Stuck and need help please
 

Hi everyone,
I'm making a small wallhanging for my lil granddaughter who loves all things ocean, especially dolphins. I bought this Stephanie Pippen pre printed dolphin panel, and I have the stitching completed. I was hoping the small white border would pop with the white of the stitched dolphins. It took me forever to even come up with these 2 border fabrics, and now I don't think I like them together.
Opinions please, and alternative suggestions are welcome too.
Also, at 1st I layered it with the batting and backing...intending to have the dolphin stitches be part of the quilting. Tried it, didn't like it, so did as the instructions suggest and stitched just the panel only. So now what would look good for the quilting portion?
Thanks in advance!
Regards,
Kif
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First--what beautiful stitching! What would you think about replacing the white border with (a wider) one in a batik that combines the blue you have with lighter blues and especially aqua? Rather like the background to your photo.

Wow! I really love the dolphins!

I agree. The white doesn't really do anything. There are a few options I'd consider depending on your goal:
1) Grey sashing. This would create a very tranquil, muted look that would recede compared to the blue. I would probably quilt grey sashing in grey so the dolphins get more attention.
2) Pick something that matches that turquoise/robin's egg blue in your batik & use that. It will give it a consistent ocean look. Maybe try quilting that with a 40wt white thread with little waves or such.
3) Lime green. Analogous colorway. This would make a strong frame for your dolphins. I would definitely only quilt with a matching thread, if at all, as the color is already very strong on its own. Would really make for a playful, colorful quilt.
4) Fiery red-orange. Complementary color. Honestly, I probably wouldn't do the whole thing in red-orange, but maybe if you wanted to spice up the grey a bit, you could add red-orange cornerstones to add a bit of pop.

And actually, I'm not entirely convinced that bright white is out of the question. The texture of the white fabric you chose is competing with the texture of the batik. Picking a solid bright white Kona solid might actually look okay ... and if it needs to be toned down, you could always add some wavy lines in different shades of blue to break it up a bit.

I'm also thinking that if your dolphin block on point, that might add more visual interest. Plus, quilting around the dolphins in a matching blue (or as close to matching as you can get with a batik) would help the dolphins stand out more ... or maybe even consider a faux trapunto treatment on the dolphins to give them a bit of dimension. They just really blend it a lot at the moment.

Happy quilting!

Thank you, thank you, thank you ladies! Wow...Lots of wonderful ideas, and I'm so grateful you took time to give me feedback. I'll head back into Grammy's Fabric Shop and see what I come up with that goes with your ideas.
I will post pics of alternate options, and if y'all have time, I'd love more input.
Regards,
K

Take your quilt with you to grammys fabric shop and show case their fabrics with your quilt. ......or did I state the obvious?

Those dolphins are beautiful. Whatever you end up with....your granddaughter is going to love this!!! Perfect for ocean loving girl!

Dina

Lol! I should clarify Grammy's Fabric Shop is actually my fabric room. Um, literally. When she was about 3 my lil gd asked if I had any Nemo fabric? I told her I'd need to check. She replied, "Can we go look in your fabric shop Grammy?". Out of the mouths of babes...
Thank you all for the ideas and the nice comments. I wish I didn't make all of this so hard on myself!
K

ok, let's think sea. How about replacing the white border with a coral or pink jellyfish color. For the dolphins, how about stitching either a whorl coming out of their blow hole, or stitching sea green waves underneath?

OK, I am odd woman out. I like the borders you have used.

For the quilting, below the dolphins outline fish, above outline birds, or put the birds in the outer border. Or outline stitch the dolphins, but in a blue very similar to the background.

Stuck, need help redux
 

Hi all,
Okay, here's the new choices... auditioning 4 different fabrics around my Sylvia Pippen dolphin panel. The outer border I like. Opinions/ideas on which one for the inner border. Or a combo maybe? The bottom one reminds me of seaweed.
Thanks for all of your prior suggestions as well, I definitely nixed the white. I liked the suggestion of Orange, but the 1 color my granddaughter isn't fond of is orange.
Regards,
Kif