Friday, March 19, 2010

Bindage and Quiltscipline

I'm not really sure where that title came from. (Paging Dr. Freud.)


So here I am, trying to finish up all the half-done projects hanging around. Remember this quilt? I pieced the top seven years ago, when my daughter was a baby. My friend was taking an introductory quilting course, which I couldn't afford to take with her. Every week after her class she'd come to my place with the instruction sheet for the block of the week, and I'd make my block using hers as an example.



I had a duvet cover that I had made during university and was hardly used, so I was able to reclaim the fabric from it and, with careful management (i.e., pinching pennies until they screamed), bought a few pieces of good quality quilting cotton to make up the difference.

It was supposed to be a full-sized bed quilt, but Elizabeth's personal life fell apart halfway through the course, she stopped taking the class, and we only ever finished the nine blocks.

I put the top together last year, and quilted it. Most of the quilting was done with my sewing machine, but I did hand-quilt one block - the pinwheel design in the two pictures below.

So here's my dilemna. It's time to bind this sucker - add the half-inch strip of fabric around the edge. I have two options for the binding: the dark green, or the dark pink.

Help me out here, mates - should I go with the green or the pink?

I find the green nice, but a bit boring. The pink definitely makes the quilt pop more, but is it a little on the loud side?

Green: boring?



Pink: crazy?



But I'll take crazy over boring, any day.

Vote!

12 comments:

clumsy ox said...

Quilts are, or ought to be, the very antithesis of "tasteful". Go pink, let it pop. Run wild. Make it hard to fall asleep under that thing.

You know you want to .

Geek Knitter said...

Most certainly the pink. Wakes the whole thing up!

Rona said...

Funny thing is I've actually been thinking about this quilt :-) I am so not the one to ask this question as I have a terrible time choosing my quilting fabrics!... Either way you go it will be fabulous and I can't wait to see it all bound up!

Unknown said...

I asked Lucy; she voted for pink. Her taste in color is better than mine. :)

Ames said...

Both or great. But funny enough, I am going to say go for pink.

Annalea said...

They're both beautiful . . . and since I'm tired (and require a restfully-attired bedroom to sleep), I say go for the green. Then you can focus on the wonderful blocks themselves, instead of having the binding compete with it.

Lovely work, Shan!

Gwen said...

I like the green, but it is a bit predictable. As Marilyn Monroe said, it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring. Go for the pink.

lizbon said...

1. Love the title. My all-time favorite.

2. I like the green better and don't find it boring. I think it gives more contrast, which in my opinion is a good thing. (I felt the need to explain my thinking after voting. Cause, you know, me = not boring.) (I'd say something modest here as a disclaimer, but why bother? I honestly don't think I'm boring.)

3. I can't believe you made that without any previous quilting experience. Well, I can, because you're Shan. But dude, Nice Quilt.

Dave Hingsburger said...

Sometimes simply being a man seems like an incredible disability to bear. I wore a red shirt to work and was complimented on my 'burnt sienna' shirt. I wore a yellow shirt to work and the women liked the 'burnt mustard'. I guess I just burn all my colours. So when I saw the poll I trembled. So here's how it looks to a Y chromozone. The green is green, and is, yes, a tad dull. There is no pink, I see some pink in the strip but I also see some really basic (even a man can see them) colours. Like burgendy, and green and pink ... and your quilt has all those colours in them too. I was taught that's how you match socks and shirt. Basic lessons well learned get you through life. That is until the age where you buy seven pairs of black socks and seven pairs of brown. I voted for the multicoloured one - perhaps because I live with Joseph.

freedomnan said...

The green goes with the border strips on the surface, though I see I am definitely in the minority. Just bind that sucker!

Susie Hewer said...

I'm with Uncle Dave and its defo the burgundy! Patchwork/quilting has been on my 'to do' list for years. Looks lovely.

Gwen said...

I'm changing my mind, after coming back for a couple days in a row. I'm going for the green, it doesn't look boring to me, it looks peaceful. I'm not liking the pink so much.