FOTY 2011 Update

FOTY 2011 before ripping
FOTY 2011 before ripping

I was going to say “HOORAY!!! I finished the FOTY 2011 top!”, jump up and down and encourage us all to dance together.

But.

No dice. I starting ripping out the border on Monday, because it screamed at me. The diamond black and white didn’t work. Two people that I asked didn’t even notice, but I can’t even look at the top without my eyes going straight to that black and white border. And that means I have to rip.

Still, I spent all day Sunday sewing and that is a bonus. It was such a pleasure to spend time with my sewing machine listening to audiobooks (yes, I finished one book and started another). Still, the pleasure did not create a great border.

If fabric were wider than 42"
If fabric were wider than 42"

If fabric were wider than 42″the quilt top would have looked like the photo right. In this photo, you can’t see the way the fabric was printed off grain or the way my joins did not line up properly when I tried to make the borders longer. The border didn’t work for *me* and the sooner I faced that reality the sooner I could really get to finishing the top.

I got to this place, because I couldn’t find the fabric I originally wanted to use and I was too lazy to shift stacks of fabric around to find it.

 

New Border Option
New Border Option
New Border #2
New Border #2
New Border Option #3
New Border Option #3

Laziness is my downfall and I deserve what I get. In fairness, I did move some fabric AND I may have used all of the fabric I was considering, but I did not look all of the blacks to make sure.

I retrieved some other fabrics and found the stars. Right now it is my favorite. I’ll see how I feel and how the joins look later in the week. I am so glad to have some time this week to  work on this project in little bits.

Author: Jaye

Quiltmaker who enjoys writing and frozen chocolate covered bananas.

6 thoughts on “FOTY 2011 Update”

  1. Laziness is not the word that springs to mind when I think of you!! I’m glad you’re ripping and redoing. This is the time to do it, not when it’s all quilted and in a box under the bed coz you can’t hang it up. I agree that the darker black border looks better and #1 is my pick, closely followed by #3. That border IS a bit of a departure for you and I like the surprise of it.

  2. I vote for the swirly one–counterpoint to the points, straight lines and corners of the FOTY.

    Have you auditioned a solid dark grey? or polka dots?

  3. Definitely the right decision to rip out those diamonds. The line they made was too wimpy and uneven.

    Of the three alternatives, I prefer the stars. Border #2 has the same issues as the diamonds – the print is very regular pattern and you’d have to be extremely precise in your piecing to make it look clean. Border #1 I find OK, but… meh. I like the stars because they bridge the points in the triangles and the circular nature of the dots, without demanding too much attention for themselves.

  4. I agree your original border was distracting. The first alternative echos the dots used throughout without being dots, the second has the same problems as the original and third, the stars, echos the angles of the triangles but is close to the same scale as the grey dots.

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