Here is a photo of my "Dieter Quilt". I need to be working on it! I finished sewing all the blocks together in May 2007. I added a narrow black border to it (it's the same size as the sashing separating the blocks), and that was the last time I worked on it. I just can't decide what to do with the next border! The pattern calls for narrow strips that almost look like piano keys (except a little fatter). For some reason, I don't like the looks of that border, and I've been wanting to try something else. My thoughts always come back to flying geese. Solid-colored flying geese. Smart of me considering I have very few solids in my stash. Yeah, real smart. I just can't figure out how tall or how wide I should make the flying geese. And I don't want to get to the end of the border and find out the flying geese are the wrong size and I have to cut one in pieces (how depressing would that be?). I don't know how to do the math to figure out what size to make those flying geese. And I wonder if paper-pieced pineapple quilt blocks would look good as the cornerstones? I am such a "visual" person, and have prayed and prayed that the "visual" side of my brain would eventually morph into a "vision" side. That way instead of having to see "exactly" what is being sewn, in exactly what colors, maybe I can start having the "vision" needed to be able to pick out a pattern and fabrics and know instinctively what the finished quilt will look like. I need to finish this baby up. My "Dieter Quilt" was my favorite quilt when I started it, and I want to finish it. It has turned out to be a pain in the patootie to me.
I'll be posting more info about my "Dieter Quilt" on this blog,. How it got it's name, how long it took to pick out the fabrics, to sew the blocks, to press, to sew. It felt like a lifetime to me. And it's the UFO that has been finished the most that has been with me the longest. I've got so many quilts I started on when I went to classes. I'd work on them in the class, and then once I got home, I'd put them in the closet and never touch them again. How stupid is that??
5 comments:
I actually think a plain border would be nice to balance the activity within the central part of the quilt.
The outer border could have the square in a square quilting to echo the block's shape.
This is a very nice quilt and should definitely be finished!
Hi Deborah. I popped over from Linda's blog to look at your great quilt.
If it was my I would put a narrow border of the some colour and size you used around each block to frame it. Then if is for a Male do an 4" Blue or female a 4" Mauve or pink border.
Have fun.
http://maria-lifeontheblock.blogspot.com
I think Flying Geese flying around it would be terrific! I see that the quilt is 11 blocks tall by 8 blocks wide. I think that 2 geese per block would look good, so measure thru' the quilt in 3 places for the horizontal & add those measurements together & divide by 3 to get the average (this will help keep it 'square'). Then, to get the size of the geese, divide that average by 8 & that would be the finished size of your geese (well, how tall the geese should be). Do the same for the vertical sides. You could paper piece the geese too, if it comes out to a strange number. :^)
Hope that makes sense!
Good luck! The quilt looks great now too!
You have put so much beautiful work and time into this, it is now time to look for any easy path to completion. So do not look for a second border that requires a lot of piecing and sewing - that makes another 2-3 months of delay and discouragement. Your cornerstones are wonderful primary colors against the black, so I would look for a striped or geometric fabric that features the same bright colors as the cornerstones, maybe with black accent. Make the stripes perpendicular to the first black border, and then use a black background with primary color small print as your binding. You will be done in a couple of days and ready to quilt (or send to the long arm). When you put the quilt on the bed (which I assume is your goal), the focus will be on the beautiful blocks, not the borders, so make this easy on yourself.
I really love the colours in this! And good on you for sticking to it and working towards a finish!
I'm a visual learner, too, and find that a difficulty as I try to learn quilting. Surely there must be some "general rue of thumb" for how much fabric is needed for a complete quilt. If you find a chart somewhere, let me know!
I look forward to seeing how the border takes shape!
Post a Comment