No stitching, but we have a Joan Elliott Round Robin

I think I pulled something doing all that beading on the oh so appropriately named Beaded Dragonfly Tile, so I've been out of commission for a couple of days.  That, or I'm using a slightly sore arm as an excuse to take a break from it.  I've spent most of that time cozied up to my laptop, now that everything is working well again.  Maybe that sense of optimism is what drove me to it.  Or I fell on my head and don't remember.

I signed up for another round robin.

The Joan Elliott round robin group was at an uneven number.  They only had seven stitchers signed up. Gasp!  They really needed an eighth.  I'd been thinking about it, but reason had prevailed and I'd decided I had enough to do, with the 2013 Mirabilia Large Stitch round robin and all the projects I  want to do this year.  But I kept on thinking about it.  And so I signed up yesterday afternoon to join the Joan Elliott round robin.

Big sigh.

I decided I'd at least keep my layout simpler than I did for the Mirabilia round robin.  Stitching almost half of Angel of the New Dawn, in just over three weeks no less (darn procrastination!), was stressful.  So I started looking up different patterns to pick my theme.  I thought about the new Historical Ladies, but there will only be four new ones published and I'm not crazy about the older already designed Medieval ladies.  What about international ladies?  Joan has an African lady, Paris and London, the Native American brave and maiden, and the Asian ladies.  But it didn't really hook me.

Then I noticed how many beautiful Geishas Joan has designed.  I visited Japan a few years ago and the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of a Japanese-inspired round robin.  It will make this year truly my year of Japan.  One of my Christmas present from my Mom this year was tickets to see this great documentary about Japanese festivals.  I'm heading to the Mirabilia Minions Retreat this April and stopping in Washington, DC along the way, where we'll be just in time for the Cherry Blossom Parade and Japanese Street Festival.  Chatelaine comes out with the Japanese Zen Garden Mandala I'm dying to stitch.  And now my Joan Elliott round robin.

Here's a preview picture of the patterns I'll be having stitched.

There will likely be a black shiny border between them and I want to find a small decoration for the four corners.  And I need to find an alphabet.   And a fabric to pick.  But it'll all be fun and I can't wait.  

Has anyone stitched any of these or other Oriental patterns by Joan?  What do you think?

I look forward to hearing from you guys, and thanks for looking!

Julie