Add a Border or just put binding on this Art Quilt?
 

I am asking for your help in deciding how to finish this art quilt I call Wonky Houses. The scene is appliqued to a fat quarter. I don't have any left over fabrics that have been used in the quilt. I was going to put a binding on it to frame the scene when a friend suggested I add a border and then binding. Sorry the photo doesn't show the details very clearly. What fabric would you choose if doing a border? If only doing binding what color can you see working?
Thanks for any advice you may have!

I would add a cream border & bind in yellow.

I would probably use a cream or pale yellow border and bind in something like the background color. Maybe even a couple shades darker.

How using fabric to make a "mat and picture frame"?

Lovely quilt! I would skip the border or do a skinny solid colored one.

Cute art quilt! I think it could look good with or without a border. If you can find a match to one of the light to medium greens that might look nice with the sky background and not be as big of a contrast as something lighter. Border or not I'd bind it in something dark - navy, brown, black - to give it the effect of a frame.

I love that! You did a great job. I would just bind it, no border, and let it speak for itself. I just don't think a border is going to contribute anything to the design. For binding color, try the darkest shade of green in the sky fabric; the shade that's above the first part of the kite tail.

love your little quilt. love the striped kitty too

It's adorable! Since the houses are so close to edge, I think I would add a border. That cherry fabric dead center of the quilt would make a great border, if you have any more of it. Then bind in whatever looks good from there! Maybe the bright green?

What a sweet little quilt. I was thinking the same as sewbizgirl. Your mailbox and church flower are really close to the edge. I think a border in cream or yellow with a binding in the darkest sky color would look great.

Absolutely beautiful......I think mat and frame is a good idea.....but i would not do anything that would draw the eye away from all the wonderful details in this amazing artwork. Thanks for sharing !!!

I think the navy or black (whatever that darkest tone in the sky) would be a good color for either border or binding. I personally think there's enough going on in the quilt that it doesn't need anything but a binding.

I'd skip the border and just do a facing finish.

But I might be tempted to audition a border to look like a dark wood frame. Or try the narrow black to see if you like that effect. You may make up your mind once you trim and square it.

If it were mine I would fold a 1" gold/yellow strip in half and sew around the edges, then add a wider border in the same background fabric, or close in colour. Or you could add the border first then sew bias binding in gold - like a picture frame.
Hope that's not confusing.
Love your quilt, was it a kit?

Love the quilt lots of work in that - I would be tempted to just do a dark binding, but a a bit wider than normal to balance it and make it look like a picture frame

I'd do a 1/4" pink inner border & then a 1-1.5" outer border in green (either the green of the grass or the green of the middle house's roof).

Cute quilt, by the way!

I would put a frame round. Not sure of colour but it does need something round it.

I think you should just bind as I feel a cream border would draw my eyes away from the centre, as the batting is doing now. I would just bind in a dark, solid shade of the background colour. It's beautiful by the way! LOVE the wonky houses!

Adorable but I don't think it needs a border...

Thank you all for your ideas and input. I will head to the fabric store and audition the colors you have suggested.
This board is the best!

I think it looks good the way it is. Another possibility could be to cover an artist canvas in fabric of your choice and "float" your art quilt onto that. Finished, mounted, ready to display by hanger or easel! I really like your work!

I agree with Tartan...but lean more towards a facing edge. It is a beautiful quilt and I think adding any more will distract from what you have already done

I love the quilt! I would probable use a cream border with a pink binding.

I really love your wonky houses. Your art quilt is very attractive. I finished one last week for a challenge with my quilt guild. I made the border and binding of the same fabric as the background of the basic design. I really liked the effect and I received several positive comments on my choices.

I wouldn't bind it nor add a border. I'd use a facing. That way the edge of your art quilt goes all the way to the edge with no distraction. I've faced wall hangings and really like the effect. If you google how to face a quilt there are some good tutorials. Here's a link to one with pictures. http://thesillyboodilly.blogspot.com...y-to-face.html

I would be hesitant to put a border on it because you have quilted it and it is not laying flat. I would just bind it. Very cute quilt. Can you tell us where you bought this pattern??

I have seen some art quilts that have been faced. They have no visible border.

I love this board, too...... so many ideas and suggestions. The problem is that there are so many to choose from.

It sounds like you've decided what you would like to do but I'll add my 2 cents worth. I'd add a border. And I'd pick whatever color I wanted to bring out in the houses. If you have this in a pink room, I'd choose pink. If you want the green to 'pop', I'd pick green. The blue background color would disappear if you chose that.

The binding could look like a frame if you pick a different color but a very skinny frame. I think I'd use the same fabric that I'd pick for the border. Then it's just one larger frame. Plus, it doesn't have to be super perfect width wise.

It's really a cute quilt. You did a fantastic job.

Whatever you decide will be great. Love those wonky houses. Please share pattern. Thanks.

same idea
 

This idea popped into my head too. Attach a border wide enough to cover the edge of the canvas and stretch the border o the back and staple down or glue. This might allow you to flatten the picture. I love the wonky houses you have made.

It doesn't look like you have enough batting to add a border now, unless you want to piece some batting onto the edges of the existing batting. I would bind it in a dark color similar to the sky without the border.

What a wonderful quilt! I am also concerned about the small amount of area remaining on the right and left. I don't think you want to lose that, which you would do with border or binding. However, I think it definitely wants framing of some kind. So I would vote for the mat and frame, or the facing (which I'm not familiar with).

I agree that it doesn't NEED a border, but would look a little less cramped with one due to the design being so close to the edges. I would do the border as if it were a mat, probably in a color similar to the chimney of the middle house or a bit darker, and miter the corners. Then I would bind it in a wood tone or other fabric that would mimic the frame.

I agree with the no border group. I would block it and then bind it with a dark color(dark green or navy - these look like colors in your fat quarter) to frame it. Either of those 2 colors would probably blend into the background and make the block pop.

It is very cute.

Love your art quilt. I would use a binding no border maybe black or cream.

First and foremost, it is adorable! I would put no border, and just bind with a kind of brick or cranberry red.

Such a cute little quilt! I've made a lot of these small appliqued quilts and one of the things I like to do is use buttons or beads in the binding. A simple bias binding with seed beeds sewn in the ditch adds a little interest. I also love to add an assortment of different sizes, shapes and colors of buttons to the edge. I use contrasting threads that coordinate with the quilt, or you can use the same color thread. The buttons also add a little weight so the quilt hangs well.

Here's an example of a bound border with seed bead detail.

I would do a hot pink border and binding, but that's just MHO.

Use your imagination to design your fabric neighborhood.
 

Thank you for your ideas. I think once I audition fabrics that will help me decide.

No, I did not use a kit to make this art quilt. I took a workshop our guild sponsored taught by Amy Stewart Windsor called Playtime neighborhood. If you google her name you can view her link with lots of photos of art quilts. You use your imagination to design your scene. In the class I only cut out one house. I spent time drawing on paper what I wanted in my fabric playtime neighborhood. I did all the work at home after the class. My quilt has a quilt shop to the left, my house in the center, and a church on the right. I worked on the quilt in between other projects over a year.
Now to finish it and be done! Thanks again for your input. ;)