Gameboard Borders?

The gameboard quilt top is now finished...or does it need borders? What do you think?  It is not a very useful size - about 36 inches square at the moment.  I do like things I make to have some use.  The Minick & Simpson pattern it is based on is a wall hanging.  Not sure what I think about wall hangings.  I think I will leave it on the wall as it is while I think about it.  My next project will be something with a definite use.

If I add to this I will need to buy some more fabric!

Linking with Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.

Little and Large

A quick progress report on the English Paper Piecing projects:

The four corner squares of the Gameboard quilt are done.  These finish at 12 inches.  Here they are with their papers still in.  The next step will be to do the four squares which make up the playing area for the game.  I will leave the central "home" square until last. I've been doing some Wiki research on the rules of the American game Parcheesi, and the British game Ludo.  In Parcheesi, the players progress round the board anti-clockwise but in Ludo they go clockwise.  There are loads of variants to both games.  I think I'm going to modify the Minick and Simpson pattern to make it a bit more like our Ludo.

On the tiny front, I've got this far with the Liberty Lawn hexagons. There are sixty-one 3/4 inch hexagons in this 6 1/2 inch piece, which will probably turn into a pin cushion.  I'm hoping it will turn out half as nice as Fabadashery's and have started researching local suppliers of crushed walnut shells for the filling.  It's ruinous to buy it online because the weight makes the postage expensive.

Linking up with Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet

Game Board Quilt

This book about North American Gameboards was given to me by my sister sometime around 1985, following her visit to the American Folk Art Museum in New York.  

Most of the boards in this book are for Parcheesi, which seems to be similar to the game we call Ludo in the UK. But other games are represented too.

I love these game boards, no doubt for the same reasons that I am drawn to patchwork and any kind of geometrics.  Apparently antique game boards are now keenly collected and go for silly money.  Could I make a game board quilt?  Last week I got all enthusiastic and got as far as drawing a rough plan on graph paper.

But there is nothing new under the sun.  Minick & Simpson have already done it!  

After some muttering I bought their pattern and made a start but could not cope with the curves.  I think I might be able to use the English Paper Piecing method.  It is the biggest EPP I have ever done - the square will finish at 12 inches.  Here's where I got to this week:

Also in the pic you can see some small hexagons.  I started these to use up some of my tiny Liberty Lawn scraps.  Liberty Lawn is perfect for small EPP because it is so fine.  This may become bigger or get used as it is in some small project.