Alien, thank you! Perfect! I really think a charcoal or grey minky would soften the whole look.
The pattern makes the quilt 108 x 108 but I really wanted to make it smaller. I had in mind an extra large throw. Do you all think if I proportionately decreased the sizes of each block and made the border a bit narrower (still wide-ish tho cause I like the look of the wide border) it would still have the dramatic impact it has now?