I've been working on my surprise anniversary quilt for Boyfriend (mentioned here:
http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-130358-1.htm) and it's been coming together nicely. It's looking like I won't get it done before August 5, but I'll definitely be deep into the quilting stage at that point, so I'll be able to show it to him and he'll know what it's going to look like (he doesn't have a lot of "vision" when it comes to fabric and quilt designs).
Anyway, I'm doing a modified-layout D9P for the central part, just big enough to cover the top of the bed, and I was honestly really disappointed with how it was looking. I've got five prints and two solids, and I wasn't thrilled with the way the two solids--light blue and olive green--played together. The colors
look nice together, but I kept thinking the contrast was just a little too much for them to settle down and behave among the prints. I was starting to fear that it would just look like a big old mess when I was done, and I was seriously doubting my design ability, which I'd thought was not bad before.
But then I put the first borders on--a narrow brown one against the D9P section, then a medium-width light blue one--and like magic, it was exactly as I'd imagined it. All of a sudden it looked calmer, more grounded, and I could actually see the motion of the blocks across the top. Success!!! Now I'm looking forward to getting the next section of border on. I had been slowing down because of my fear, but it'll be full steam ahead tomorrow. :)
Just goes to show that so often in quilting, the whole is much, much greater than the sum of the parts. :)