They made it for you as a gift,so why change it.

How about a pretty little blue flower print?

my thought are: it was made by an Amish woman. They do not use printed fabric on their quilts as they are plain people. Look at their clothing... they don't even use buttons or zippers.

However, the quilting on bed quilts can be extremely heavy and very intricate. I would never cut down the borders. I would have somebody quilt very wide feathers in the borders, and in the blocks quilt 8 point stars, fruit bowls, feathered circles... all in black thread. It is lovely as it is, even unquilted. I would treasure a quilt top from an Amish woman. I would even hand quilt it. That is what they truly deserve.

Please check out books on the Amish, and Amish quilting before you go about turning what truly is a lovely blank canvas into a nightmare.

Anita in Northfield, MN

I like your idea of reducing the border, but what you do depends on your skills and how much effort you want to put into it. As has been said, you have a blank canvas and the possibilities are endless. If you want to keep it Amish, stay with solids. If you don't care about that, choose nearly any fabrics you like. Treat what you have the same as if it were white, except that if you add really light colors might need an interfacing to keep the background from showing through. Have fun with it.

That is exactly what I think! Put applique of your favorite things in the blocks. You will enjoy it, this is only a blank canvas for you to work on. I would love to have one like this to play with!

I like JJean's idea. I would try to maintain the simplicity of the gift. The odds of seeing this family again are probably pretty good since they are good enough friends to give you such a beautiful quilt. Their feelings might be hurt if you added applique, etc. to it. You could ask their advice on how to best finish it. They might be thrilled to offer suggestions.

I agree with JJean , it is amish and simplicity is thier style...but...it is your quilt right?...so in that case make it yours in any way you think represents your style.

I think that would be a great idea. Find a great theme of patterns and applique them on. Then match up the back to whatever theme you choose for the front.

It is a gift,however you could add your own touch by appliquéing some plain colorful geometric patterns in keeping with the simplicity. My opinion....

All those blank squares are design walls! do you applique? Have an embroidery machine? Redwork patterns done in whitework?

Some pretty floral for the backing would spice it up.