I am taking all this in because I have that T 2 T quilt on the back burner but it is so loudly calling my name. It is still summer trips, visitors, Super Seminar Rochester and my garden keeping me out of the sewing room. So now I am thinking about the proportions of my borders. All I was thinking about was making it be enought so that it will cover the mattress on my bed. Now I had some other things to consider. Hmm.... Anybody have advice how to balance the asthetics with the functional considerations here? I am also thinking back on the quilts I've made with the border being the width it was because that's how much fabric I had to do the job. Live and learn. The more you make the more you learn.

Rita, No I didn't post a photo of my Trash to Treasure quilt yet, I haven't taken its photo yet . I'll try to get that done in a couple of days. My design wall is too small for it!

Kathy

crocus999 wrote:
Terri, thanks for posting this link. It is just what I needed. My quilting friends and I are heading down to Dingle in Kerry next month to sash and bind our applique quilts. We did quilt as you go and I was trying to figure out what size sashing to put on them as they are 15" blocks. Now I know. I have saved that Fibonacci chart to my desktop for future reference.

Abybrian, I would love to see a photo of your one block wonder quilt when you are done. Kathy did you post a photo of your T2T quilt in the show and tell area? I will go and have a look now.

I am cutting out the borders today. The One Block Wonder doesn't read as a block size and its a very busy pattern/design so the borders will calm things down abit - at least that's my plan. I am going to applique in them too and will post a picture when all is done.

I am excited about the reference to the Fibonacci scale for determining border size. I had an "of course" moment with myself upon reading that. Typically I use my eye to determine the border size that looks the best but frequently find that it is in direct proportion to the block size. Of course, it depends on how many borders you intend to use--a quilt drowning in it's borders is not appealing. As a basic design principle it makes sense to not have the borders larger than the blocks but I applique in my borders which can necessitate a larger border to accommodate the applique design. The trick is to enhance your quilt without overwhelming it and to keep your eye moving around the quilt--not drawn immediately to the borders. If you use wider or more intricate borders I find that it helps to bind the quilt in a dark color to provide an ending point so your eye doesn't just keep going off the ends of the quilt while following the borders. Good luck.

Kathy - My Pineapple ruler came today! I am so looking forward to starting this quilt. I printed out the fibonacci chart someone had posted a link to - I think this is just what I was looking for. At least it is a starting point to plan borders.

Cindy

it's 77 inches square. I made 64 blocks, each finished 8 inches. Center is 64 inches square. It needed strong borders to contain it!

Kathy

Kathy, I have my stash stored by color and any extra fabric, be it from the backing 'waste' or piecing, goes there. I plan to empty out colors purple, green, orange and black for the Pineapple Treasure quilt.

Red and turquoise are fun colors.mi would love to see your quilt. How big is t?

Cindy

Cindy, your border idea sounds perfect. That middle border will really show up well surrounded by black.

What do you do with your extra fabric from the back once you're finished quilting? In her Pineapple book, Gyleen mentions that she had lots of 4 inch wide strips leftover from the quilting process... you've probably got quite a stash already.

I'm trying to figure out how to get a photo of the whole quilt top, not sure if it will fit on my design wall. Mine is a little wilder than hers, lots of red and turquoise scraps, I guess. It's a fun process- I went for random and it turned out great. i'm going to post my photo over in the section about the Pineapple quilts as soon as it's taken.

Kathy

Hi Kathy,

I am a longarmer too and need the backing fabric to be at least 4 inches wider than the top. I baste the top's edges as I work my way through the quilt and use those extra inches from the backing to apply the side clamps. I even use this extra space to make sure the sewing tension is good.

I just today received my copy of the Pineapple quilt - Trash to Treasure. I think it will be a good way to use up some stash and looks like fun. I am waiting for the ruler to arrive. I am going to finish the One Block Wonder before I start the Pineapple Quilt though.

For the borders on the One Block Wonder, I am planning to first put a 3" (finished size) border in black, then a 2" green border and finally a 5" black border. I will use the focus fabric for binding and a big piece on the back. Just waiting for the black fabric to arrive.

Cindy

I'm just finishing up the top for my Pineapple quilt (trash to treasure). Her outer border was 4 inches finished. I wondered why.... Then realized that she has hers longarm quilted, and needs 4 inches on each side. If I make my borders 5 inches finished, I will have the right width to use 2 pieces of yardage for the back without being too wide.... so 5 inches it is! It looks just fine too.

Kathy

I do not have a mathematical brain and had never heard of that Fibonacci scale. I did a google...fascinating. Amazing what would have bored my brain in high school is so interesting now. I usually just put it up on the wall and adjust til I like the look. But, I may try this on my next large quilt. Sandi

http://kennykreations.com/blog/?p=89

Look at this webpage which gives proportions for block size and sashing/borders ! Yahoo! Something new!

Well, thank you for your answer - it really helps. I have googled it and found a bit of it; enough to satisfy. I also asked my son, an engineer about it. Very interesting, we love to discuss stuff like that. I often ask his help when figuring the math for a quilt. I can do it, but he's much, much faster than me!

See? you learn something new everyday!