Framing the butterflies

     I was given a lovely embroidered butterfly panel. I cut off the edges and decided to add a series of borders. Adding the thin blue one was easy. Next, I puzzled out the green. Finally chose a hand dyed green and now am searching for something to be the last and widest one. The purple is just not doing it. I tried two different ones. Have to keep searching and digging. Hmm. Sewing takes no time compared to finding the right fabric.

Some comfort quilt tops progress

    I have been recovering from a real nasty virus, not the flu. No temp, respiratory issues but unrelenting face pain, pulsing purple afterglows, nausea, gastro-intestinal junk. It has been a long time since I was flattened horizontal except for migraines . So, what I sewed are comfort quilts that I had cut out and needed assembly. The first of two You've Got Mail quilts is sewn together. Since it is 54 x 64, I am not going to border it because I think it would be too large for a comfort quilt. Earlier, I wrote how I used a whole layer cake. This quilt are the blocks from half of it. The other quilt to be sewn has the warmer color blocks.

All sewn, needs backing and batting

      The second quilt is another Gerbie's Exploding Squares. My mother had sewn the blocks for me. She sews all around, I cut, iron, etc until the block is done. She had sewn enough squares for me to make three different quilts. I laid them on her floor so I could teach her how to make decisions on what blocks went in each. I numbered them with blue painters tape and bagged each set in gallon baggies. Today, I took one set and sewed it together. I put it on the design wall and tried different fabric for the borders. I chose the dark purple because it stopped the eye from all the scrappy busyness and did not call attention to itself because of its dark value and muted pattern. The outer border was chosen because it was a value that contrasted with the inner one and the lines stopped all the floral scattered look. The border is a medium value that behaves as a frame and allows the blocks to show their colors. 
     I mention this because I know some people have a hard time with borders. My advice is wait until the quilt is sewn before you choose the border fabric. The color choices should play together and not be matchy/matchy. You spend all that time on the blocks, make the borders work. Borders should not just be fabric that makes the fabric bigger. You don't put a frame on a painting just to make it larger, but to showcase (but not upstage) the art.
     I won't choose the binding until after quilting.

Just the blocks

With borders, 50" x 60"