This one was really a fun quilt to work on. I definitely had to doodle a bit to figure out what to do for these hats and boots, but it finally clicked for me.
One note I would like to make on this one is that the rope in the border was put on prior to quilting - this is NOT the way to do this. It was very difficult to work with, and also caused the quilt itself to be distorted, especially in the corners. Any embellishments should always be added AFTER quilting. (In case you are wondering, she made the "rope" by braiding two colored rick-racks together.)
The hats were actually a bigger challenge for me to do than the boots, and after looking at many pictures of cowboy hats, I opted to simply decorate the band a bit, and add in what I hoped looked like natural creases. Since the hats also had an additional white space below, a complimentary boot/hat border added a little extra charm here.
Some creases were also added to the boots, as well as continuous curve in the square blocks of the boot top, and they definitely needed some spurs!
Since the hats and boots did not have a lot of quilting actually in them, the background area around them was stippled for some extra texture.
The black border/sashing areas were stitched with loops and stars. To work with the "rope", a simple wavy pattern was used to compliment, and for the red corner blocks, a simple continuous curve.
Well quilting pardners, that's all for now. Until next time, happy quilting!
Cathy
Verse for the day: "Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." (James 4:4)