Border Advice, Please

My first vision was a 6" wide border of muslin appliqueed with plaid flowers (machine buttonhole stitch) Plus maybe some applique vines in the muslin diamonds to pull it all together. But that's really too much.

What about cutting a whole lot of 3.5" plaid squares, mixing at random. You'd need 3 rows on each side and 2 rows at each end. IMO this would sort of camouflage the wider side borders. Roberta in D

"Nann Hilyard" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:wridnVkmFtFckrbanZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@comcast.com...

Last weekend I took a bunch of 6.5" 9-patches made from homespun plaids and muslin, cast about for what do do with them, and found "Passamaquoddy Trail" on Quilter's Cache. (To confess: I had printed the pattern months ago for a whole 'nother project, which has not come to be.)

So now I have a 48 x 72 work-in-progress. This is what it looks like:

I'm stuck at what borders to put on. I don't want it much longer (84", probably) but I do want it wider (66"-68"). I do not want to make additional Passamaquoddy Trail blocks to create a square quilt, but I don't mind making pieced blocks for the border.

Ideas, ladies?

Thanks,

Nann

I like the look of white around the quilt and would add a white border the width of the white blocks or white stripes in the quilt, and then a border of random plaid squares, plaid 4-patches, or plaid nine-patches. You could even use one sort on the width and one on the length to reach the dimensions you want.

M> Last weekend I took a bunch of 6.5" 9-patches made from homespun plaids and

I think a braid border would look beautiful on that, Nann. You have the triangles, points and even checks! Or even Flying Geese would look lovely. I would just put two narrow borders top and bottom to finish it off, even if you don't want to add much length. I think that fact of having a long pieced border, in *one* piece, would look better than divided blocks. . In message , Nann Hilyard writes

I think I would (if it was me) do a piano style border. using all the colours in no particular order!

Howdy!

3 narrow borders, black, white, red or black, red, black or red, black, red to mimic that red & black (?) plaid in the corners. The first border would read as a solid so as to not blend into the outer blocks.

YMMV ;-)

R/Sandy

If you want to add more width, make a wide pieced border on the two sides. I like the idea of a braid border, but piano keys or just scrappy squares would look good as well. Then add a narrow border to all 4 sides to complete the top. Sometimes I add a border to the two sides that matches the final border and this frames the wide pieced border, and makes it look more planned!

I'd piece the border, using mostly white. I'd put a half square triangle in each corner with the dark half pointing in, and I'd put a

2 color triangle in the sides to match the existing 2 color triangles so that the effect would be a 4 patch diamond extending from the quilt top into the border. Is that obtuse enough to barely understand?

Musicmaker

THANKS! for the advice, everyone. I used the half-square "waste" triangles that resulted from the blocks. I sewed them together to make the flying geese. I chose a homespun check (dark/light blue) for the remainder of the borders. The flimsy (=unquilted top) is

72 x 78.

Here is the result:

Again, thanks!

Nann

That looks really great, Nann. Well done.

I saw quite a few checks at a show on Friday, and I sometimes wish I could handle them - they look so good! . In message , Nann Hilyard writes

That looks great, Nann. It was planned that way all along, wasn't it? :-)

Looks like it was planned that way all along. :)

Great choice! Now I'm inspired to use all the plaids that I have collected over the years, but it will have to wait until spring and I return to my stash.

WOW!! Awesome, Nann ... absolutely perfect!! :)

Hugs!! Connie :)