Looking for suggestions? To finish this quilt top
 

This partial quilt top is a WIP (work in progress) from a mystery quilt I'm participating in.
The original pattern calls for a border (6 1/2 inches) between the corners stones, in a colour that wasn't already used in the top. This went against my personal sense of order :D.
So, as I do not have enough of any of the featured fabrics to make a full 6 1/2 inch border, I am looking for ideas what to do......
My thoughts and those of a few friends are:
-Strip set of the component colours (like a rail?)
-Alternate borders with whichever colour I have enough of, i.e. one blue, one orange, one lime green....
-Piano key border of all the fabrics

I am not sure if something as linear as the rail or piano key would look like it belonged, when so much of the existing top is triangular or square.

BTW, this will be the final border.

Any and all ideas welcomed!

Wonderful quilt, great piecing. I would go with something simpler than piano keys. Give the eye a place to rest. Perhaps a thin orange then a wider of the lime green.

I think three strips of equal width would look good. Not sure which colors I would use. Possibly the dark blue on the 2 outer strips of the set with one of the other colors in the quilt in the middle

Really pretty bright colors! I think piano key would be too busy. I would do a plain skinnier border in whatever color you have enough of from colors already in your top. The dark blue would be restful.

How about a narrow white border, maybe 2", then your 6.5" made up of HST. The ones on the right would point right, and the left ones to the left, sort of a sawtooth look.

very pretty quilt, love the colors, I think piano border would look great using all the colors in your quilt

My suggestion is to find a dark blue that matches or comes close to the dark blue in the blocks. It would set off the quilt nicely. The piano keys might be too much and overpower the beauty of the quilt center.

Why not make some more of the blue blocks and surround it to make the blocks look like they are floating? I think that would look great!

I'd consider doing appliqued borders with vines & flowers on either a white or grey background.

What about blue with flying geese in the other colours.

If you only have enough of any of the colors in the quilt to do, say a 5" border instead of 6.5", then just omit the cornerstones. Put them on the back or make a pillow sham or wall hanging out of them.

Since you want to use the cornerstones, I'd look for a complimenting dark blue that has just a hint of a design in it. I've seen the yardage I'm thinking of at JoAnn's. This piece wouldn't be as stark as a solid but wouldn't compete with your beautiful top.

I would try a thin border in the chartreuse, and the main border in a compatible dark blue print, something subtle like a tone on tone. Wonderful quilt!

I would do something simple. A smaller inside border of either the green, orange or white and then use the dark blue as the outside border. Your quilt top is bright and vibrant and you want it to be the main focus of this quilt.

At this point in your quilt I think another color would add a lot of interest. I'm thinking of a bright golden yellow. Maybe three stripes, 2 being the yellow with the darker blue as the center stripe.

First off, your quilt is going to be awesome. As for the border, I think flying Geese world look cool. I would point the top flying geese to the right. The right side I would point them down. The bottom I would point to the left & the left side I would point them up. That way they would be running all the way around the quilt.

My first thought would be to do a narrow framing border of the lighter green. Then either the darker green or the orange to build up the border to be the size of the cornerstones. Either would look good, it just depends on which one you prefer. If you do the narrow light green framing, you could even do the 'regular' border in white and it would morph into the triangles in the corners. I love this site because you always see quilts that have colors you would not normally put together and then you see then and realize how nice they look! Good job!

I really like Tartan's idea!

it's very pretty... so many great suggestions. Please keep us posted on what you decide, can't wait to see it finished.

I really like the idea of vines and flowers for the border. Perhaps use just the colors in the vines and flowers that you already have in the quilt. That would complement all of the angular lines in the blocks and not add any more angular lines. I like your quilt and the colors you used. It is very nicely done. I would bind it in the darker blue if possible (meaning that you have enough of it.) I will look forward to seeing your final decision.

How about a 1-2 inch white border and then the 6.5 inch border with the corner stones?
You could use a medium blue similar to the blue in the body of the quilt.

I can hardly believe seeing your new thread. Just yesterday I finished the exact same mystery quilt with my guild in Calgary! Mine is finished a year late, but that's beside the point :) I too was stuck on the borders wanting to use up what I had already used in the quilt. Here are 2 photos of what I ended up doing. I hope it gives you an idea. I love the colours you used. Aren't mystery quilts just amazing when seen side by side?

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Also, I flipped the border corner blocks because I thought it would be very difficult to make the points (the 3 little white triangles) nice when attaching a binding over them.

Melanie,
I just commented on your post about finishing this mystery quilt a year late, that it was like mine. Then I come here and see you noticed the same thing! I chose this finish for the outer borders because it used fabric I had. I turned the cornerstones from the directions my pattern said to do them because I liked how it looked like this better.
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Your border turned out great! I know what you mean, I really wanted to use as much fabric as possible that I already had in the quilt. The small squares that you used compliment the quilt pattern perfectly.