
Center Block: 10.5″ square
Coping Border: 1″ strips on all 4 sides
Piano Keys: 1 strip of each color cut 11″x1.5″, 3 strips of black cut 11″x1.5″ These strips were paired and sewn together and subcut the strips into 2″x2.5″ pieces. Wait, that’s not square! I know. It’s my trick for accuracy when making small! Over cut, trim to size. So those subcuts get trimmed to 2″x2″


As close to precise as I can make them!
Then you just sew those pairs together in whatever color combo you want, add them to your sides and Ta-Da! Piano Keys!! Play me a tune!

Some trimming of the coping border occurred to even up the sides.

Next week I’ll tell you all about the mistake these photos contain, but that’s for another day!
So, now it’s your turn! Show me what you got!!
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