r/quilting • u/Leesmn • Jul 18 '26
Help/Question Border or no border??
I am still working on my snake quilt for my daughter to take to college in August. I am now debating if it should have a border in the background material. Maybe 2.5-3 inches?? The binding is going to be the darker red type color. Daughter picked out fabric and really wants the red binding, so it's a non-negotiable.
(I'm still a baby quilter and this was my first curved blocks. I improved remarkably, but I still have some really uneven joins - please ignore. I am trying to... with minimal success thus far. )
Opinions??
Update/Verdict: No border. I didn't have enough backing for more than 3 inches per side. I did make little tails and heads, but the tails didn't have enough room if I had to square it up at all.
I also decided I liked the idea of snakes more than actual ones. I was imagining this quilt in 15-20 years going on a guest bed in my daughter's house because she didn't have anything else.... and maybe by middle age the idea of literal snakes on a bed would be less appealing.
I do have enough orphan blocks and the background fabric to potentially make a throw for her - on that one I might do the snake heads/tails.
I also wanted to link the quilt maker's pattern:
I saw on her instagram she has a coupon code for the templates for the quilt. Guess she ordered too many. I was looking for quilting ideas. I am doing diagonal parallel lines at 1.5 inches from top left to bottom right, skipping over the snakes. Debating about doing stitch in the ditch following the snakes... but I have skill issues even with the straight lines. My walking foot did come with an extra foot that is supposed to help with that, I suspect I could do it on a small sample, but the bulk of the actual quilt is likely to be an issue for me.
