Friday, February 18, 2022

Violet quilt border wrangling

      My friend sent me a pin of a border that resembled a ribbon. I used graph paper and figured out a block that would finish at 4". The pin only had a section of it, not how it turned corners. Soon, I realized I was in trouble in the corners. I tried to use a HST of white and the light purple batik (Cairo), but the upper left corner looked awful. I tried the dark batik used in the border, but looked like holes.
     I looked at some butterfly patterns I had and found one I used to make a bunch of blocks (21) that are still not sewed into something. That block was 6 x 7. I tried to use a proportion wheel to find out what sizes I needed to cut the pieces. Trial 1 was a fail- too small. Trial 2 needed to have thin borders sewn around it to fit. Then I made three more. Those little blocks are a real trip to sew.




     The backing is sewn and as soon as I get the quilt that is on the longarm done, this one is going to be next.
     By the way, I had a hard time finding the right light purple batik for the border. I searched everywhere and found this one, Cairo, on Batiks Plus. I ordered two different light purples (Orchid) and Cairo was the winner. I had never ordered from them, but was very happy with their service. They put each yard of batik in a plastic bag that was labeled on the bag and on the fabric. They also included a free fat quarter of batik and shipped timely. I had to pay a premium for Cairo because it is a discontinued fabric, but it was the right color.
     As is my practice, I browsed the clearance section and found a Hoffman digital floral print I had admired years ago for $5 a yard! I bought enough for 8 repeats for a One block Wonder octagon design.

9 comments:

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

VERY NICE!! The light purple batik is PERFECT! And those little blocks are really cute - ;))

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

Violet is going to love this quilt!

Joyce Carter said...

I love the borders! They add a special touch to the quilt.

Pat McDonald said...

Love the ribbon border, have used it in one of my Granddaughters Quilts. Beautiful Quilt.

Gene Black said...

That border looks great on the quilt. The butterfly corners really add to the design.

Barb said...

the ribbon border and letters are the perfect touch on this sweet quilt.

O'Quilts said...

Very nice..Good for you..xoxo

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

PERFECT!!! that is an amazing border and its just perfect!!

Vicki W said...

Absolutely perfect border solution!