Thursday, June 11, 2015

Border and backing time


Today I finished the white strips around the edges and laid the quilt out on the bed to try fabrics for the border.


This one is a batik.

It is rather dark and also kind of a floral.


I tried it with each of the corner areas.








None of the blocks seem to have issues with this fabric.








The fabric definitely contains purple and lime green.


My only question is whether it might be too much of a floral for a thirteen year old boy.




 Then I tried a border that is a bit lighter.

The print is puzzle pieces.

The green is not  as lime green as the batik.





Maybe puzzle pieces are more boy-friendly than flowers?


Oh my, now I don't know which to choose.





I laid out some of the assorted donated fabrics to see how I might piece the backing.

Those greens are really a lot more lime than they appear in the photograph.

The purples run from blueish to pinkish but the variety isn't bad.

I am not sure how to go about putting them all together as there is no place to just lay them out. I might cut them in multiples of two or three inches to make it easier

Among assorted donated fabric there might be more pieces I could use.

Ben plays soccer and there is a lot of that fabric ... and it contains purple and green.

The purple stripe at the upper right is plentiful but a bit boring to use as a border.

There is the fish batik I picked up at the Tokyo Dome show and a green batik in a large amount.

Well, now I have time to think this over. Tonight I have to run a Cub Scout Pack meeting. Tomorrow I will be getting things ready for a week long Scout camp. If I can decide by tomorrow, I could get the borders measured and marked and cut so I could work on the border at camp.
When I made the big boy quilt for brother Paul, I never asked. (and he liked it fine as far as I know).
And, knowing Ben, he will be happy just to have something a bit bigger and less juvenile than his alphabet quilt now on his bunk.
Decisions, decisions, always decisions! Shall I just flip a coin?

6 comments:

  1. I think the white edging might get lost if the border is too light, that lime green looks so good, otherwise a thinner purple fish, then the lime green, I know, for sure,lots more cutting and stitching.

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  2. I like the first border you tried - I don't think it's too flowery - it's a batik right? Or maybe w combination of the purple and like green batiks in your last photo. Whatever you decide, it is bound to be great! The body of the quilt is amazing!

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  3. I love that first border! The puzzle piece border 'loses' the white border that you attached.

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  4. It's all settled by this message ... Grandma this is Ben, I would prefer the dark batik pattern. (the flowers don't bother me at all)
    Lots of love, Ben
    This boy is the sunshine of my life. How fitting to give him a rainbow. I hope when the quilt is done that I can post a picture with him in it so everyone can see his smile that lights up the world.

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  5. I agree with Ben's choice, too. I think it is wonderful that he has a good eye for colour!

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  6. That is an awesome quilt! How nice of Ben to give you some feedback so that you can make him just what he wants. He is one well loved boy as shown by his Grandma's fine work!

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