A Floral Explosion

I intimated very recently that borders are like cryptonite to me. I really balk or stall out on adding them, and more often than not lately, I am leaving them off all together.

So today I basically made a liar out of myself.

Here's what I did. I added not just one border but 4 borders to a little quilt I made back in September.

Geesh.

 At the retreat in Nelsonville, I used 3" squares made from an entire layer cake to make this lap quilt. At the time, I considered it finished, and was totally pleased with it. I knew it would be a small quilt, measuring 45"x53", but I didn't mind. I would use it somehow, somewhere.

Well, earlier this month, I came across two similar floral prints in my stash that had no specific project assigned to them. Hmmm...maybe I would add borders to this little quilt, after all.

Laid out here next to the quilt, I liked the way these blend together so well. I had an idea that I would do a small off-white border between them and the quilt, and I would greatly increase the size by doing so.

I have increased a 45"x53" lap quilt to a whopping 67"x75". Mercy! To be sure, I was questioning myself as I added that final blue border - golly, what a lot of measuring and cutting and pinning. But now that it's done, I am glad I did it. The quilt is so much more appealing having the framing of the borders to set off  the center.

I still have no fondness for borders, but I definitely know that some quilts are better when they have them. Instead of being so eager to be finished and move on to the next quilt, I need to to what all quilters tell us -  enjoy the process! I do. Most of the time.

Happy Quilting, Friends!