Merry Christmas, Bailey

Christmas was wonderful as always, glad to see it come, glad to see it go!  Always busy, this time of year, but no:  sew!

Bailey loved his quilt, how could he not!  He was so happy!  I'm glad I didn't wait to do it until until his birthday in April.  ("Gramma, could you make a quilt just for me, for Christmas or maybe my birthday?")  I thought it was so awesome that a 14 yr old boy would ask for a quilt.  Anyway, he has it now and it was perfect for him.

Bottle Rainbow -- Red Block

So!  or should I say, "SEW!"  Now that Bailey's quilt is finished, what next?  Well, a few of things!

One, my guild is starting a Block of the Month quilt, first block due in January, so more on that later.

Two, I will be doing another Harry Potter quilt with a Quilt-Along group, a block a week.

Three.  I started the Bottled Rainbow confetti.  Red.  I thought it would be easy since I have lots of red scraps.  It was, and it was fun!  Here is the red block layout:

Now I get to sew these confetti pieces on. Since this is a "quilt-as-you-go" quilt, I have to choose a backing before I can do that.   I am thinking the black with white dots (see Nov. 26 post).  Keep all the color on the front of the quilt.  I am going to like this project!

Finished Deer Quilt

I have finished Bailey's deer quilt.  It is soooo soft and heavy.  It'll be really really warm.  I have to roll it with Mr. Sticky to get the fuzz, threads, and dog hair off, and I have to wipe it with a wet cloth to remove any residual chalk, but otherwise, put it in a box and wrap it up!

Bailey's Deer Quilt

I have to say a couple of things about using fleece as a backing. It is fabulous to use, so easy to quilt.  It stayed put and I didn't have to repin as I went along.  However, in the dryness of our winter house, it is also a magnet for every stray hair, piece of thread, lint, dust...  And it all shows up against that black sashing.  But the quilt pattern shows up really nicely on the back, so all in all, I'd recommend fleece as a backing.  It IS more expensive by far, but so nice to work with.

There was ONE major problem with this quilt, and a lesson learned.  I bought the backing before I finished the piecing, estimating how much backing I would need.   I bought 5 yards of fleece (did I mention that it was expensive?)  Cut that in half, sew the 2 panels together -- it gave me a backing that was 2 1/2 yards long (90").  When I finished piecing the quilt, and put on the final border, my quilt length was 88".  This only gave me 2 inches to spare, an inch on top, an inch on the bottom. It was enough, but so, so close.)  When I laid out the quilt and pinned it, I was very very careful, and kept checking, and when I finished pinning, I had backing showing on all 4 sides.  Whew.  I proceeded with the quilting and it went along so well.  But as is sometimes the case, after you remove the pins and smooth things out, the quilt top shifts outward, and as a result of this, I lost about an inch or two on the bottom.  I didn't notice this happening as I quilted, the pins didn't have puckering around them as I removed them.  So when I was finished quilting and trimmed the quilt, there it was!  A gap on the back with no backing!  It was a full inch or more in the corner, tapering down to a point where the backing started again.  A long skinny wedge, about 30 inches long.  YIKES!  Some of that wedge would fit under the binding, but I was left then with a gap about 15 inches.  I sewed a piece of fleece to the edge and trimmed it to the quilt length.  It looked horrible.  I ripped it out.  I could have trimmed off 1 inch of border all around, but that would have cut off all the points of my quilted triangles.  Racking my brain, I came up with the perfect solution.  The Label!!  I don't usually put labels on my quilts. (I know, I know, I'm bad....)  I embroidered Bailey's full name (I needed a LONG label!) and 2014 in larger letters on a leftover strip on black sashing, aligned it with the quilt edge in the corner, centered it, cut the ends, and pinned it.  I sewed it in with the binding, then hand sewed the inner part (so the stitches wouldn't show on the front.)  It completely covered the gap and doesn't look out of place at all!  I think it even ADDS to the beauty of the quilt!  Here it is:  You can't tell this was a huge mistake, can you!?

Pounce Powder

For quilting Bailey's quilt, I bought some Pounce Powder and a Pounce pad and a wildlife stencil.  This is the first time I ever used this product and there is a definite learning curve.  My advice would be to play with it a little ( a lot?) before taking it right to the quilt.  Especially if it's a brand new Pounce Pad, like mine was.  It takes a little bit of time for the Pounce Powder to work it's way through the Pad, if it's never been used before.  I poured in some powder, placed the stencil an the quilt, and proceeded to wipe the (powderless) new pad across the lines.  No chalk powder showed on the quilt.  I continued to wipe, tap, slap, POUND the pounce pad, and a little chalk trickled through, but not enough to see the entire pattern.  I repeated the wipe tap slap pound and mumbled something like "this doesn't work, what a waste!"  I decided to go ahead and free hand motion the design as best I could from what I could see,  It was a little wobbly and vague, but I winged it.  I ended up tearing out some of the quilting meanders, and decided I wouldn't use the stencil exactly as it was made.

On my second round of quilting with the pounce powder, the pad now had enough residual powder in it to produce a decent chalk line, and I was able to free motion a much better looking design.  I originally wanted to use the stencil over the entire quilt, but have now decided to just use it in certain parts, and the outside border.  The stencils are somewhat expensive, but there is a YouTube video on how to make your own stencils.  I might try that sometime.  I have a couple of stencils for feathers, but I am trying to learn to do them on my own.

Anyway, here is the pattern I am using for Bailey's quilt:

  

As you can see, the chalk doesn't show up that well on the lighter fabric.  They make a blue pounce powder too.  I have some, and I might try that.   The deal is, the white is iron off.  The blue is wipe/wash off.  I'll have to think about this!  I'd hate to have big blue smears on the quilt!!  I'll have to try a sample on a scrap first ...   Stay tuned!

Thanksgiving

Giving thanks is a natural thing for me, I do it everyday.  But I love Thanksgiving day for the family time and good food too!  Today we went to Luke's for the Gathering, and as always, there was plenty of fabulous foods, family, grandkids, and friends.  I  chose this day to give the Memory Quilts to Maggie and Becky.  It will have been the first Thanksgiving Day for them (for all of us) without their Mother at the Gathering.  I knew it would be emotional for them.  She was always a big part of the food preparations, and there were more than one "Mom Moment."

Since Maggie had originally requested the quilts, she had more than an inkling what was in the gift bags I carried in, but for Becky it was a complete surprise.  There were tears aplenty as they ooohed and ahhhed  over their quilts, all while recognizing fabrics in the quilt blocks and remembering the clothes their Mom had worn.  It was a poignant moment. 

Maggie and her Memory Quilt

Becky with her Memory Quilt

Happy Sisters

Bottled Rainbows

Now with Bailey's quilt off the design board and under the needle, my design board is bare again!  You know what that means!!  Yep, start a new quilt!  That's the sign of a serious quilter, you know!   Two projects going at the same time.  Or more than two...!  or three.... or four....

I found Bottled Rainbows awhile ago, and knew I HAD TO MAKE ONE!  It's a rainbow quilt done in a technique called "ticker tape" or also known as "confetti."  If you Google images for "Bottled Rainbow quilt" you will see all kinds of beautiful examples.  I found this quilt in a magazine and here is the link to the article:  http://www.stitchedincolor.com/2011/02/bottled-rainbows-ticker-tape-quilt.html

This is a "quilt as you go" quilt,  based on the color scheme shown below.  (although you can change this, of course.)  Next to the color scheme is a sample quilt made by someone else to show you what it might look like.  A "tray" is made for each color, and smaller "scraps" are placed in the tray, arranged, and sewn with raw edges on the confetti pieces.  Sewing on these smaller pieces is what quilts your sandwich.  It sounds really easy, and especially fun!!  You can arrange the pieces in a mosaic picture if you are so inclined too!

 

Here are my chosen fabrics (mostly batiks):

The border and background fabrics are cut.

Auditioning fabrics for the "confetti."

I am excited about making this quilt.  I have to decide what backing fabric to use.  I have a couple of choices that I think would work.  One is a black with white spots.  The other is also black but with colorful circles.  What do you think?

I have some time to make a decision on this as I want to finish quilting Bailey's Christmas deer quilt first. Also, I have to sew the borders to the background fabric to make the confetti trays too.  But since this is a "quilt as you go" quilt, I have to decide before I add the confetti!  Oh, decisions, decisions!  Don't we love it!?

Progress Report

I have finished piecing Bailey's quilt, and it is also pinned now.  I am currently in the process of quilting it.

 

Pinning the quilt was a lot easier this time.  We recently threw out a big rug in our dining room that was getting too old and disintegrating.  So I only had to move a table and 4 chairs, and I had this huge space to pin!!  Bailey's quilt is a good size, 88 x  76 and I still had plenty of room for moving around.  Also, Bob bought me some knee pads: 

These are the same kind that construction workers use and are very comfortable to wear.  You can crawl across the quilt and if you kneel on a pin, no pain!  They are a little large, I might have to sew the velcro straps a little shorter.  I highly recommend these knee-savers if you have achy or arthritic knees.  Thanks Bob for the new additions to my sewing paraphernalia!

One tricky thing to make note of while I laid out this quilt for pinning.  Originally, I thought this quilt would end up at around 80" long.  I bought 5 yards (for 2 panels, each 90 inches long) of directional fleece for the backing.  It is a woodsy scene with deer in it and fall colors.  I thought that would be plenty, it was 58" wide.  There was PLENTY of width (116 inches for what turned out to  be 76 inches wide.)  But the LENGTH!!!!!   Ohhhhhhhh!  My quilt turned out to be 88 inches long, so I have an INCH to spare on top and bottom.  That's cutting it tooooo close for comfort!  I am praying nothing stretches as I quilt it!  I can't place the quilt sideways on the backing (well, yes, I COULD, but like I said, it's directional, and I don't want the trees to be sideways...)  Worse case scenerio:  My 6 inch border will turn out to be 5 inches.  I guess this is acceptable.  Could always be worse!  Lesson learned:  Don't "guesstimate" on the short side!  Always get more fabric than you think you'll need!

Estate Sale

I got a phone call from a friend today with a "HOT TIP!"  Seems like there is an estate sale nearby and one of  the many items listed for sale was "quilting fabric."  Evidently,  this lady was an avid quilter and had quite a lot of sewing items in the sale.  This indeed sounded intriguing, so Bob and I decided to go take a look-see!  This Hot Tip turned out to be valid, and our trip to the sale was worthwhile.

I spent $40.25.  I got a large quilting hoop for a dollar.  Even if I never use it to hand quilt a quilt, it's a cool thing to hang in my sewing room.  I bought a beautiful hand stitched wall hanging of a Dresden plate for $5.  The amazing thing about this is the FRAME it was in!  That frame would cost a LOT no doubt.  It's beautiful polished hardwood, inset with "Keyhole" grooves in the back to hang it.  I was more interested in that frame than the stitchery.

Of course I bought fabric.  What a stash!  I think a lot of fabric had already been sold before I got there-- there were no batiks, no red, blue, or black fabrics.  The fabric was heaped upon 2 large tables, each fabric in a ziplock baggie.  Several bags had smaller pieces of fabric grouped by color.  The lady said they figured it was about a dollar a yard.  But I found their measurements to be very generous, and one bag labeled as "1/2 yard" was actually very close to a yard.  I bought a whole box full of fabric:

When I got home, I laid out my new stash according to color.  All in all, there were 81 different pieces of fabric.  Most pieces were at least a half yard, the biggest piece was "2 yards"  but closer to 2 and a half when I measured it at home.  Most of the pieces I bought were about a yard.  A few of the pieces in the "scrap bags" were smaller, but still very usable.   Take a look:

Yes, I got a little carried away with the Christmas fabrics, but 'tis the season to be jolly!  Greens, oranges and yellows also were on the heavy side.  Some white-on-white, they don't show very well in the picture.  Some misc. seasonal fabrics, like Easter eggs and Shamrocks.  And like I said earlier, there were no blacks, reds, or blues to be found.  That's ok, I'm still a happy camper today!!

I'm gonna be on the lookout now for more Estate Sales!  Wheeeeeeee!

Show and Tell

I took Maggie's Memory Quilt and Becky's Throw to the quilt guild meeting tonight for show and tell.  I want to give these quilt to Maggie and Becky on Thanksgiving Day.  We go down to Luke's for dinner every year, and Kay has always been there too.  This year, no Kay.  I know these memory quilts will evoke tears from Mags and Becky, but hopefully tears of joy as well.  It will be a poignant moment.  Thanksgiving seems a better time to give the quilts, better than Christmas.  There's a whole different feeling at Thanksgiving than Christmas.  Christmas has become too commercialized, too "expected."  Thanksgiving will be more serious.

Anyway, here are the 2 finished Memory quilts:

Maggie's Quilt, 98" x 98"

Becky's Throw, 62" x 62"

Empty Design Board

I have finished Becky's throw, and although I still have to quilt Maggie's quilt, I have nothing up on my design board!  So..... I pulled out a bunch of Nature fabrics, and my deer panels and wildlife fabrics, and started Bailey's quilt.  I really HAVE to finish Maggie's quilt first, but I like having more than one project in the works at a time!  I haven't done much with this except audition fabrics.  I really have a lot of fabrics to choose from.   That seems to be a problem for me!  Too many choices! I have a hard time deciding! Anyway, I decided on a few colors, and cut a few triangles to test them out, and I like what I chose.  I want the basic color scheme to be lighter in the center, and then go off darker as you get to the edges, so it looks like a spotlight on the deer.  We'll see how that works.  At least my design board isn't bare any more, AND I can think about how I want to change up the design of the quilt pattern!

Harvest Skinnies

I have been working this past month on making Skinnies.  I have made 4 Harvest skinnies now (and 2 for Halloween.) I still want to do two more harvest skinnies, and have most of the fabric cut.  The 4 that I have finished have been sent to 4 FaceBook friends who joined my "Pay it Forward" initiative last January.  Sometime during the year, I would send them a surprise, and they agreed to Pay it Forward, and send a surprise to 4 of their friends to continue the cycle.  Make the world a better place, one friend (or 4) at a time.  One Harvest Skinny went to Florida, one to Arizona, one to Oregon, and one stayed here in WI.  Here is one of the Harvest Skinnies:

I really enjoy making these skinnies, and I want to make one of these for myself and for Linda.  One for EACH season of the year, and then just switch them out as the appropriate new season descends upon us.  These are a nice size, 14 x 28, so not too small, but then again, not too big.  Just right!  It only takes a few days to make one of these.

Halloween Skinny

Here it is, all finished!  I have to get a dowel for it instead of this arrow, but it's hanging in my kitchen!  Yayyyy!

Skinnies

Maggie's quilt is pinned and waiting.  But I wanted to take a little break before I started in with the quilting again.  So I wanted a quick easy project.  And I found one!  I have a book with patterns for Skinnies, tallish banner-like applique projects.  I had all the materials to make one, but I'm not a big fan of applique.  At least, not until now!  I discovered my new sewing machine has a blanket stitch on it, and even though I never used the fancier stitches on my machine, I gave it a try.  I tinkered with the stitch settings and made some samples, and guess what!  It's not so hard after all.  I had a GREAT time making my first (but not last!!) Skinny!

Here's the book I used:

This book has full sized patterns that you trace onto double sided fusible web.  You cut out on your traced lines and then iron it onto your fabric, then peel off the paper.  There is a rubbery glue on the back of the fabric and you place all your pieces onto the background fabric and when you have an arrangement you like, you iron the pieces again, and the rubbery glue (melts?) fuses the pattern piece to the background or to each other.  It really was quite easy and went fast.  I did this whole skinny in one day, and I didn't know what I was doing exactly.  I will do it a little differently next time--instead of tracing/cutting each shape one at a time, I will do all of one color in a group.  Less waste, and it would be faster.


So!  Here is my first Skinny!  I still have to add the batting, backing and binding, plus hanging "loops", but you get the idea.  I also included a detail closeup so you can see my blanket stitching around the shapes.

 

Oh, and guess what!  THIS project will decorate a wall in MY house!  I usually always give my projects away, but this is a keeper.  I will make more to give away.!

Memory Quilt is Pinned

I have been working on the Memory Quilt, and the top is finished now.  Today, I laid it out and pinned it.  This quilt doesn't quite fit on my kitchen floor.  It's bigger than Dianne's MoonGlow, which I pinned in the garage!  I pinned up to the refrigerator door, there was about 8 inches to go.  I will pin that upstairs as I quilt it.  I really like how this quilt turned out, It's bright and colorful, and the backing fabric I bought from the Internet continues that brightness.  The backing is a little more green than I intended, but it's still pretty, and I know Maggie will love it!

Backing fabric

Throw is finished

I have finished the Companion Throw for Becky.  I had an easy time with the quilting, I like this meandering square free motion stitch!  It's VERY easy to do, and very forgiving if you sew yourself into a tight spot and can't get out.  Just make a square and cut the thread!!  My lines are not very straight though.  I have heard of something called "ruler work" where you use a special thick ruler against your pressure foot to make nice straight lines.  I might have to look into that.  But here it is, anyway, even with crooked, wobbly lines, it looks nice!

In the first picture you can seen the funky fabric I used for the binding!

Bailey's Quilt

My grandson, Bailey, age 14, visited awhile ago and while he was here he asked me a favor: if I would make a quilt for him for Christmas, or maybe his birthday.  What a special request!  I was really touched by it!  So, I have been searching out patterns and fabrics for him.  I have a number of "deer panels" and deer fabric in my stash, and this would be a great quilt to use them in.  Then today, I came across this pattern:

It's called Pheasant Country, and the pattern  was a free download.  (You can get it here.)

The reason this appealed to me is because the 5 pheasant pictures in the quilt are the same size as a panel of deer pictures I have.  Of course my quilt won't look exactly like this, I will jazz it up and make it bigger.  This one is only 60 x 65.  but the checkerboard and triangles around the center are large, and the piecing would go quickly.  This is a good thing because I'd like to have this quilt ready for him for Christmas.  With Maggie's Memory quilts in the works, squeezing in another quilt before Christmas could be tricky.  Maybe after I finish Becky's Memory throw....!

Companion Throw

When Maggie brought over her Mom's clothes for the memory quilt, she asked for a queen sized quilt for herself and a "throw" for her sister.I have been working on the quilt, I have the pieced borders on and the backing fabric bought, it is just waiting to be pinned.  You know how I dislike pinning a quilt!  Soooooooo.... I put that project on hold, and I have been working on the throw for Becky!  As I worked on making blocks for Maggie's quilt, I would make a similar block for Becky's throw, so most of the blocks were already done.  I sewed the blocks together without sashing, and found a 4 yard piece of purple fabric in my stash for the backing. (this is left over from the backing of Kaylyn's Kaleidoscope quilt).  I pulled a light purple fabric from my stash as well for a small border, and a piece of funky purple fabric with electric teal lines for the border.  I am now almost done with the quilting of the throw.  Smaller projects go a lot faster!!  The throw is 3 blocks by 4 blocks and measures @ 42" x 54".  Here is a picture of it:

Becky's Throw

Madison Quilt Expo

Every September, the city of Madison has a Quilt Expo.  Every year, I am sure to go, and this year was no exception.  There are hundreds of venders selling everything from long-arm quilting machines to fabrics to notions of every sort.  It is so vast and so busy, with so many people, it can be a trifle overwhelming!

I always go alone so that I can spend as much time as I want at any given booth, I can meander around at my own chosen speed (slow) and get lost without any "advice"!  This year I bought some Pounce Powder and a couple of stencils.  No fabric this year for me, as my stash is starting to look more like a fabric store than a box of scraps.  I spent a lot of time in the "Hall of Quilts", oooh-ing and ahhhh-ing at the beauties that fall into the category of Art and Art +++  as opposed to "Quilts."  Each quilt was exquisite and the detailing always inspires me.  I always come home fired up and ready to create another masterpiece!  I took 229 pictures of the beautiful quilts I saw.  Here are a few of my favorites:

 This one was the BEST OF SHOW and for good reason.  It was unbelievable in it's tiny details, it looked like a big storybook, and the more you looked at it, the more you saw.  Little fairies,  stars and flowers.  Beautiful!

 Look!!  Another Harry Potter Bookcase quilt!  It got a lot of attention from the viewers, just like mine did!

 I loved this quilt.  The geometric design in the building, and the skinny pieced quarter circles in the corners, plus the scroll around all appealed to my sense of order!

 The bright colors of this quilt and the very large feathers in the corners is what made this quilt so appealing to me.  Simplicity in design, but intricate at the same time.

 This was a double Sampler quilt.  Each of the blocks features a different block, but also each was quilted with a different free motion stitch.  I looked at this one for a long time, because I can do this kind of quilt, and so I examined each block individually, both its construction and its quilting.

 This block is a simple construction, but it also had a kind of hypnotic movement to it.  I also thought the appliqued flowers added a nice touch.

This quilt was just plain pretty!  There were thousands of crystals in the quilt, so it sparkled from every angle.  I loved how the colors flowed into each other from light to dark and it seemed to glow.










I also took lots and lots of pictures of just parts of the quilts, mainly quilting designs or creative borders.  I hope I can make use of these ideas in my future projects.

I spent 5 hours at the Quilt Expo.  LOVE IT!  Can't wait til next year to go again!

Memory Quilt Pieced Border

I have all the sashing and cornerstones on, and the first border around.  Now I am working on the pieced border. Here's are the pieces all laid out, ready to sew.

 The quilt so far measures 84" x 84".  I wanted 2" squares going around, made up of framing fabric and/or "memory" fabrics.  But 84 inches means 42 squares, some of which will be colored, and some of which will be cream.  However, if I need a colored square in each corner (and I do!), I need an odd number of squares, either 43 or 45.  PROBLEM!!  I'm going to be either either 2 inches too wide or 2 in. too short.

Here's how I solved it. I decided to go with 45 squares (2 in wider.) This 2 inches needs to be "absorbed" over the course of 84 inches, and 44 squares. Mathematically, each of the 44 squares only needs to be 2/44ths smaller, or reducing that, 1/22nd.  That's less than 1/16th of an inch!  If I make each square's seam allowance slightly (like a HAIR) wider, that 2 inches would be eased into the length of the whole side.  I'm not THAT accurate of a sewer, that I can judge and sew 1/16th of an inch each time, so I just decide to go for it, sew the seams a hair wider, and adjust everything at the end of the row (either stretch it a little if it's too short, or resew a couple seams a bit wider if it's too long). I sewed my squares together, and placed my strip along the top and pinned it.  It fit PERFECTLY!  I still have to sew it onto the quilt, so I'll let you know how that goes next time!  (can you stand the suspense that long!?)

Memory Quilt

My daughter-in-law, Maggie, asked me to make her a quilt in memory of her Mom, Kay Eicher, who passed away in May.  I said I would.  Maggie brought over a box of Kay's clothes for me to cut up and re-use the fabric to make quilt blocks.

There was a variety of fabrics in the box, not all of them usable.  I can use the tee-shirt fabrics, and the cottons of course, but rayon and polyesters?  I think not. I bought some fuseable interfacing to iron onto the knit fabrics so they won't stretch and got started. There were not enough different fabrics, so I had to have some duplicates.  Maggie wanted a queen sized quilt, so I started looking for a pattern that would showcase her mom's fabrics.  I think I found the PERFECT pattern!

The perfect pattern is called "Bird Watching," and it features larger, 12" blocks.  I framed each of my blocks with a one inch framing strip all around, thus deviating from the pattern a WEE BIT!  My blocks turned out to be 14".  The nice thing about this pattern, is that it has large pieces: one 9" square, one 3" square and two 9x3 rectangles, which helps to show off the fabric design. I tried to pick some color in the fabric to match for the framing strips.  The clothes in the boxes tended to be on the paler side, and I think the framing strips I added help jazz up some of the more muted fabrics and set them off.  I will be adding sashing and cornerstones, and a pieced 6" border.


I have 25 blocks completed, and estimate my finished quilt will be @ 90 x 90".   I arranged the blocks in a 5x5 grid, and set to work trying to balance darks/lights, solids/prints etc.  With no particular color scheme in mind when I started, I noticed a sort of  "rainbow" emerging, and was inspired by that.  Here is the result.

 I debated about what kind of sashing strips to use.  Originally, I was thinking a solid cream color,  somewhat neutral, because the blocks are all sorts of colors.  Then I went to the fabric store, and auditioned the blocks against different cream colored fabrics.  Nothing struck my fancy at all.  I auditioned the blocks against a solid black on a whim, and BINGO!  This is it!  I loved it!  However, Maggie is more traditional in her tastes, and so I decided to get her opinion first.  Maggie was not  totally in favor of solid black, but was very diplomatic and said anything I did would be fine.  My  husband was also not in favor of it, saying that it would make the quilt look like a funeral shroud, and a memory quilt should evoke happy memories.  He didn't think black would do that.  So, back to square 1.  (Or square 2?  I did find a pattern I liked.)

In the meantime, I had ordered some fabric for a different project, and that fabric arrived in the mail.  I tried auditioned this new fabric against my blocks, and actually liked the results.  There are two possibilities:

 

      Black with white dots          or          Cream with Rainbow dots

Knowing Maggie's preference, I have opted to use the Cream with  Rainbow dots. (Especially now that there is a sort of rainbow in the quilt!) The cornerstones stand out better, and so will the pieces in the pieced border when I get that far.  I am satisfied with my choices, now to cut the fabric and sew the quilt!