this week's stitches

I have the hardest time laying out my blocks.

I knew I was going to be moving these blocks all around

so my usual lay-out-the-quilt-on-the-bed

wasn't really going to work for this quilt.

I calculated

and re-calculated (twice)

how much I would need, then I carefully cut my batting

and tossed it up over a curtain rod in the living room,

 stuck in a few pins so it wouldn't slip off

and ended up with a nice little temporary design wall.

I left it up several days and moved blocks around occasionally.

I got it to where I was satisfied.

Not thrilled, mind you, 

but satisfied.

And then 

Josiah

 knocked over half of my blocks off!!

and I was back to square one.

I ended up completely changing my plan

(again ~  this quilt has had a mind of its own)

and went with 6 x 9 rows

instead of 7 x 8.

Once I got them rearranged

I stuck a pin through each one;

they weren't going anywhere this time.

I got a little sidetracked in my sewing on Saturday

but then Saturday night, 

I sat down to put the white thread back in the machine.

I had to get those blocks sewn together!

As soon as I had my machine threaded though,

my stack of to-do's stuck behind the serger 

caught my eye.

That cheery sunshine started calling my name.

And before I knew it - I'd made this little number,

inspired by a little girl's dress I'd seen at church 6 days earlier.

When I showed it to Lex' in the morning,

she was so tickled!

"A tutu dress? Thank-you, Mommy!"

I love that she says thank-you without being prompted to.

Of course, Lily wondered where her dress was...

Taking some time here and there throughout the week,

I finally did get around to sewing those blocks together.

Then I added the horizontal sashing

and I'm getting close to getting the whole top sewn up.

I'm stuck on what to use as a border, though.

I don't typically do borders,

 but I think it'd add to the 'paintbox' feel if it had one.

Plus, it could stand a few extra inches;

I like my throws nice & big.

The back will be gray 

with one 3" block of each fabric.

Should I use gray?

Two narrowish borders ~ gray, then white??

Something different entirely???

Whatdya think??