Thursday, July 12, 2012

Borders on

    Borders on and into the stack of projects "to be quilted" it goes.  It may be a couple months before I can do machine quilting,  I need much better control  and strength of the left arm.  
Anyway,  I chose a mottled burgundy fabric for the border to pull out all the reddish tones in the center.  Wish the photo color was better to show this.
   I measured the length in several places before cutting the border strips for the sides......and took the average of 30" for the length.  Using a pencil for marking, I squared up the corners and sides.  The border pieces were lined up with the marked line and sewn.  Then everything was trimmed.  Only one spot has a bit of fullness---at the top---but I believe I can work it in with quilting.

 
   I had a question about doing a braid with a black or burgundy separator strip and how would that look.   So for your comparison, here is a  photo is  Higher Hope that I made a couple of years ago.  It is one of my favorites and is hanging in the sunroom right now.
    It is the same basic braid pattern using
2 1/2" strips---just a scrappier version.  The braid runs are  separated by a black strip about 1 1/2" wide.    Any and all scrap strips were used including some floral fabrics.  They were arranged by value, blending from one dominant color to the next....usually.    Sometimes  it was hard to define/determine the main color of a fabric,  so I just jumped to another color and started again. Rather than refer to this one as a watercolor or a true color wash, it is what I call blended.  
      Not sure what I will pick up next....maybe just some easy piecing of cobblestones from batik leftovers.  I sure I will find a spark of inspiration.  Happy stitching.  

8 comments:

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

The burgundy looks good for the border. I'm sure the fullness will quilt out too. It sounds like your shoulder is healing well but no sense in overdoing it now.

Juanita said...

Wow!!! I love them both. It must be so much fun putting these together and seeing the results. You have such a good eye for this.

Janet O. said...

Both versions look good, but I am loving the braid in black borders. Striking!

KatieQ said...

The burgundy fabric was a great choice for the border. Your Higher Hope quilt is just gorgeous. The black really makes it stand out.

Lynne said...

The current project is lovely but, you know, I think I like Higher Hope more!

Dana Gaffney said...

They're both beautiful, I really like the scattered flowers look running through the middle of the new one. Are the braids all the same size in Higher Hope?

Mary said...

The burgundy was the perfect choice. This turned out beautifully.

Nicki said...

That new quilt is a beauty. I love Higher Hopes (& I love the name too). I like quilts with black in them. It seems to make everything POP. Keep up the great work & keep those pictures coming.

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