Posts Tagged "Borders"

Who ever said you have to make your blocks first, then you borders?  Can you make you borders first?  Then make your blocks?  Yes, you can and I mostly do.  Since most of my quilts seem to have 7 or 8 borders, I often make the borders first.  I’ll lay the outermost top and bottom borders down first, then the side borders . . say that’s border #7.  Then I’ll put the top and bottom borders for the 6th border down and keep going in order so that the sides for the first border are on top.  I can pick them off, sew them on, then pick up the next ones, sew them on and not have to deal with making borders when I’m near the near the end of the quilt and already wanting to start another quilt.

The quilt I’m working on is set on point.  The center blocks are not difficult blocks but instead of using plain setting side and corner triangles, these are pieced and I wasn’t sure how easy they were going to be so I did them all first.

Looks kinda like a jigsaw puzzle, huh?  Don’t you always work the edges of the puzzle first?  That’s what I thought . . I’m not backwards after all! 

If you’ve tried to plan a pieced border, you may have come across a border design that has to have either an even number of blocks or an odd number of blocks in order to work correctly.  This is an example of a border that has to have an odd number of blocks in order to achieve the desired look.

On the example below, notice the top and bottom borders, over on the right side . . this is what the border would look like if the top and bottom borders had an even number of blocks.  If you’re not working with Electric Quilt, or your preferred computer program and you’re not sure if your border is going to require an odd or even number of blocks, or if it even matters, make 2 or 3 blocks, or draw them out on paper and see if you’re getting the design you want with an even number of blocks or if you’re going to need an odd number of blocks to create the design.

The above border design doesn’t appear complete, or planned and looks choppy.  This is where your coping strip will make it work for you.  Don’t forget to use this sheet to calculate the coping strip.  Suppose the border blocks are 6″ and after adding the border before the pieced border, the top measures 44″.  Seven 6″ blocks would be 42″ and the top is already too big for that to work.  Nine 6″ blocks would be 54″.  That means the top needs to be 10″ larger for nine 6″ blocks to work.  A 5″ border at this point in the top might look chunky.

Here’s where you can add a couple (or more) narrow borders and create a more balanced look while getting your quilt to be the size needed.

In order to help carry that balance to the end of the quilt, the border pattern (narrow ecru, narrow green, narrow ecru) is repeated after the pieced border.

This example now has 8 borders but sometimes, that’s just what has to happen. Here’s the exact same center with only an ecru and dark green border.

Nothing wrong with this quilt but if pieced borders are what you’re wanting, sometimes you simply can’t add just one pieced border.  You may have to build up to the pieced border and then build out from it to achieve the look you’re wanting.

How many borders are right?  It’s up to you!  Don’t you love it?  It’s your quilt and as long as you’re happy with it, you can have 1 border or 100 borders — whatever you want!  Let the quilt be your guide.  If you look at your  quilt and find that it looks like the borders are overpowering the quilt, make the changed needed.

Because I love borders, I often use fewer blocks in order to have room for pieced borders. When I was making Peaches & Dreams, I had it planned to have 8 borders.

I knew that borders #1, 2 and 3 were going to happen as planned because those were the borders prior to the pieced border.  I had to get the quilt to a multiple of the size of the squares in that border.  But after I got the pieced border done, I was so ready to stop.  Maybe I could leave off border #5.

NO!  That didn’t look good at all.  Do you see how it just looks like something is missing without that lighter orange strip in between the pieced border and the next narrow orange border?

Maybe I could leave off the next one.

That does nothing for the quilt. In my opinion, the narrow orange border, which is Border #6,  needs be there.  Maybe I could leave off the 6th and 7th borders, making the next to last light orange border more narrow (which is the same thing as making Border #6 wider and leaving off the last two borders.

That would work ok but I think it looks much better with all the borders.  What the quilt really needed was all 8 borders, don’t you think? See how the darker orange border creates a frame for the blocks in the quilt, then frames the pieced border, then frames the entire quilt?  That’s the look I like!

My advice is forget any preconceived notions you have about how many borders you need to use.  Add however many or however few borders you feel enhances the quilt.

1. The border posts are not meant for everyone.  If you close your eyes and sew long, unmeasured strips to your quilts and that works, why change anything?  I say . . if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!  If what you’re doing works for you, then don’t even think about trying a different method.  There are many ways to do anything and what I’m writing is certainly not meant to be the only way or the right way to add borders.  It’s what works for me and that’s what others have asked me to share.  By the way, I’ve quilted Vicky’s tops and whatever she does, it works!  She doesn’t need to change anything!  Her quilts are always flat and square.  In fact, I sometimes look at her quilts and wish mine were so flat and square.

Please don’t anyone think you need to change the way you’re doing borders because of what I write.  If you aren’t happy with the way your borders are turning out and you want to try what I’m suggesting, then try it.  It might work for you . . it might not!

2. Whether EQ runs on a MAC without causing problems — CJ at Tinkle Times runs it on hers and I’d be surprised if she would do it if it caused problems at all.  If you’re designing your own quilts and you’re not using EQ or any other software and you’re happy with your results . . don’t change anything!

3.  For those not sewing an accurate 1/4″ seam, pieced sashings aren’t going to work either.  It’s just a whole lot easier to figure out once and for all how to get a 1/4″ seam and go with that.  I guess I’m kinda anal about some things but I cannot understand why a quilter wouldn’t take the time and effort to figure out how to make a good 1/4″ seam.   Most all patterns are written fro 1/4″ seams; if putting together several sections, especially if there are points .. they’re not going to match if the seams aren’t 1/4″.

4.  If you’re wanting to add a pieced border, you absolutely have to be sure that when you get to the point of being ready to sew on that pieced border,  your top has to measure a multiple of the size of your blocks.  If I am adding a 4″ block in a pieced border, the last border added before adding that pieced border has to be a multiple of 4.

I’ll say it again — these are my suggestions; these border posts are what works for me.  You do not have to do borders my way!  You do not have to use EQ!  You do not have to make 1/4″ seams . . you can do anything that makes you happy!  But, I’ve been asked over and over about my borders and that’s simply what I’m sharing . . borders the way I do them!

Many of you mentioned in my “Give up a Step” post that you struggle with borders.  I have an idea!  For those of you who have quilts needing borders, if you’re kinda stuck on what to do, how about you send me a picture of your quilt and the measurements of the quilt as it is now.  Since we have Stash Sunday, Design Wall Monday, we can do Border Tuesday!  I’ll post a picture of your quilt (if you send it to me, I have permission to post the picture, ok?) and ask for suggestions for borders.  For those with EQ, you can draw it out if you choose or you can just make the main part of the quilt plain squares and then show the borders so you don’t have to draw out all the blocks . . which could run into the evil copyright issues anyway.  You’ll have a week to email those drawings/suggestions to me and then I can make a post the next Tuesday with all the suggested drawings.  Or, if you want to just write out your suggestions, you can leave them as a comment on the original post.  Make sense?  Maybe not but I know what I’m thinking.

1.  Send me pictures of any quilts you have that need borders.  Include the size of the top as it is now, along with any information as to where you got the pattern, the designer, the book, etc.  We need to give credit to the designer.

2.  On Tuesday, I’ll post one quilt with the info as to size, designer, etc.

3.  Blog readers can either leave comments which can include figures, links to quilts they have done or seen that have borders you think might work or you can email me any time before the next Tuesday.  On that following Tuesday, I’ll post all the pictures you sent me and then I’ll post another border dilemma quilt.

Sound like fun?