Monday, January 7, 2013

1800's Repro 9-patch - Borders or not?

Here is my 9-patch quilt from my 1800's group that I mentioned in some of my former posts.  You will find them under my labels to the right of my blog if you click on "Nine Patches" and then scroll down a bit.


For those of you who are new to my posts, I am part of a group of local gals who formed a group like the 19th Century Patchwork Divas in the book, History Repeated by Besty Chutchian and Carol Staehle.  

Our group is new and to make it easy in the decision making department we decided to start with quilts from the afore mentioned book.  We began with the 9-patch on p. 19 and  I made mine just like Besty made hers with the exception of pink where hers is blue.  After getting this far I am debating whether to put the borders on.  It's appealing to me without the borders and that was common in the 1800s also, what do you think?


My camera is not capturing the true colors in this quilt.  The pinks are a deep raspberry pink and the browns are such pretty browns.  


My binding will be a bias, small homespun brown plaid; whether or not I add the border.  Please give me some input - border or no border?

Linking to Judy's Patchwork Times Design Wall - go check out all of the creative people and what they are up to! 

17 comments:

Barb said...

Happy New Year
What a beauty!! nine patches are a real favorite block for me and with pink? I'm swooning.
I like it both ways, but with the border more I think.
brown plaid binding will be perfect for the binding

Anonymous said...

It will look good either way, so it depends on how much of her quilt you want to reproduce. Since I love quilts from the Civil War to early 1900s era, that would be a great group to join, and I wish there were such a group here. MN is too cold for me. =)

Chris said...

Simple but so sweet. Very nice.

regan said...

I'm with Barb.....it's gorgeous both ways, but I think the border really set it off perfectly. Love it!

Judy Hansen said...

I like it either way, but after seeing the picture with the border, it looks more "finished off". So I guess I'm voting for with a border.

Anonymous said...

If it is large enough without a border, go for it. I think it is fine without and would add only to get it up to size.

Karen O said...

Hi Judy! Love your quilt top! Such a pretty and effective pattern. I actually think it would look great without the border - the binding would frame it gently.

Diane Wild said...

Yes, I would do the border. It would focus on the beauty of the nine-patch..just me.

Judy Dietrich said...

Love this quilt design--the colors are just delicious together!! What fun to be part of a group of quilters that love what you do!!

Kathy P said...

I like the non-border option the best, but you do what your heart tells you to do. Gorgeous either way!

Anonymous said...

I am a huge fan of borderless quilts. That being said, I like how the border balances out the open space between the tiny pieced blocks. Lovely colors.

AnnieO said...

Lovely! Nine patches are truly the friendliest block in the world :) Me, I like borderless quilts but if you are reproducing a specific quilt, you might regret leaving off the border. Flip a coin, maybe ?

antique quilter said...

OMG that quilt is on my list of quilts to make from Betsy's book and I was thinking brown and pink instead of blue and pink too!
wow! its beautiful
I love it with the border.
would love to hear more about your group wish I had something like that here too.
Kathie

LuAnn said...

I love that quilt. I kind of like it with the border especially since your binding is going to be brown plaid. Either way it's a great quilt.

Sarah Martin said...

Oh, with the border is good! To me it's nice to give those nine patches a bit more air and they look so much more delicate that way! Sooo sweet!

Dogwood Lane Rambles said...

I like them both. WIth the border makes the nine patches float more within the design if you get what I mean but without is probably truer to the period.

Anonymous said...

To me, just the binding is needed to maintain/finish the heirloom feel this quilt has!! I love it!! Hugs, Doreen