Bramble Blooms 2.0 - first borders

 How did August go by so fast!!??   I finally had a chance to get back to Bramble Blooms 2.0  a couple weeks ago, to add the first(?) border to this rather feeble start.

I wasn't totally (or even remotely) enamored with these blocks, but I loved that polkadot fabric and had used nearly all there was in these blocks, so decided to give it a try.   Waste not!

Mulling over possibilities for the outer sashing:

Loved the diagonal plaid cornerstones echoing the center blocks.

There were an abundance of flying geese left over from making Oriental Brambles (aka Bramble Blooms 1.5 - see previous post) so why not add them here?

Audrey's suggestion for the first border was to include something from Bramble Blooms 1, suggesting 4 or 9-patch blocks, in a low-key blending look so as not to distract from the next appliqued (final) border.  The next couple photos are some test backgrounds for this "first" background.

What finally seemed best were a little variety of light gray and blue-gray backgrounds, along with mostly pink 9-patch blocks.

Then my brain apparently turned to mush, since there was no way to make all those 9-patch blocks on point fit together into a neat square.  I'm pretty sure the math cells in my brain died after my 75th birthday, because do you think I could even figure out how big to make a coping border?????  Sigh.

Happily, for every problem there is a solution, in this case after finding that perfect mustard fabric for the coping border, the magic happened with addition of corner blocks and a few fudged seams in the 9-patch blocks until everything was forced into submission.

I still need to tweak the lower right corner to attempt to lessen the ripple, though there are plenty of other little ripples going on in this top!   I'm planning to leave the scraggly outer edges as they are now until it's time to add the next border.

OK, on to a rush baby quilt, though I thought there was plenty of time, doctors have decided to induce labor tomorrow.  I'd hoped to have the quilt ready for grandparents to take with them when they make the 7 hour trip to see their precious new one soon.   All for today!

Oriental Brambles is a Finish!

 So happy to have another quilt finished after a long hiatus over the last several months.  Here is the quilt I've called Oriental Brambles since the branches in floral center just looks rather brambly to me.  Maybe it should just be called Bramble Blooms 1.5 since it is after all a medallion quilt!

I caught a break in the near-continuous rain around 7 a.m. today, so did a quick photoshoot of the finish.  Some of the markings for the border may still be visible in the enlarged photos.  Later this morning I sponged off the markings and let it dry on the spare bed.

This was a joy to piece, and mostly the machine quilting went as planned.  I used a combination of free-motion quilting a leafy design in the center, serpentine stitching in one of the borders, a couple stencils, and finally made a cardboard template for the "arches" quilting in the blue outer border.  That was the difficult part, as my markings around the template were extremely hard to see, and there are enough bobbles to keep me honest as they say!

The back and binding are a vintage Joan Kessler fabric gleaned from our ministry bins.  It has a wonderful soft hand and the quilt is comfy and lightweight for snuggling in the recliner or sofa.  It finished at about 59 x 65 inches.  

Tomorrow I'll turn it in to the camp auction quilt coordinator to be included in this year's event over Labor Day weekend.  Though I'll admit to being a bit conflicted about letting it go - I never meant to love it so much!

Just a reminder to myself that the rain will not last forever, and to "keep on the sunny side of life!"