Just Shy of the Border

I assembled the Patriotic Quilt Blocks and although I managed to clip the points off one of my best blocks (and I don't think I can fix it) I'm pretty happy with it. I haven't measured it but it sure looks square to me!


I love how paper piecing turns out and it is my favorite piecing method BUT I am not looking forward to removing the paper. That is going to take hours and hours. Additionally, the seams from the paper piecing are going to be murder to quilt but I can live with it.


I haven't completely decided if I am going to take off the paper before I put on the border. On the one hand, the paper keeps it pretty stiff and that makes it easy to work with. On the other, if I leave on the paper, that will be one more area that I will have to yank out under the thread and it will be tough to remove. Moreover, the noise of paper rustling is irritating. I will probably take off the paper at the edges before I put on the border, then go back and remove the rest of it.

Here is the bed I am making this for.


To be a good sized queen, I probably ought to add a 10 - 12 inch border. The piecing is pretty busy so I may keep the border simple. The length is not going to be a problem.


I had my models help me with the quilt but they weren't too thrilled about it.


Husband was horrified that I would put the top on the floor by the dogs and get hair on it but since they jump on the bed, anyway, I am not sure it much matters.


That is probably pretty disgusting for those among us who don't have a screw loose when it comes to canines.

I'm going to take a look at my stash for border material. I'm thinking maybe a thin red border with blue on the outside (or the opposite). I suppose I could do a RWB all the same size in a stripe but that might be too busy. Or I could do three borders - a 2-3 inch red, a thin strip of white and a 6-8 strip of blue.

I also have some diamond in a square left over blocks I could put in the corners.

What do you think?