border size for UFO?
 

I'm pulling out a UFO that my great grandma made the top for but no one has finished and I'm going to need a hand quilting project after Christmas. So I think the quilt needs a border because it is so busy, but I don't know what size to do because I don't know the origninal intended size. The top is currently 94 x 94 and I have some hot pink solid fabric that would work as a border but what size?? or does it even need a border?

And quilting? I was thinking baptist fan, but am open for any other ideas because I heard baptist fan gets boring after a while.

to me, it's beautiful just the way it is! i'm sure no matter what you decide it will still be beautiful!

It look great just the way it is. If you decide it needs a border, I would measure the distance needed to cover the bed frame that shows in the picture, maybe 4 inches.
Sue

On most quilts, especially busy ones, I like to use 2 borders. It helps to stop the eye from wandering and frames it up nicely. A narrow inner border and wider outer border. I often do the inner borders in marbles or other tonal fabrics. The outer border I pick one of the fabrics in the center or something that blends with it well. I always audition them before I cut anything. Many times, I don't select a border fabric until the center is done.

I love the quilt the way it is. However, if you're going to add a border, I like the narrow border followed by a wider border. Decide what size you want the quilt to be when it's done and then calculate the border width from that. Maybe a white or light yellow narrow border with a brighter bolder color for the outer one? As for the quilting, can't help you with that as I stick to stitch in the ditch for now! :)

I don't think Baptist fan is boring at all. Or did you mean it's boring to work on? It's certainly not boring to look at.

I would only add borders if I wanted the quilt to be bigger. I agree that if you add any it would be nice to have a thin inner border (black would be nice) and then another border, which could be checkerboard or piano keys. I don't think this quilt would look quite right with a solid color on the outer border, but that's just personal preference.

i would choose one color for a strip the same width as her strips and then a wider border for the outside...to me...i would do both in solids, because as you said, it is really busy and and the solids would calm everything down a bit and give a real canvas for some of the quilting sts to show... try to stick to her tones, they appear to be clear, crayon colors, bordering on the bright... the darker the border is, the more of a 'frame' it will appear to be, but 'dark' is relative...i would do 'her' darkest...the inner border in the same width would serve as the 'unifier,' blending her size strip with the wider border.

It is your quilt. It seems to be a good size so unless you want to make it bigger I think it is okay without one. Many scrappy quilts I see do not have boarders. But if you do, I agree with a darker narrow boarder and then a wider outer boarder.

For quilting I think a fan or clamshell would be appropriate. But with scrappy quilts it doesn't show that much so you could do about anything.

By the way, I forgot to start with, I think it is a lovely top.

The quilt is very nice. It will lend itself to either bordering it or not bordering it. Decide what size you want it. If it needs to be larger, go ahead and put a border on. I would start with a very thin border of one of the colors (depending on where it will go) and then put a larger border in the darkest color that you want. Regarding the quilting design, I would do a loop de loop with just a meandering stitch. That will tie all the colors together. Good luck and be sure to show us when it is finished. Thanks for sharing.