Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware.
~Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Quilting
I quilted and mailed the quilt my granddaughter put together while visiting last month. Just in time for her sixth birthday. How exciting to see another generation of quilters in our family. It took most of the evenings. My remaining time involved moving bits and pieces around on BB1.
Yes, Audrey suggested applique in the first border. I didn't do that but thought it would be great on the second border. My grandmother's family joked that she would walk three miles to ride horseback one. That's how I feel about applique. I love, love, love other people's but go to great lengths to avoid it myself.
Here are several attempts at the second border. Some may have room for applique; many do not.
Reprising the pink/red/coral print would be nice but it's not exciting me as a narrow border.
HSTs in pink and blue vs plain strips.
Back to HSTs. Or what about QSTs? Better but not quite.
Throughout these pinups narrow blue and brown strips were added as potential coping strips. None work as well as hoped but I may try again. Eventually I recalled the pretty dogtooth borders on Baltimore Album quilts. Much of my fabric is now cut into tiny bits so what about a zigzag with triangles?
Using a coping strip to both offset the zigzag and blend with the background may be my favorite - in actuality rather than imagination. Of course, there's not enough of any white or pink for all the pieces. Here's a test varying the fabrics. I also think I like the zigzag without a center strip.
Handling the corners will have to wait. Also, I may add some yellow bits. Thinking and testing.
Reading
This weekend - May the Fourth be with you!
9 comments:
Thanks for sharing the design process for your BBAL. I love the way you can mix colors, textures, patterns. I read Gawande's Being Mortal for our AAUW book club last year. I'll take a look at the one you've just read.
I do like the look of those zig-zags--meanwhile I canNOT get anything to look right on my BB1 for another border...talk about out of my comfort zone!!:000
Hugs, Julierose
Loving the colors on your second border! It's always so interesting to see how other people deal with the possibilities in their quilts. I do like the double zigzag quite a bit, but I know I'll appreciate whatever you end up with. Somehow it always comes off doesn't it?
Your quilt is a delight of color mixing and so much more! Whatever you finally decide with your second border will be perfect. The pinks and peach tones are just so inviting - love it!
It's interesting to see your design process and the various iterations of borders. I love how it looks so far!
I've so enjoyed reading through your process with borders in this post Ann. I get you with the applique - I have the same thoughts on this. I definitely like the zig zag without the centre strip which just seemed to break the flow of your quilt.I'm afraid my BB1 still has only one border!!
Bet your granddaughter was thrilled to receive her quilt, lucky girl. Hope your DH is making a steady recovery.
Those blooms are adorable. I am loving all the peachy goodness in the borders. Wishing your DH some quality R&R and a speedy recovery. May the fourth be with you :-)
Loving all your peach additions. It's been an interesting BOM - given Audrey's prompts, it's wonderful to see everyone's unique projects.
It's so interesting to see all the variations you have tried out and I'm curious to see where you end up. The colour palette is very appealing to me.
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