Thursday, May 9, 2013

Opinion, Please . . .

Last week I finished getting the sashings and border on the Country Cottages quilt, but it looked like it needed a little spark of something--the black and white outer border seemed to damp down the bright colors somehow.  After looking at it for a bit, I thought perhaps jumbo rick rack would be just what it needed.


So I did some online searches and found Strawberry Patches had jumbo rick rack in several colors.  I ordered it in a light blue, a bright apple green, and a golden orange, thinking that surely one of those colors would be what I needed.  Unfortunately, I received an email Saturday morning from Becky saying they only had about half of what I ordred in the orange.  Despite the fact that the shop was participating in a shop hop that day, Becky worked with me and checked their stock, finally running down bright yellow jumbo rick rack to replace the orange.  That's excellent customer service, isn't it?  And she got it mailed right away too.

So now I need to decide which color looks best.  Will you help?  Here's the bright yellow:


And then the light blue:


And finally the bright apple green:


I know I'm not showing you photos of the entire quilt with the rick rack, which might make it easier to decide, but what do you think from what you see?  There isn't really much of that bright yellow in the quilt, so maybe it doesn't belong; then again, maybe the quilt NEEDS something that stands out from the rest.   I can't promise I'll go with whatever the majority thinks but I'd welcome some input.  Right now, I don't think I'm leaning toward any particular color.  What would you do?

51 comments:

Sandy said...

I like it without the rick rack. I would use a bright color like red for binding to finished it off. But if you really like the rick rack I would do the yellow! Does tht help at all? Sandy

Alcea Rosea 31 said...

Blue or green, I love the quilt.

jirons42 said...

I love the quilt and the blue.

Anonymous said...

I like the green the best, the blue is a little too blendy and the yellow not enough.
No matter which you decide, it's a really fun quilt!

Helen

normajean53 said...

I love the blue.

Beverley said...

Blue or green or none.

Nicky M said...

I like the blue as it brings out the blue in your fabrics but not jumping out and shouting 'see me' like the yellow is doing, lovely quilt and I love using ric-rac in my quilts

Mandy said...

I like the blue. Lovely quilt

Teatime Creations said...

The blue gives it a very gentle look. Might be my choice but yellow pops. Difficult decision. Blue for me.

Anonymous said...

Yellow too bright,(not enough in the quilt). Blue blends too much with the other blocks. My vote is Green (even though my least favorite color is green).

Anonymous said...

I'm voting green - like the pop without it being too much. Super cute!

Cindy in SC

Donna said...

I like the blue or the green. I'm leaning toward the blue the most. It seems to compliment the colours in the quilt and goes well with the grey border.

JoAnne said...

No to the yellow. The other two are pretty much as the others have described. The blue blends nice and seems more calm. The green is more of a "pop." Either one would result in a great quilt.

If it were my quilt, I may hunt down a black and white stripe fabric (one that has at least as much white as black, if not more) and then cut a border with the stripes running crosswise (around 6 inches wide, or a bit more, and try that next to your pieced border and keep the ricrac on the seam line as you have it. Once quilted, I would do a bit of a wonky scallop--something that looks pretty whimsical. Then I would bind it with a narrow, bright binding.

Anonymous said...

Kim,

The quilt is very nice. I downloaded this pattern, but haven't made it yet. I like the blue.

Linda K said...

Love the house blocks. They look much better than mine, which are in PDF form only!! I'm leaning towards the bright apple green as my favorite, but I like the blue, too.

Anonymous said...

Love the quilt!! But really don't like the ricrac, I would leave it off and bind it in a bright color (red or maybe orange I think). Sorry!

Colleen G said...

I think the green makes it pop.

Sharon J. Hughson said...

'











































I'm thinking the green is best. The yellow is too bright and draws the eye away from the quilt - not a good thing and the blue....hmmn. I like the green and I'm not a green person.











Diane said...

The quilt is great! I like the green, but I seem to always choose that shade of green. :)

Teresa in Music City said...

I love the lime green!

Carol said...

I like the Apple Green the best.

Judy in Michigan said...

Oh dear, you may not like my opinion, but I think I would remove the current border and do something like JoAnn (above comment) suggested. The quilt is glorious and the border you have now does seem to darken down the mood. Good luck.

dianne said...

Very phyticat ... that's how i'm proving that i'm not a robot ... i dunno - not yellow ... and, even though i really like green, i think the blue...

in Real Life i am a Very phyticat ...... just thought i'd use it in a sentence...

Rosa said...

I love it without ric rac but if I have to put one would be blue or green!

Aunt 'Reen said...

Beautiful Quilt!
I think the blue ties in nicely with the quilt. It picks up all the blue fabrics used thru out the neighborhood.
The yellow is sunny and bright but I think it takes your eye away from the houses and out toward the ric rack border.

Janet said...

blue or green is nice. I would not do the yellow it is to bright.

The quilt is very cute. Take care.
Janet

Quilter Kim said...

I think the green balances it all out. Looks great!

Kim said...

I like the blue. It gently pulls in the blues in the quilt. I REALLY don't like the yellow. Love the quilt and I'm anxious to see what you decide.

Miss Jean said...

To me, it's the green, hands down. The yellow is just too "in your face" and the blue just subdues it too much. Whatever you use as a binding is going to make an impact as well and if you could find a gray/black/green or a gray/red/green fabric that would be dynamite!

Anonymous said...

Lime green

tpott said...

Blue is in 1st place, green is second, not really loving the yellow. Your quilt is beautiful, you've done a wonderful job. ;-> Toni Anne

Deb said...

I think the blue mellows it out, and the green makes it pop!

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

Ooooh. I love the yellow but it doesn't do it for the quilt. The blue and green is a tough choice. I would have to say... GREEN!

Josie McRazie said...

Limey green!

MandaBurms FarmStay for Cats. said...

Love your cottage quilt! Looking forward to seeing what you choose. Me I don;t think it needs rick rack, prefer a red binding. But what ever you choose it will be fab!

Carol said...

I like the blue.

Pat said...

Love the blue but the green is nice too. I think the border fabric is the problem... It feels disconnected from the houses. Like Joanne says I think black and white stripes would be like a road around the houses. Your quilt is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

Blue is the first choice. Followed by green.

Cathy said...

I like the green ric rac best. Have you considered putting it at the outer edge, next to the binding? I've seen some quilts done that way and like it a lot.

Anonymous said...

I like that quilt. I like the bright apple green the best, then the blue.
cindy

cook said...

Really cute! Green looks great. Janet

Marla said...

Love the green!!

Bowbailey said...

Love the yellow! Makes it sunny and bright

scottylover said...

Love the blue! The green is nice also. Thanks for showing all the options. When I first read the colors you ordered, I was not sure how they would look. Love the idea of the rick rack, too!

Sandy A

Rabid Quilter from California said...

I like the yellow the least. I like the green the best but given a choice, I will usually choose green, my favorite color. VERY cute quilt!!

Susan said...

LOVE this quilt! IF it were mine- I would go with the apple green and bind it with a black with small white dots. I have this quilt on my TO DO list!

Patti said...

No contest for me - the yellow green all the way!

Carol said...

Didnt care for the yellow at all. Thought I'd like the bright green but it looks almost neon in the photo and draws my eye right to it instead of the quilt, plus it seems to be a much brighter green than is in the quilt. Thought the blue is a better choice overall. And I'm in agreement on trying other fabrics for the border. I love fabric with words or letters, but don't care for the black and white with such colorful blocks.

Sinta Renee said...

Am I too late to weigh in? I love Strawberry Patches!!! I would pick the green... I can't wait to see what you end up with. Those blocks are so cute and the sashing is really sweet/pulls them all together nicely!

Anonymous said...

Blue

lvkwilt said...

I vote for the green!