What a Difference a Border Makes!

Which do you like better? I'd really like opinions. I think the lighter blue (+rainbow+navy) border makes that one brighter and more suited to a kid and the one with the navy (+saffron yellow) border looks a bit more sophisticated, like it might even work as a lap quilt for an adult who likes lots of color. What do you think?

So today I got started organizing my stash and instead, i finished two UFOs: i just added borders to these two small quilts. I think the different borders--light blue and navy--make the quilts look totally different. I didn't *really* have to piece with that starry sky blue, but i like that look: the feeling that someone was making do with what they had, something you often see in my grandmother's scrap quilts. Also i love that starry fabric and didn't have enough for the whole border, so I guess I was making do. I also love the narrow rainbow border on the top one. Wish I'd made it a teensy bit wider.

One of the Dirt Friendly quilts sewn together with its borders on. It's meant to be a sturdy quilt for a kid to play on or cuddle with.

I don't have pictures of most of the quilts I've made--some of which are now across the ocean--but I hope to eventually and will post them.

I'm also working on a Sister's Choice from Bonnie Hunter's site and an Amish Dahlia that I found on quilterscache.com.

Upcoming projects:

• a Grandmother's Fan for my nephew Marcos, the absolute doll (OK, 6'4" doll!) who brought me two duffle bags full of fabric when he visited me in Germany last Summer.

• a batik Bear Paw for Alex
  

• a brown and blue and cream batik shoofly for a young couple who live in former East Germany.

• the blue and white swap sampler quilt I'm doing with my sister Lisa and cousin Norma
  

• a blue and yellow quilt for my friend Ann's daughter, Franny

• a purple and green Friendship Star quilt for my friend Laura Ann.

• Going Away to College Quilts for a couple of other friend's kids
  

• a Wedding Quilt--just simple squares--for Joy in Prague/Singapore; an old buddy from Tokyo.

These are blocks for a blue and white sampler quilt, so actually, I will only be keeping one of each and sending the others off to my sister Lisa and cousin Norma for their samplers. I had fun making the sailing ships with different batiks. I tried to imitate how the sky can appear to be a deeper blue higher up. I think they look better if you squint at them.

I'm still debating whether to make my sampler only stars, as Lisa is doing, or to just have everything but the kitchen sink, e.g. flight of doves, even maybe a checkerboard.

I'm inclined to make some smaller format blocks and augment them, log cabin style, so they are 10", which would allow for more variety in size of stars, as well as maybe more interesting backgrounds. Actually, this is already what i did with the ship blocks, in case you hadn't noticed. I like the ships better with a bit of water and sky around them.

This is a quilt I made for the "Dirt Friendly Challenge." Actually, it turned out to be two smaller quilts, for little kids. I used Bonnie Hunter's pattern for Hidden Spools (see www.quiltville.com). It's easier than it may look. I'd like to try it with a neutral background sometime, but i guess this is better for hiding dirt.

The quilt in the post below is one I made for my Auntie Ada.


The tree was taken in a public garden in Oxford last Spring. Its six-sided bench reminded me of one my dad built around an old elm tree in our front yard.

You Are An INFP

The Idealist You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world. Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships. It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close. But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop. You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist.

What's Your Personality Type?