Borders

The topic of borders has always held my attention, personally and professionally. I remember doing a class that considered the rights of people to have their own space, to erect fences & what you could and couldn't do if someone fenced you out. 

I thought of that again while working on these borders. The second dark red is made of two fabrics, one going E-W & N-S and the other going W-E & N-S, as was suggested in the pattern. It actually worked for me here because there wasn't enough of any red from Lee's stash to make all four parts. Fabrics coordinate but often were leftovers, so I really had to make do. What I found is that when fabric becomes vintage, as much of hers was, then the dye lots change and you cannot just go out and buy colors to match. Many of the green pieced segments were done last year when I first got her fabrics, and it was a matter of joining the bits and pieces, and trimming them to a 5" width. There were not enough to do the vertical sides, so while I worked on it most of the day, it is set aside with Notes-to-Self for the next step. I am liking it so far.

Over several hours I thought more about borders. All kinds of borders. Not just those we quilt with. Thoughts about property borders, walls we put up in our lives and laws we have to live with because of borders... took me so many places and stirred up a lot of emotions.

I'd like to say that it was all positive thinking but that's simply not true. And when a person entertains darker thoughts, other people run away. I hesitate to stray from being positive here because it looks like something more than it is. Every once in awhile, I do entertain thoughts that push borders and get pretty wild.

Next on my list of things to do was a PIF (Pay It Forward) project, which got cut, pinned and a lot of piecing done. I tend to avoid taking photos of those projects just because I'd rather keep them between me and the person I make it for.

My thoughts did turn more positive because I got to thinking about the people in my life who touched me in ways that make me feel enough gratitude to want to pay it forward.

This particular quilt made me see how I enjoy the unusual and look for patterns that stimulate my curiosity and creativity. If its a border or two or three that make the quilt special or the color combinations, then it holds my interest.