SuzzyQ

this is a scrap I Spy quilt I've just sewn from scraps - light fleece, heavier knits or flannels. Do I add a scrappy border or just strips of flannelette? No more of anything but the black and I don't want to add that. What colours should I look for in a solid to frame it?

Barb in Louisiana

Pretty quilt. Very dramatic. I would maintain the drama by repeating the black, but not as the first border.

I would go for either the tiger fabric or a match to one of the darker blues in the blocks for the first stopper, maybe a1" border, then a small black border, maybe the same size as the strips and then one of the prints you have in the blocks as a larger, probably at least double or triple the size of the black border.

Audition the borders, by laying the fabric next to the blocks in the size that you think you want to do and take pictures. Let us see what you are thinking. Taking the pictures will give you a reality view of what the final product will look like. It's like looking through one of the door viewers that people recommend you get to preview fabrics. Think hotel or motel....

Tartan

You could pick a colour for a cat applique to put going up the "stairs" and use that same colour for the border?

tessagin

Both above suggestions sound great! I have nothing to add.

paoberle

I keep thinking a brown border using the same brown in the quilt top or maybe even a slightly darker shade, maybe even a brown with a small design, then a black border. If I am unsure about borders or binding, I like to lay my quilt top where I will see it all day along with the fabrics I am considering. Sometimes I rearrange, or remove one color and add another, until it just feels right.

ArtsyOne

I think that a darker brown border would set off your center block nicely. And then maybe a multicolor binding.

ILoveToQuilt

I am in the minority - I say use only a black border. JMHO.

Annie68

Solid black border!

Learner747

Great idea!

mea12

Hmmm. i think a medium brown..a shade between your lightest and darkest. Maybe with a narrow sashing of lavendar.