Monday, August 26, 2024

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!

7 comments:

Chantal said...

I thought the four X blocks were the centre and the pink was the first border. I got so confused, I had to read it twice. Lol. (And you think your math cells are dead!) I just LOVE those plaid corners! Perfect! I didn't like the green background or the red one. I was so happy to see you didn't go with those but picked something absolutely fabulous! Love the blue-grey border. You know that the 9-patch blocks didn't have to go all the way around. It could have been just 3 or 5 on each sides. Oh well! Maybe next time. Whenever you want to take the easy way out. Just talking out loud here because I really love what you have done. I also love the applique circles in the corner. Such a sweet touch after all those straight lines. Good luck with the dash-to-the-finish-line with the baby quilt. Enjoy! ;^)

Robin said...

I really like what you have created. It was fun to go through your thought processes with you as you sewed. This is terrific.

Louise SS said...

The flying geese blocks are perfect! You really did a nice job on these borders.
It enjoyed reading about your different ways of thinking. My problem is that my ideas seems great at night when I lay awake thinking but as soon as I try it out the next morning it is wrong!
Thanks for the inspiration!

Mystic Quilter said...

Another winner in the making and good use of the left over Flying Geese. Your brain evidently didn't turn to mush as you had the inspired idea to avoid the issue with the 9 patch blocks and add applique circles in the corners.

Nancy said...

This looks great, Pat. I love the polka dot fabric, too, and I really love the diagonal plaid corner stones. (Those were comments on your first photo.) Gosh, the final version is spectacular! What are its measurements at this point? It's so hard to tell from online photos.
I'm still not finished with BBI. I need to get on with that and then move on to BB2. I'm far behind but hope to finish eventually.

Lizzy D said...

I like what you're doing w BB 2 , the soft colors are very pretty.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Great progress with your BB11. I did have a giggle at things "forced into submission"... happens A. Lot around here too!