collettakay

My first quilt to get back into the swing of quilting was going to be a Disappearing 9 Patch. Then I realized that my cousin is having a baby girl toward the end of December and I'll need a gift! So I decided to make an I-Spy quilt because my daughter loved hers when she was little.

I ordered the I-Spy squares and they are on the way to me. Now, however, I have to decide if I should put a border around the squares or not. If so, what pattern/type? Suggestions are most welcome! TIA!

bkay

I prefer the bordered squares, I think they are more attractive. That's just my opinion, though.

I participated in a couple of I Spy swap groups.The one on groups.io usually did a bordered swap they call happy blocks once a year. To make it easy, you lay out your squares so that they alternate. If you start with putting the short side on the bottom, then the next one, you put the short side on the side, then you don't have to match any seams, except on the rows.

I made a disappearing 9 patch for my first quilt, but didn't get to use the layout I preferred because the blocks weren't totally square, so had to put some on the edges.

My next quilt was an I spy quilt and wanted it to look like my prefered D9P layout, but didn't want to jack with the making it, cutting it up and then sewing it back together. So I just made it like cornerstones.

After that, I started to use my swapped "happy blocks" from the groups,io swaps and here are a couple of those.

bkay

wesing

I would wait until the quilt top is together, then see if you need to make it bigger. We like baby quilts that are bigger for tummy time, car rides, and drag around, so we like them to be up to 60” long. Our I-Spy kits make a 60” long quilt so we don’t need borders. You may find that you like the size your kit makes and finish without borders.

quiltingcandy

I have made several I Spy quilts - the ones with just the basic 4 or 5 inch squares I sewed them together in rows then made a 2.5 or 3 inch border to give it a more finished appearance. The other I Spy quilts were 3 inch hexagons with the solid fabric triangles so it's easier to see the different items. I always make at least 2 of each item so the child can look for the match. I love hexagons.

Maire

I have done many I sPy Quilts, at first I used a 4 inch wide border of white on white & with lettering in machine would write ISpy a dog, or I Spy a Car, etc, whatever was in the quilt. Then I stopped the border
R, added more squares, some the same. On the label I write “play I Spy & Match 2, no borders but a rick rack stitch between each block. I get many requests, all word of mouth. I’m working on 3 now.