hello all I am stumped! I bought this panel for a christmas gift for my father and want to make a lap quilt for him out of it but I dont know what type of blocks to put around the different panel squares? any ideas? there is a pattern that goes with this panel but you have to buy about a yard of 5 other fabrics and that is beyond my budget for one christmas gift.

That's a cute panel.

You can use the panel as the center and then keep adding borders until you get the size you want. You can choose fabric colors the bring out the colors in the panel. Like a barn red, black, greens, tans, etc. Love this panel:)

this was my thought, as well

This is a nice panel. I look forward to seeing what you do with it.

The borders are a good idea, if it were me I wouldnt want anything overwhelming the panel or detracting from it. Another possibility would be a thin then just a little wider inner borders then simple 4 or 9 patch blocks and an outer border depending on the size of the panel or flying geese blocks, but simple and somewhat Americana to go with the style of the panel.

How about some stars.

You could have some blocks in a border - maybe the corners and 1 or 2 on each side.

At the moment, I am not sure. Have to think about it for a bit. A few years ago, I did six different quilts for Christmas. Each of them started with a panel. Some more simple while others more complex. No matter what I did, they turned out great. Will have to dig up the pics and let you see. I know one of the quilts had Court House style blocks and one had a different layout for a 9 patch. No matter what I put with the panels, they seemed to work great.

It is going to be great, that is a fun panel to work with. I wish my dad was still alive to make a quilt for.