I decided that my Devils Claws needed a border, even though the original antique quilt didn't have one. I never make hurried decisions about important things like this, so it took a few months of auditioning fabrics before I settled on this one.

 It's Antique Fair by Blackbird Designs, in a sort of tan colourway.  I chose the same fabric design in red to set my sq in sq blocks, and I think it must have been brewing in the back of my mind...why not use the tan fabric on this top? I quite often buy large florals like this on spec, hoping they'll suit some top waiting for borders, and most times it all works out very well. Perhaps my subconcious is one step ahead of me all the time and I buy these fabrics already half knowing where they'll end up.

Whatever the case, I'm very happy to be able to just pull out a stack of big florals and try a few until I get an  idea of what the top wants. It's a wonderful feeling to finally decide where I'm going with a particular top, the end really is in sight then.

 Because of the large repeat I had to cut twelve strips ( three for each side )and then I matched the pattern as best I could. The motifs didn't exactly line up but at least the joins aren't all that noticeable

One of the reasons I put off sewing the blocks together all those years ago was the realisation that this was going to be a Big quilt. It's nearly 100" square, with the addition of a small spacer border and then the floral fabric.Putting the borders on made it so much  bigger that  I couldn't get a decent photo of it anywhere. Keryn and I are working on an area to hang large quilts up and take well-lit photos, but the heat has put an end to those efforts at the moment. The workshop is far too hot on days like this (another 43 C scorcher, yuk) but we have our plans to get decent photos of all our quilts. As soon as it's cool again....