Looking for advice
 

I’m making my daughter a quilt. I had her pick out fabric for the quilt. The quilt pattern is broken herringbone which I’m making in a Joann quilt class. The class calls for a 4” border using the background fabric. In this case it is light grey/silver. The quilt is supposed to finish at 48x58. But my daughter is tall. So I’m thinking of adding a second border. I don’t want to draw attention from the herringbone pattern. I had fabric in my stash that I thought would play nicely with the other fabrics. How wide should I make the 2nd border? Would a 2.5” outside border look ok? Or should it be wider than the inside border? I’ve included a picture. Thanks in advance for your advice.
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Can you not make the herringbone section longer?

I agree with Gay asking if you can make the herringbone portion longer. But to answer your question, I would typically do a narrower inner border and then a wider outer border. Do you have enough of your stash fabric to make a wider border?

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough fabric of the two inside columns to add a row. I have a yard of the stash fabric. So I think that would be just enough fabric to do a 5.5” border.....assuming I’ve done my math correctly. I could cut 6” by wof and get about 240”.

Do you like how the patterned green fabric border looks with the rest of the quilt? For my tastes, it looks a bit busy and it introduces a color (orange, I think), not in the rest of the quilt. If it was my quilt, I would pick a quieter solid or almost-solid fabric for the outer border, probably in gray or darkish turquoise. (If you *do* like how the patterned green fabric looks with the quilt, then ignore all this - it's your quilt and you should do what makes you happy.)

When putting multiple borders on a quilt, the usual approach to have the inner one be narrower and the outer one be wider. Usually this difference is more than 4" and 5.5" borders you are proposing. However, there are no hard fast rules here, and it's your quilt to make the way you choose. Laying things out and then stepping back can help you see what things will look like. Taking a picture while standing up on a chair or step-stool can help you get a more head-on angle to see things better.

Here is another picture closer to the fabrics. I didn’t notice the orangey tint. But I think you’re right, platyhiker. It doesn’t work. I appreciate the feedback.
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How about purchasing an additional fabric that coordinates with the fabrics in the herringbone, plus additional white fabric, and create a single or double row of herringbone in that color all around the quilt? You could do the 4" border first and use this additional herringbone as a second border, or you could do the new herringbone as the initial border and end with the 4" border (or leave off the 4" border completely, depending on what size you get).

I think your stash fabric has too much green in it and the pattern is too regimented compared to the fabrics already in the quilt. I would choose a fabric that has more blue in it, and perhaps a "splashy" design, to coordinate with the existing fabrics.

Edit: What is the purpose of the quilt? If you leave it as is, it would be a good size for placing over the lap and legs for watching tv. If it is to be used to cover up on the couch for a nap, then it would need to be bigger.

The guilt is more for napping on her couch. I think you’re right, Prism99, I need to look for fabric to add second border.

How tall is your daughter? I'm 5'7", so not super tall, but I find my 72" throw slightly too short for couch napping. When I make myself a couch quilt, it will be at least 76". Based on this, I think you need to find more fabric for another border.

Totally unrelated, but I also encourage you to put a pocket on it, like a quillow, for tucking one's feet into.

Your quilt is really pretty - I'm sure that whatever you decide, your daughter will love it!

I agree with Prism99.

Blue, that's really pretty!!

I see why you chose the border fabric you did--it has the colors in the one chevron but somehow it just doesn't quite work. Are your sections already sewn together? My opinion--I would put the two lighter sections (the ones now on the outside) in the center and the darker ones on the outside. And, yes, usually an outside border would look better if it is wider than the inside one. If you are still wanting the throw to be bigger, consider 3 borders and the ones at the top and bottom can be a little wider than the sides, if you are wanting more length. You have very pretty fabrics in the chevrons and you have done well with the intersections of the seams.

Beautiful quilt. Soft colors are nice. I wouldn't use the stash fabric and I agree that a narrow border framing the quilt center is best followed by a wider outer border.

The quilt is beautiful - am sure all the suggestions for enlarging would be good for consideration. Loved the idea of a "Pedi-pocket" - that's a term I just invented for the foot pocket someone suggested. As I get increasingly older, the feet are increasingly cooler, so I think that's a great idea.

My thought is to split the finished part down the middle and using your scraps, make a center panel of appliqué or other triangle shapes, to make your quilt wider, then add a top piece and bottom piece to make it longer. You could add a darker tourquoise to help with the frame section. Just a quick brainstorm to get you excited to finish your beautiful quilt.

Update: I’ve meant to follow up on this sooner, but am a bit of a procrastinator. I wanted to thank everyone for their feedback and encouragement. I took illinois’s advice and actually ripped out seams and moved the two lighter columns to the inside. It was a lot of work, but worth the effort. I also took Prism99’s advice and bought more fabric to add a row for length. I used left over fabric to make an inside border for width. She was very happy with her birthday present. thanks for the help.
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You did a great job with it! I am so glad you moved that lightest chevron to the inside. It was bothering me on the outside (I just saw this post) and intended to suggest you move it because it was so much lighter than the other chevron sets it didn't look like it was part of the top---I didn't see it at first. Your scrappy border is perfect!