Anette D. Posted October 22, 2012 Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 A customer brought me a Lunchbox Quilt. The "center" of the quilt consists of small blocks, each is embroider-appliqued. I know what I want to do with those blocks. BUT, I have a problem with the "borders." The quilt measures 110 inches wide and 103 inches long. The top and bottom "borders" measure 110 inches wide and 23 inches high. The side borders are 3 inches wide and 57 inches long. I'd like to provide a picture, but I do not have the means to do that yet. The four borders consist of gingerbread men and Christmas tree cookies on a red background. I don't do feathers well. But, what can I do with such a large space (110 by 23). Should I divided it into sections and quilt each as a separate block? Should I do an overall? Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks in advance, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zora Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 You can divide the border as if it were separate borders, two 7 inches and one 8 inches. Its hard to know what to do without seeing the quilt, but maybe straight lines in two of the sections, and a swirly fill, like paisleys in the center section. If you do straight lines in the top/bottom border, do them in the side border, too. If the border print is very busy, a large paisley fill in the whole 23 inches is fine. If its terribly busy, just meander the thing. Why people do these things is beyond me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Those deep top and bottom borders could be quilted with an overall design if the print is random. My favorite Christmas-y overall is a ribbon meander with bows tossed in here and there. Another idea would be a meander with five-pointed stars. Very nice in gold thread. If the print is in rows or straight lines, stitch to separate the rows and then stitch a casual outline around the cookies. Separating the border into squares or triangles is a great idea if you want a more formal border. As you said, you could stitch each as a separate block. For other seasonal filler ideas, go online and find holiday pantos. You'll see ways to stitch continuous line pinecones, Christmas trees, snowflakes, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 All good ideas so far. I love big borders. You could divide them up and quilt block designs that work with the quilt but just give the outline of the block. Really hard to tell without seeing the quilt but I'll bet you'll come up with the perfect solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primitive1 Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 I agree with all of the above advice, I recently had several large quilts with large borders (made to fit a bed when the quilt was not really big enough) and one of them I did divide up and the other I did an all over..it depends on the fabric and whether what you quilt will be seen well or not. Another option would be to crosshatch all the borders as it kind of frames the center of the quilt. Maybe she intends to make the large border to go under pillows or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustSewSimple Posted October 23, 2012 Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Now, Anette, you gotta figure out the picture thing cause we gotta see this baby once you get it quilted!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anette D. Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 You can divide the border as if it were separate borders, two 7 inches and one 8 inches. Its hard to know what to do without seeing the quilt, but maybe straight lines in two of the sections, and a swirly fill, like paisleys in the center section. If you do straight lines in the top/bottom border, do them in the side border, too. If the border print is very busy, a large paisley fill in the whole 23 inches is fine. If its terribly busy, just meander the thing. Why people do these things is beyond me. It is very busy. I was wondering if a meander would be OK. Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anette D. Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Those deep top and bottom borders could be quilted with an overall design if the print is random. My favorite Christmas-y overall is a ribbon meander with bows tossed in here and there. Another idea would be a meander with five-pointed stars. Very nice in gold thread. If the print is in rows or straight lines, stitch to separate the rows and then stitch a casual outline around the cookies. Separating the border into squares or triangles is a great idea if you want a more formal border. As you said, you could stitch each as a separate block. For other seasonal filler ideas, go online and find holiday pantos. You'll see ways to stitch continuous line pinecones, Christmas trees, snowflakes, etc. The print is very much random. I like the idea of a ribbon meander. I'll have to search for a ribbon. Stars would be OK also. This quilt looks formal in the middle; however, the print in the "borders" is anything but formal. I'm going to keep the entire thing informal. Thanks for your ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anette D. Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 All good ideas so far. I love big borders. You could divide them up and quilt block designs that work with the quilt but just give the outline of the block. Really hard to tell without seeing the quilt but I'll bet you'll come up with the perfect solution. I agree with all of the above advice, I recently had several large quilts with large borders (made to fit a bed when the quilt was not really big enough) and one of them I did divide up and the other I did an all over..it depends on the fabric and whether what you quilt will be seen well or not. Another option would be to crosshatch all the borders as it kind of frames the center of the quilt. Maybe she intends to make the large border to go under pillows or something. This is my first really big border (23 inches-yikes). I don't think much of what I do will be seen on the front or the back (busy print there also). I believe the top is to go under or over pillows. I guess the bottom border is to cover part of the bed and then hand down. She told me she used each embroider-applique twice (as compared with the quilt size in the pattern) and I think she didn't want to do a third set. Thank you both for your ideas, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anette D. Posted October 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2012 Now, Anette, you gotta figure out the picture thing cause we gotta see this baby once you get it quilted!!! Sylvia, I would like nothing more. I guess I just have to take the time to figure it out. I hope I do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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