Saturday 24 January 2009

Opinions needed :-).....updates at bottom

I have a dilemna with a quilt I'm working on for a charity project with one of my quilt groups. I found this huge piece of cheerful pansy fabric at a yard sale last summer and thought to use this for my borders. I decided to use Bonnie Hunter's Boxy Stars pattern which I had already used to make a quilt before. These are the fabrics I chose to do the stars and the white with a little tiny red bud is the background. I added a gold for the center:


I found this wonderful wide pink flannelette for the backing:

Now the problem is, the pansies don't really seem to work for a border??? Or will they??? (Just to clarify...there is no sashing between these blocks yet...that white is just my design wall :-).

This is the first quilt I did with this pattern. So, can I get away with the pansies border? If so, what colour sashing and what colour corner stones? The background of the pansies fabric is navy blue.

My theory is that maybe I should have mixed purple and navy in with the green and red? Maybe it would have worked then? I also need to make sure this thing won't look like Christmas! I can use any other colour for the border instead of the pansies, but since that was my focus fabric, I'd really like to use it :-). But, I won't be offended if you all think I should put the pansies out of my head and use something else LOL. Thanks for any advice you can give!

First idea is in....purple sashing with gold corner stars. I only have two purples in my stash! The light one would be enough for sashings and the darker one might just be enough for dark purple corner stones?


Closer up of the purple sashing (I could put another narrow border around the whole quilt before the borders...gold?):


I sewed all the four patch units together today and cut some purple sashing of the proper width and also found some cool dark purple with gold hearts on it for the corner stones. I'm liking it more and more! I like the gold between the border and purple sashings as well, but only have a little bit of that left :-(.

Close up:
Don't know if you can see this very well, but at the bottom is a different gold print which I have in my stash. It is not as bright as the corner stones, but there would be lots there for a 2" border around the whole quilt between the pansy border. If you click on the picture, it should enlarge and may give a better view. Or should I look for a brighter gold for the border or go with something totally different?

Thanks to Cyn's comment, I cut some 2 1/2" squares for the cornerstones from the pansy fabric. I didn't fussy cut them because they are very large, but just let the print fall wherever. I'm liking that a LOT! That really seems to tie everything together. I also cut a couple 2 1/2" strips of the background fabric of the stars and put that along the outside for an additional narrow border. I'm liking that too.

If you click on this picture, it should enlarge so you can see the light narrow border a bit better:

I tried the yellow border just to see what it would look like, but it looks dirty compared to the lovely gold in the centers of the star blocks. I think the decisions have been made unless I get real opposition to the above picture :-).

10 comments:

Jeanne said...

I was going to suggest a purple border before the pansies. The corner squares look good, too. It's a great quilt.

Rosa Robichaud said...

Well, I think it looks better with the purple/mauve sashings... *s*

The first picture, with the white-ish sashing doesn't "do it"... IMHO.

Hope this helps...

Rosa

antique quilter said...

I agree use the purple sashing..
ties the border fabric in with the blocks
looks great.

Cyn said...

I also agree with the purple sashing, however i prefer the 'goldish' cornerstones, or have you tried navy blue the same as your pansy b/grnd blue? When i'm trying to decide on a border fabric i sometimes open up the yardage and lay over my bed, then arrange about 1/4th of the blocks on it. This way you can audition the border fabric, as well as sashings and corner-stones. Also, i try and take a couple of pictures, or at least look through a camera lens to help make the decision. I don't know why this works for me, it just does. :) HTHs.
I love your blog!
Hugs,
Cyn:) F.

Cyn said...

Ooops, forgot: Have you tried fussy-cutting a pansy as the cornerstone? Just an idea.
hugs,
Cyn:) F.

Jacqui's Quilts said...

Thanks for all the ideas everyone! Cyn...just read your comment about fussy cutting the pansies...will try that too, but I think the pansies are probably too large. But, a fun idea. I'll report back later if it's an option or not.

Cyn said...

Hello again. . I really love the pansy cornerstones. It makes everything sing. I also like the way it gives perspective & dimention to your lovely piecing. I think both your final smallish borders would probably work, but if it were me--and I had the time--I would use the same light that you used in the blocks BUT add a 1/8 to 1/4inch piping strip between the outside purple sashing and the 1st inner light/narrow border. If you don't like it there, try it between the light and the pansy border. Pipings [for me] just makes things go *zing*, and i like that! Did you say this was a charity project? OMG you are really going all out! Lovely quilt, Jacqui, & your piecing is perfectly wonderful! Glad i could help... next time i'll be asking for your opinion!
hugs,
Cyn:)
PS: Hurry up and get well!

Taunya said...

I dont have any advice, but I love the blue version with pansies. sharp!

Miri said...

Great looking with the purple sashing-ties the pretty pansy fabric right in. Very pretty quilt!

Unknown said...

i like the purple sashings with the navy print cornerstones and gold border.