Dresden / Butterfly top preview

Thanks to the quilt group time (in June), I managed not only to finish the fourth butterfly needed to round out the Dresden quilt, but I even pieced them into the larger blocks I needed -- and placed things together for a preview of the top!

I had just enough background fabric to piece the approximately 5 inch butterfly blocks into two 12 inch blocks.

The two butterflies closest to the Dresden plate are made from fabric pulled directly from the plates / scraps that came with the quilt. The two farther removed butterflies are partly (orange) or all (green/black) pulled from my scrap stash.

Since I had a little bit of extra time -- and not much desire to start on another project in that little bit of time -- I started practicing my planned layout:

I had thought to put the butterfly sets in the center (as shown above) but all the feedback I've gotten says to move it to the top row. I have a while to think about it, but I'm leaning towards not listening. I like it how it is now.

Right now, finished size is on goal to be around 40 - 42 inch square. I like it, but it feels just a little small. Then again, not all babies are the size of mine! Still, I'm debating adding a thin brown then a thick yellow border just to add 3 - 5 inches before the dark brown trim. I think the best option is to finish the top as designed above, then I can make the determination on adding extra borders once I see the real top.

On the other hand, I love the way it looks right now, and I really don't want to mess with it further.

Do I always end up in these kinds of situations? I think I usually do. Must be one of the reasons most people who quilt plan first and piece later...

I'm so nervous about adding those 4 little brown blocks. The quilt needs them, but those kinds of elements are exactly where my accuracy (or lack of) usually becomes incredibly obvious. But there's only 4 of them. Surely I can keep it together for that long!