Boy was this a nightmare to work on! I bought the shot silks, the coloured fabric a while ago in Holland and the black sashing is a silk and hemp (yes, hemp!) blend that I bought here in France at a craft fair. The silks frayed if I even LOOKED at them wrong and the fibres are so big that even one fraying took about a 1/16" off my seam allowance! When the blocks were done, I ironed them onto fusible interfacing to stabilise them a bit. The silk/hemp mix I used both sides, for the sashing, one side is shiny and the other is matt and I think it gives a nice effect. I wanted to use it for the outer border as well but it frayed so badly that I chickened out and used some regular black cotton! I might quilt it in metallic thread, or possibly silk, I haven't decided yet. I'll leave it a while until I can learn to love it enough to handle it again! :lol:
PS - I used so much spray starch that the blocks really ARE like cards! :mrgreen: