jlm5419

I posted a picture of a quilt I am working on here (http://www.quiltingboard.com/picture...h-t200635.html). I am almost finished, but I am stumped when it comes to the border. It is 2.25 inches across. At first, I thought it might be cute to stitch in some dog footprints, but that would not be conducive to continuous stitching. I also thought about stitching in the border to mimic a picture frame. Finally, I am not opposed to leaving the border unquilted, which would give it a slightly raised appearance in contrast to the background McTavishing.

I am thinking of the possibility of entering it into our guild's show early next year. Would lack of quilting in the border be counted against it? Does anyone have any suggestions for making the border spectacular, or at least less plain?

JulieR

Oh how CUTE he is! Excellent work on your part, too!

I had a similar issue a few weeks ago and ended up falling back on good ol' swirls, just so I didn't have to think about it anymore. I'm interested to see what others have to say...

Treasureit

Since I don't do FMQ - I always look for other options....like XXX's or several waving lines. I like the idea of dog paws if you are good at that.

MTS

Maybe this - since you're McTavishing, it shouldn't be a problem ;-)
http://pinterest.com/pin/74661306293426199/

snipforfun

How about simple cross hatching? You dont want to distract from the great picture

QuiltnNan

paw prints can be done continuously. draw a curved line and attach the paws in the wider spaces.

nycquilter

How about simply straight stitching along each edge, parallel to the edges of the quilt, about three lines/side. Let the lines overlap at the corners so it forms a grid. I think that the border should have some quilting, though once you've finished the inside, you can see how it looks to you.

lfletcher

Judges look for the same amount of quilting throughout the quilt so you may be counted off if the border is not quilted. That said, it is your quilt so if you like the look without quilting in the borders, I think you should do that.

homebody323

Since this looks like a large picture of Butch, very nice quilt, very cute pooch, I like your idea of the picture frame. Suggestion - make a line about 1/4" out. Then another about 1/2" then a third 1 1/2". You may have to change that 1 1/2 - to 1 1/4. If your 2 1/2 was without seam allowance. You need to keep away from the binding a bit since the judges also take off if your quilting ends up going into and under the binding.
After you make all your trips around that border. Go back and fill in the space between the first and second lines. Tiny little circles works good for that. This will give you the beading look that frames have. Take a look around your house at real frames and you will see what I mean. The fabric you are working on doesn't appear to be one that will show tiny paw prints as you mentioned, which is why I vote for the frame idea.
Happy Stitching

CorgiNole

I think a lot of it depends on the judge. I scribed for our guild show this year so got to hear the judge's comments for a lot of different quilts, and the ones with sparser quilting generally garnered a comment such as "consider more quilting in large spaces."

Butch is very cute!

Cheers, K