Border progress

This week I've been working on the quilt extension I'm making on my niece's bedspread. I have to say it's going very well considering I'm working with random lengths of fabric that were sent to me with no specific plan for what to do. After replacing two fabrics that were either too slippery or too gauzy to play well with the other fabrics, I spent a little time figuring out placement for a design. I decided to go with a simple vertical stripe border. Since I was working with a commercially made bedspread that was not completely symmetrical in shape or quilting design, simplest seemed best. I used what I call "intuitive geometry" to figure out the width of the fabric strips to make it fit and to plan the miters at the corners: limited measuring (mostly by eye) and some strategic pinning. So far everything fits. It's a looong way around a king size quilt, so I can only show a bit of it here:

Close-up of a corner

With a sham standing in for the bedspread

The quilt colors are a little washed out here. Also the bedspread is not as shiny as in the photo. It's more of a matte luster, if that makes any sense. 

I had just enough of the flower and vine fabrics to piece a back in 40-inch lengths. It was a nice way to use up the rest of the fabric, and those fabrics are a dream to work with. To put the border together, I sewed batting to the backing about 3/4 inch from the edge and then seamed the front and back together along the edge that will attach to the bedspread. In the pictures, those edges are pinned because I plan to topstitch them to add a little stability before I start quilting. There is no batting in that seam so it should be easy to attach to the spread. I've been using my walking foot because it seems to keep things feeding well despite the bulk of the border, which is about 320 inches (!) around. 

Next up is pin basting and figuring out quilting, which I think will be very simple--maybe straight lines with my walking foot (great practice)--because I don't want it to complete with the quilting on the bedspread. I had very briefly considered mimicking the bedspread quilting, but abandoned that idea as soon as I realized it wasn't quite centered. It would make everything else look crooked. 

I also have to figure out whether I want to bind the quilt or just turn the edge under. I have plenty of the shimmery gold fabric left, but it's a slippery polyester and prone to raveling, so I might get myself in trouble there. Another possibility is using a blue. (I have a tiny piece in my stash that looks good, but I don't know if I can find any more like it.) I'm just going to quilt 15 inches down the border and that will give me enough fabric to either fold it over or add a binding. 

I've taken a break from the Big Quilt project this week to work on this. Actually this project will give me an idea of how I might like using a walking foot to quilt that one. 

Now, as seems to be my typical summer post, here are a few other pictures of my week. We took a little day trip to Saugatuck, Michigan last Saturday. It's known for it's artsy vibe, and here is the most artsy public restroom I've ever seen:

Do you recognize the work and artist? The picture goes all around the building.

And here are a few garden shots:

Photo credit to my husband

Each year I collect a few rusting metal ornaments at our local art fair.

This week I'm linking up with Freemotion by the River, Freshly Pieced, Sew Fresh Quilts and My Quilt Infatuation (if she's back from vacation--last week I forgot she was off) for their fun linky parties. Buttons are on the right. 

I hope the rest of your week is quilting bliss.