Still Playing - One Monthly Goal Finish

My October One Monthly Goal was to play with possibilities for sashings, borders, and layout for the Baskets of Plenty blocks for at least nine hours during the month.  I chose that goal because it lifted the burden and stress of making definitive creative choices by a deadline, something I don't do well.  I spent lots and lots of hours, many more than nine, considering options and trying them out.  Here are some (maybe too many) photos.

I began with the idea that each block needed an additional narrow border, in either light or medium tones.

I didn't immediately decide the width but finally chose a 1" border.

I placed those blocks against mostly black and a little blue to try to imagine sashing colors.

My original thought was that a print border would be just too much for these blocks.  So I pulled several solids and created collages in my photo program.  You can see that the fabric colors I have are not quite the same as the colors in the collages.

My next idea, shown below, was to add a slightly wider dark red/maroon/burgundy border and place the blocks against a brown print as if it were sashing.  I'm thinking of 5" sashing.

I thought I would like the black sashing and while I think it looks dramatic, black just isn't a color I use in our home.  Hence the brown.

I think these look a little like matted and framed prints, ready to go on a wall.  And I wonder if I'm making too much of these blocks, trying to make them more than they are.  The blocks are definitely not wall-worthy but the baskets and flowers need a little breathing room and the blocks (and quilt) need to be bigger because I want a bed-sized quilt.  Or at least one that's long enough to tuck under one's feet for a nap.

In the photos above and the one below you can see how the browns look.  I think the cornerstones will enliven the brown and tie the blocks together.   (Unless I choose a different sashing color.)

I have several burgundy/maroon fabrics.  There is one (in the photo below) that is truly beautiful -- deep, rich, warm.  The other three are very close but lacking just a little.  If I choose this color as a second border I'll probably have to use two different fabrics since I don't have a lot of the really beautiful one.

These are the browns I'm considering using.  The photos above show the true colors of the browns better.

So, after all this play, the only real decision I've made is to add a 1" light-colored border around the blocks.  I'm leaning toward the burgundy border with brown sashing plus square-in-square blocks for cornerstones.

Perhaps a lighter, brighter fabric for sashing would enhance these blocks.  Because they are created using Cheri Payne's primitive-syle patterns, I tend to think of medium to dark fabrics.   I don't know....

The other day after I'd added light borders to one of the blocks I placed it against the burgundy then surrounded it by brown, and walked away.  I forgot about it.  A little later I was thinking of something else when I walked into the room where the blocks were on the floor.  And I gasped in delight.  How perfect, I thought.  But that was just one block, not all of them.

I think play is an essential part of creating a quilt that's your own (as opposed to using a purchased pattern and kit with everything already chosen by someone else).  I find my imagination is not really helpful because it's so faulty.  What I think will look great often does not when I finally put everything together.  I imagine so many of you with flawless imaginations, choosing colors and fabrics, the perfect arrangement, turning out beautiful quilts because you already know how they will look. 

I don't know what the next steps for this quilt will be.  I have light borders to add to six more blocks, and I'll go from there.  There's more play in my future!

I'm linking this post to
> One Monthly Goal Finish Link-up for October at Elm Street Quilts
> BOMS Away at What a Hoot Quilts
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.