Quilt 67: Mystic Purple Garden - DONE!

I discovered "Fabric.com" last year and have ordered quite a bit of fabric from them.  It's a teeny bit risky to order quilt fabric online, but as I'm starting to recognize certain manufacturers and "name brands", it's a little easier.  The panel below is from "Timeless Treasures" - and the photo, well it just doesn't do it justice:

 
The rich blue, purple, green jewel tones are jaw-dropping - and the accents in metallic gold really make it pop.

The problem with this, though, is the border running above and below the main panel.  It's, well, just awkward.  And the large expanse of metallic gold looks like trouble waiting to happen.  I test washed it in cold water and it came out fine, But I have to think that over time (and multiple washings), it's going to flake off.  The tiny bits of filigree inside the design won't look bad if the gold does fade out, but these big spaces.. hm...

And then there's just the problem of how to handle a border which appears only at the top and bottom, not on the sides.

 So I chopped it off.  In the photo below you can see that I've left just under 1/4" of it on the panel.  Using 1/4" seams, the gold won't show on the front, and I won't have to worry about stitching over the flowers and leaves around the edges of the panel.

Now to think about what kind of design to employ.  I bought a coordinating print to go with the panel.  Although I don't want to slap on a series of plain borders, I feel there shouldn't be too much "pattern" in the top, as the fabrics themselves deserve the limelight.

So, using my quilt software, here's what I came up with:

And here's the top completed and ready to "sandwich" and quilt!

On the longarm...

Auditioning the thread.  I opted to use a variegated thread on this one.  The thread shows up well against the solids, but fades into the background on the print - just what I'm wanting!

And here it is - off the longam and edges trimmed up, ready for the binding:

Here's the backing - you can see the variegated thread on this side, and the colours switching back and forth make an interesting pattern.

And here's the finished quilt!   51" x 62" -

51" x 62" - quilted on the longarm ("Blustery Breeze" groovy board) - 100% cotton batting

This one goes to my old gradeschool pal Julie-Anne in America.