My Ladies Quilt

Hi Kay - I agree that the individual borders that you have chosen do compliment the ladies in a unique way. I would select a plain colour for the sashings though because the borders are busy and my choice would be the black - it does depend though on your measurements. A busy border with multicolours takes away from the classic black&white of the ladies so I would reconsider the piano keys style. From a distance, in viewing the album, my preference in the individual border fabrics is #4 if you did decide to use only one for framing (I know - you didn't ask this question). jennellh

Kay, I hope you don't mind if I throw out a slightly different perspective. I think your ladies (they're lovely!) are rather formal in "flavor" and need a slightly more formal setting. I'd pick just two border fabrics (remembering that I'm not much on "scrappy" ), using one on three of the ladies and the other on the three remaining, then alternating them on the quilt. I also think that the piano keys border is a bit too strong for these gentle ladies. Didn't you say on NQP that you were thinking of trying some appliqué soon? I think this quilt cries out for a border of appliquéed vines and tulips or roses or some other formal (as opposed to folks-y) flower (this comes from someone who doesn't do appliqué ).

I hope I haven't offended you, but that's what I thought of when I saw the ladies. It's your quilt, though, and you should do what you like best. :)

To be honest, I think all the variations look pretty similar - if that's the look you want to achieve, then I don't think it matters desperately which one you choose. Have you got any books on setting? I've been reading Setting Solutions by Sharyn Craig, I don't think that's the one that commonly gets recommended - but it's been completely eye opening, might be worth having a look at something like that.

Cheers Anne

Hi Sandy!

Oooh, now the appliqué is a thought. My only purpose for the piano keys was to repeat the individual border fabrics. But I could easily see those fabrics repeated in the vines and roses. And it would have to be needleturn, not raw edge with a blanket stitch.

I have all the different border fabrics because at first I wasn't even going to put all the ladies in the same quilt. But I decided I'd like to keep them together to make something larger than a tiny wallhanging that I have no place to hang.

I take no offense at someone offering a suggestion that I never even thought of. That's like brainstorming!! I like that process!

Thank you!

Kay, where did you get the red fabric? I love it! Do you have the manufacturer's name?

Hummmm, I think I do have a book by Sharon Craig. Or I at least might have access to the Setting solutions book through the guild library. Seems like I've also seen the book at JoAnn's. And didn't I just get a batch of coupons from there in the last couple of days!

Thanks for the reference!

Yes, I love that 4th border fabric! The one behind the lady drinking from the goblet -- right? I sit in my UFO group every Sunday afternoon and stare at that fabric. That was going to be the only border I was going to use when I was just going to put two or four of them together. Maybe I'll go back to the idea of just that fabric. (I know where there is more, and it's on sale!!) It has the black and cream with just a touch of other colors.

Those piano keys do really stand out when I see those pictures on Webshots! Did you read Sandy's idea about the "formal" appliqué?

Thanks, jennellh!

Hi Louise!

Do you mean the red behind the 6th lady? The red that looks like ruffles? It comes in bunches of colors. The selvage says "Red Rooster Fabrics © DSN #16238."

Interesting. I've usually found Red Rooster fabric to be stiff, but this stuff is really soft. I got it in a local quilt shop.

If you go to

put in arabesque red rooster, you'll find more!

What an unusual fabric - it looks lovely. First I liked 2, also 5 and 6. I thought about why I liked them best; and then I wondered if you could 'draw' up an alternative with black-white-black sashing. I say this because: trying to give you one favourite, I looked at '2' straight after looking at '6' and thought the single black then looked a little heavy. It seemed to my mind that a white stripe down the middle of the black would lighten it, but still give the lovely black contrast against the coloured prints. . In message , Kay Ahr writes

I think these are such imaginative suggestions. I love the appliqué idea, Sandy. I'm obviously having a non-lateral-thinking day! and I assumed the choices made were fixed. I think it is so exciting that you thought of doing this 'mock-up' + suggestions idea, for your quilt, Kay. I love participating. I always think that, even if a person doesn't find any of the replies 'just right', it must set their own creative thoughts going and work towards just the right solution. . In message , Sandy writes

Me too -white-black-white sashing. But there's something about the 6 different backgrounds that's too.... I don't know, just one of those gut feelings. (Bear in mind I didn't get any lunch today.) The ladies are wonderful! Roberta in D

"Kay Ahr" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:46e71185$0$11174$ snipped-for-privacy@reader.corenews.com...

Hi Patti!

My ideas are never "fixed" even if I don't talk with other folks about them! :-) Sometimes I'm changing my mind as I'm cutting. Once in a while I do work from a packaged pattern. As a beginner (three years), I probably should use packaged patterns more often -- never know what little tips and techniques I can glean from them. But then look at all the tips and tricks I can get right here at RCTQ!

Yes, the piano key border has to go! It was just too heavy! I have to spend a couple of days in airports next week, so I might just take a sketchpad and graph paper along with me.

The appliqué idea appeals to me more and more. Maybe there are some flower shapes I can trace and enlarge from the ladies. . . .

I like that term "mock-up." Thank you!

See Quilt #9. And maybe make the colored print frames around each block smaller. I'm still thinking about keeping the different colored print around each lady, just not so much of each print. Right now the frames are

3.5". (Where's that period supposed to go? Where are the grammar police when I need them?)

Hummmm, hear those wheels grinding in my brain . . . . they need coffee lubricant!

Kay, what about black borders first, then spacing them (after squaring them off) with an applique done in black on white in between the blocks? perhaps instead of vines and flowers, you could do a number of "lace" or rococo designs. then on the outer borders, carry the black there. that way the whole effect would be almost floating. amy

Hi Roberta,

Maybe it does need to be an entirely black-white quilt -- that was my original though about 6 months ago. I could still do the appliqué in black-white prints. Or the appliqué with black-white prints and that print behind Lady #4. I'll play some more in EQ.

The ladies are really black-cream. When I got the fabric, it seemed like the "white" had yellowed with age. (The fabric is 30 years old.) It would be better for the black-white-black sashing to have the black next to the ladies. That way it won't seem so "off" if I can't find an exact cream color. I even thought about a creamy tone-on-tone for the borders.

So maybe I can get a little variety in the quilt from texture rather than from color. I hate to say this, but I think there is some perfect tone-on-tone in Wal-Mart, of all places!

Thanks, Kay Ahr in NV

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you may be right! texture would be more elegant than more embelishments. and right again, cream and black, not white. i like the red next to the ladies, then the black then the cream. ooooooo, i want to do a B&W quilt now....now the wheels are turning....i need chocolate.... amy

Oh dear. Was that there before, Kay? I'm sorry - I didn't notice two pages. Yes, Quilt 9 is just what I thought would look lovely for the sashing - and the white border gives one the opportunity to imagine it with appliqué on. You said you were going to repeat the border colours in the appliqué; I hope you introduce some black there too, just to tie it all in.

I think the borders round the ladies should be wider than the sashing - however that turns out to be - just for balance.

This is going to be lovely! . In message , Kay Ahr writes

Now, there's the best idea so far for me! I'm a monochrome sort of gal >gggHi Roberta,