I tried drawing an echo of the leaves/vine on the braid..I love the idea too...but then it occurred to me that those appliqued leaves are so fantastic (I didn't do them..a friend did them in the Round Robin) that I don't want to really draw any attention away from them...so I'm back to thinking I will use KISS and SITD on the braid patches and then a slight curve 1/4" inside to give it a more "woven" look. I AM using feathers in the outside border...so they will be making a repeat appearance. Thank you all for your compliments and ideas!

Oh wow, that is gorgeous! I am in awe of all you free-motion quilters out there. The words FMQ just gets me to sweating and shaking!!

Beautiful quilt. :):):)

I love what you've done so far! My suggestion for the braid - repeat a version of the feathers you did in the burgundy, cream and green border. It would 'tie' them together, rather than having each border being completely different from the rest.

The quilt top is gorgeous, one of the prettiest IRRs I've seen - it looks more like a designed quilt than an IRR, and that's why I think it would be nice to have the various borders relate to each other.

edit: I just read some more of the thread and looked at your drawings - love the alternating feathers and the dogwood-looking flowers in the covnerstones! Also, the diamonds in the stripped border.

Funny Joanne....your suggestion was 1 of my 2 designs that I was choosing from! Thanks for the compliments...I agree with you, I can't tell you how happy I was to get it home and see what fantastic work the IRR group did for me...they are wonderful friends, don't ya' think???

Reminds me to thank YOU again, because you are one of the several QB friends who have 2 blocks in my Christmas Dear Jane! Did you see the picture I posted of it last Dec? That was a fun exchange.

This is awesome. Its truely a work of art. I agree the quilting is the real fun part.

Your quilting is beautiful. whatever you decide on will look lovely.

Holy Moly! That is beautiful. Can't believe that is all freehand! :thumbup:

It looks beautiful to me. Looks like a lot of work. I like the braid it makes it look more like a basket handle. Sue