SAHRR 24 Border 1

This is fun, but what a big mess I have. Why I decided to make two rainbow quilts at once, I don't know. Three rooms in my house are now full of scattered bits of colorful fabric. Anyway, this post is about one of those quilts. I'm participating in the Stay At Home Round Robin (SAHRR) hosted by Quilting Gail. Last week we shared our "center" blocks. I used quotes because my block is not going to be in the center. This week we are adding Border 1. The prompt is by Wendy of Pieceful Thoughts. A signature block. She noted that we had a lot of leeway in how to use the block (which is usually a light color with darker points), so I took as much leeway as I could. Here's my version. 

I knew I wanted the darker part of the block in the middle, but I also needed to think about how I wanted to balance colors, proportions, and the amounts of fabric I have available. My first decision was to add a one-inch border around my original block to make a more manageable size (16 inches instead of 14). Then I planned 4-inch scrap-pieced signature blocks using my Quiltography app.

I used colors from the "center" block to plan the signature blocks. The squares in the blocks are cut at 2-1/2 inches to finish at 2 inches. I cut 3-inch squares of colorful and background fabrics to make two-at-a time HSTs for the rest of each block. I was going to use blacks for the corner block, but when I laid them out, that block stood out more than I would like, so I subbed in a gray print for the squares. 

After sewing everything together, I added a print border (finished at 2 inches) to bring the whole finished border up to 6 inches. 

I'm not sure if I like the gray print in the corner next to the border (iffy contrast; maybe a more solidish gray would have been better), but I think I'll leave it as it is, at least for now. 

So there you have my sort-of signature blocks. Be sure to visit the links to see Gail's introduction, the beginning blocks, Wendy's prompt and the links to everyone's progress. Maybe you'll join in, too?

(Just a reminder: I'm not affiliated with any company, so when I mention products, services, or stores, I'm just documenting what I used or liked.)