Ideas for a really unique border?
 

Any ideas for a unique border???

This is my One Block Wonder (aka kaleidoscope) quilt top which has lived most of its 12 years of existence in and out of a pizza box hoping not to always be a UFO!


For me, the hardest part of the whole quilt was arranging the darned blocks! Cutting and sewing was easy - trying to get them to at least look like they were playing together in some kind of arrangement... not so much!

When they were still only blocks i periodically felt guilty about them not being a quilt. When the guilt was too much, every once in a while i would throw the blocks on the design wall or on the floor and try to arrange them. They always ended up back in the box.


One New Years Eve when it was snowing and blowing so hard that i could barely find the house again while out walking the dogs, i decided to try arranging the blocks one more time. I already decided that i wasnt making any more blocks for this one because it was so hard to come up with a layout. I was resolved to just work with what i had - maybe making a smaller quilt or a wallhanging. Anyway, it must have been the most boring New Year’s Eve of my life (or maybe the 51st time to arrange the blocks was the charm) but i finally stumbled upon something i could live with! �� The blocks are now - finally - a quilt top!


I was wondering if anyone here might have any ideas for a really unique border for this quilt??? The customary border i have seen for this type of quilt consists of 6” borders on all four sides of the quilt of the “mother” yardage to showcase the source of the blocks. While I dont think there is anything wrong with that, i am really leaning toward coming up with a really special border for a quilt whose completion has eluded me for so long! I guess what i’m saying is that i am hoping for this quilt to go out with a bang instead of a whimper! ��


Just because i think it “should” i probably need to include enough of the “mother” fabric to be recognizable, but maybe not overdo it. In consideration of the need for some kind of spark to make things “pop” i shopped for additional accent yardage in most of the key colors. The quilt itself reads a little dark, but so did the original fabric i cut the blocks from.

Somewhere in my mind (a dangerous place) i have a lot of ideas right now but not much direction! Everything ranging from a wider border on just one side, to splitting the border on top/left and bottom/right into separate regions of something or other!


The borders could include some/all of the accent fabric, the “mother” fabric, and maybe small fussy cut blocks on point of the bear, eagle, etc. Any ideas???

The “mother” fabric is from the Moda National Park Series (Yosemite). My husband and sons are wildlife enthusiasts and it just seemed to be a good idea at the time. Hopefully they have all forgotten about it by now and until i can come up with something to get it outta the pizza box one last time!

You all are so creative and accomplished (and encouraging) i was hoping maybe you wouldnt mind if i bounced this off of you... All of the dark blocks made it really hard to arrange but i did the best i could. I do like making the blocks, but next time im going with the psychedelic talking flowers and be done with it!!!

Thank you in advance for any suggestions that come to mind ��

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I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions for you on the borders for the quilt, but I wanted to say that I think you did a great job of putting the blocks together. I googled images for one block wonder quilts and there are a lot of ideas out there that are more than simply a border of the mother fabric. I saw one where there were blocks to the side of the main images in the mother fabric (what would be your bear, eagle, etc) and then an asymmetrical layout of two narrow borders in a black background. It looked pretty cool.

Thank you so much, Tish - i‘m not much of a “googler” 😊 but sure will try to look that up!

When I look at your fabric choices, the dark green calls out to me. And by the way, when I've done these One Block Wonders before, I've used the original fabric to make a pillow sham. I do enjoy seeing the original with the quilt.

You're a hoot. I enjoyed your post as much as your photos. It made me giggle, and all your references to that pizza box made me think of a unique--albeit, terribly goofy-- idea for your border.

Wanna hear my goofy idea? Pizza slices and pepperoni circles. You've got all those triangles that look like pizza slices. You've got the colors of pizza toppings: bacon, ground beef, spinach, tomato sauce, mozzarella, pineapple, mushrooms....

Okay, I'm being silly. You've got that image stuck in my head and right now I'm hungry enough to live 12 years myself inside a pizza box.

Time to think "outside the box." haha.

All kidding aside, I'm thinking the sky blue border first (narrow) then wide golden border to brighten the whole thing up and draw the eye from inside to outside, and bind in forest.

Thank you so much, zozee! Well, sometimes ya just gotta figure out a way to laugh or you’ll cry your eyes out! Believe me, most of the time this quilt was no laughing matter... when i started making the blocks, at first i was like “what were you thinking”??? But turns out the cutting and sewing was a piece of cake compared to getting it laid out.

I like your idea to start out with the blue, gold, etc and then just build out from there. Maybe i can jump start myself by making a few of the animal blocks first and then reverse-engineer back to the border to see where they might fit? I work backwards a lot when i’m making a quilt, so i must just like doing everything the hard way!

As for everything else you said... you just made me hungry!!!

Maybe just lay long pieces of various colors around the perimeter to see what pops?

I am the queen of Complicating Matters. If there's a way to make something simple just the opposite, I'll figure it out.

AprilM ... so glad that you persisted, as the result is spectacular!
As for a border ... I'd be tempted to go borderless, framing it up with a simple binding.
No idea what size it is now, but if too small, it would be a lovely wall hanging.

Yes, the mother fabric is nice to include as a reference, but that does not have to be on the front.
By chance do you have enough, to use it for the backing? or part of it?

What a nice collection of go-with fabrics you have assembled.
If not for this quilt, they could be used for another quilt, that coordinated with the OBW!

Oh that’s just gorgeous!!!! I really love OBW’s & Yours is wonderful! This may sound crazy but...what about a 1.5” inner border of a narrow stripe on an angle? Does that make sense?Lets just say I can totally picture it and it’s amazing! At least what I see is:) Please let us know what you decide on.

I'm sure you are so glad to have it together! Congrats. What about one of your accent colors as the main border, using a fussy cut bear or something as cornerstones in the border. Simple, but still effective. Or maybe a couple different accent fabrics in a thinner width for a multi-border feel, that would total the size of a single cornerstone

Love your quilt!

I, too, was looking for a new border idea. I am learning soo much from this site, Like how inexperienced I am. This is probably an ancient pattern, but it caught my eye. I wanna try it
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First, these fabrics look wonderful in your quilt. The design looks like an over shot of a forest, trees, ponds, and ice-cap mountains.

What size is the quilt? I love the two pointed ends and think they would work into a great finish. Do you keep those or cut them straight?

Of course, those dimple dots just get me every time. But that top gold fabric would be my choice.

Have fun with the decisions!

I am drawn to the lighter tan shades, since they would provide more contrast. and I like the bear .... are you into applique? You could do a simple border in the tan, then in lower left corner, applique a bear that sits on both the border and the main part, so it appears to be looking into the "scene"

I appreciate having the border being from the "mother fabric" of a OBW so there is reference to what can be done with it.
The blocks themselves create a lot of movement. If you are determined to not use the simple yardage as border, how about using the solids that you showed as a piano key border after putting a narrow stopper border around the blocks?

Thank you for all the encouragement and great ideas everybody!!! I just measured it and its kind of a disappointing 35 1/2” x 52” (i did plan to square up the top and bottom just cuz i dont wanna go through binding the zigzag!).

So... i guess unless i figure out something drastic i havent considered yet, it will be just a wallhanging. I tend to shy away from adding borders “just to make it bigger” if the addition doesnt really add to the overall effect of the quilt. For some reason i always think of that on the order of “lets have a quilt show just so we can have vendors”! Yep, i have said that facetiously cuz a quilt show is so much work (we have a small guild) - i vote for a shop hop or getting together a bus load of guild members and attending another large guild’s show instead!

I’m glad RhondaK asked about the size of the quilt because i honestly hadnt dared to measure it until this morning! Hmmmm... kinda puny - you would have thought with all that work it would have amounted to something larger! But then, maybe if i just make a decision to tell myself it’s ok for it to be a wallhanging instead of the actual quilt i had planned then it will be a little easier for me to think a little more creatively! What would you do (besides bothering to measure it a long time ago!)???

It has been forever since i started this project. This morning when i went to measure the quilt i realized exactly how much leftover yardage of the “mother” fabric i had - so yes, my intent was actually to make it bigger (which means making a lot more blocks and i swore i wouldnt do that). And i could - but i probably wont - cuz i think i really am ready to “put some lipstick on this pig and move on”! Hey, i live in Iowa - and although i dont farm, its part of the vernacular!

So, in light of the now known fact of the size... would you handle the finish differently knowing it will probably live on a wall (in front of God and everybody) as opposed to living out its life in relative obscurity resting in peace on a bed in the guest bedroom?

I would not do a 'special' or 'fancy' border. I would do a basic either dark green or chocolate brown border to frame this great top. I think I might leave the triangle parts on the side and border around then and then have a straight border at top and bottom (still thinking about that). But, the goal would be to just let this work stand out, not compete with it. And perhaps use the aimal piece in the backing. I am really big on doing some sort of piecing to the backs of my quilts rather than plain backing fabric. This piece would look great as a large center panel with a couple wide borders around it - maybe a medium brown, medium green, then dark brown and dark green. Can't wait to see the pics of your choices.

Zozee came up with the same idea I had. "All kidding aside, I'm thinking the sky blue border first (narrow) then wide golden border to brighten the whole thing up and draw the eye from inside to outside, and bind in forest."
It's a stunning design but it's dark and the first thing I noticed was how happy my eyes were to see the blue. so, not too much...a small flange almost and then onto the gold. and keep it simple. you don't need anything 'different' at this point. You need it done so you can free yourself for more creative projects. But remember, your time with this little quilt hasn't been wasted. Each time you've wrestled with it and puzzled over it, you've deepened your creativity and opened up a bit more as an artist. This was not time wasted!!

lots of different border styles on this pininterest page: https://www.pinterest.com/quiltinspi...autologin=true

love your obw!

I agree, just a simple border. I would use the original fabric as backing - this allows people to admire your quilt and then look at the back to see the original fabric ("turning it over to look at the answers"). A OBW is a colleague and I wouldn't combine it with "normal" blocks.

I'm totally with you on the "not adding borders just to make it bigger" front.
Sometimes borders work and make sense... and sometimes they can destroy what is a nice quilt.

While you are disappointed in the size ... do you have a wall that this could fit on?

About the zig-zag binding issue ... you could somewhat deal with that by adding "blackish" tris to the bottom, in the same manner as your kaleido hexies were done. Then chop off the excess for a straight edge to bind. I'd then go for a wide binding all round (1-1/2"-2"?) which would then give you a nice "frame" to show off this amazing piece.

To explain "blackish" ... dark brown, dark green or even black. Not seeing it IRL, it's hard to know what would be best, but the concept I am going for is "reads black", so that the colours of the quilt can float above, yet the dark only frames and somewhat disappears from the viewers vision and not compete with the OBW.

Good Luck!

You know... “simplicity” does indeed have its virtues - thank you all for being so clear-headed about it! I tend to overthink some things (ok, well a lot of things) to my own detriment at times!

To be honest, i think i was feeling i had miserably failed at the whole thing. I even wondered if i should just turn it into a pillow or a dog bed (gasp!) - yes, but it was better than just throwing it out, which i also considered. As it turned out it is even too small for a lap quilt. Its too dark, too small, took too long too get to this point, etc.

I just found the other 20+ blocks i made - they were all dark and “muddy” which was why i didnt use them in the first place and didnt wanna make more. I might take those apart and mix them up for a wall hanging since they are equilateral triangles - maybe i will piece them into the back - i kinda like that idea!

Anyway, my thinking was maybe if i just could pull off something half-spectacular on the finish that somehow i would feel a little better about all the hours spent obsessing about what i did wrong with the project.

I really respect every last one of your suggestions about this and i very much thank you for putting them out there in an encouraging and positive manner!

So... as they say “less is more” and “perfect is the enemy of done”!

Because, as others have mentioned - that sky blue does appear to be the “spark” here - i might do a little more shopping to find a different blue as a more suitable and brighter accent for the border?

An assessment of the blue i have does seem to indicate that it really does lean to the dark end of the spectrum again and i would like not to reinforce that darkness if i can avoid it. But maybe the blue i have - which is from the same fabric line as the “mother” fabric might work great as a binding? Maybe if i have enough i could cut the binding on the bias to give it a little bit of a striped effect without being too overwhelming - comments or suggestions?

Secondarily i was hoping to maybe pull out a little of the rust. although i havent done a flange binding before might this be a good application for it?

I have done piping but i prefer to do that on smaller projects because even cut as an inch (leaving a finished 1/4” piping) sometimes leaves me wishing i hadnt used it at all. I think people just cant seem to refrain from touching and handling it (non-quilters) and i always feel like i need to iron it down flat again after the offenders go home! I am willing to admit that this may well be a problem that i need to “get over”!

So where would you fit the gold into this scenario? Would you favor leaving something above out in favor of including it? Or should that be the border touching the quilt? If the border - would you think 3” finished would be sufficient, or?

I like the idea of using the “mother” yardage on the back. My applique skills are nothing to be proud of, but maybe i could not get in too much trouble by adding the bear in that manner to the label - i guess i could live with that!

Thank you all so much - bouncing this off of you really has really helped me get through all the static! I’m going to take a photo of possible binding and border as above to see if anything bad pops out at ya!

You guys are the best!!!

Ok... here is a folded fabric “audition” of where i’m at...

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Like Rhonda, I like the pointy ends. How about squaring up the top and keeping the points on the bottom and putting a facing on the bottom instead of binding? Absolute gorgeous quilt, no matter what you do with it.

Here is how I did my borders, using some of the "mother" fabric and some scraps that were smaller than the original triangles.
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You might think about this option for those pointy ends.

Layer the quilt and quilt as desired. Cut a piece of fabric across the width maybe 6- 8 inches. I can't tell how deep those points are on the end. I would cut this fabric one inch wider and trim down after stitching

Hem the cross width at 1/2 inch with a double fold. Hem one edge only.

Lay it on top of completed and trimmed quilt. Fabric will be right side together. The hem edge lays towards the center of the runner.

Stitch along the points and down the sides. Then trim the fabric points.

You then turn right sides out. Hand stitch down the hemmed edge on the back.

Ok. This may be way off the mark. Admitidly I've not read every word of every post. I would square up your ends with some of the golds/tans with half hexies or whatever shape that would be. Or just chop of your points - your choice, obviously. I would then (if you have enough) do a thin border of the blue sky/cloud fabric. I think your quilt is fabulous but tends to be a bit dark so I would want to brighten it a bit. After the thin blue 'stop' border, I would go with the tans/golds that you have for an additional border.

I think a thin border of the blue would highlight that fabric in the quilt and make it 'pop' a bit more. And the tans/golds would brighten the whole quilt. If you did a 1" blue inner border and then a 3" outer border it would not increase the overall size that much since that does not seem to be your goal. But you could easily increase those sizes if you have enough of those fabrics to get to whatever size you want. Perhaps a nice sofa throw if too large for a wall hanging?? I don't have nearly that much wall space in my house, lol!

Good luck. You've done an amazing job so far!

Try this since you just want it done and need it brighter:

Square off the points.
Add the same sky blue that's in your quilt. (Repetition is a great design element--don't add a new blue.) Make that sky blue 4" wide as a single border --not to make it bigger but to brighten up the darkness and keep it simple.

You want to move on, right? One border, not two. Then bind it with your multicolored forest fabric. (It has all the colors in it, unlike your multicolor stripe.)

Call it done.

April, I think your quilt is beautiful. And I agree that the design is the hardest part of this quilt. Here is what I did with mine. It was supposed to be a wallhanging, so I "framed" it as if it was a picture. I think your idea of a gold "matte" and then a darker "frame" is great. Mine turned out to be so big that I didn't have a wall large enough, and it hangs over a railing now. Your blue hexagons remind me of morning glory flowers. So pretty.

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This is the perfect example of a quilt that might need coping strips. You want the ribbons to be in the right places at all the corners, so the border just inside the ribbons needs to be the correct width to accommodate that.