Posts Tagged "Pieced Borders"

A day or so ago I was asked about the directions of the border blocks on the Black Friday quilt . . had I turned the borders wrong.

This is exactly how the blocks were sewn for the border.  Notice the little black square for each border block is in the bottom left position in that block.

I could have turned all the blocks so they “framed” or “faced” the center of the quilt.  The way I do that is place the left side border blocks in the correct position.  Turn the bottom border blocks clockwise once, turn the left side borders clockwise twice and the top border blocks clockwise three times and this is what I would get.  I did swap out the corner blocks for plain blocks instead of pieced blocks for this version.

The same thing was done with the border blocks for Bears in the Farmhouse.  The half square triangles were all left facing the same direction instead of “framing” the center.

Play around with your border blocks!  You don’t have to do it any certain way . . just however you like them is fine!   You don’t have to do them the way the pattern says, nor do you have to do them the way you’ve always done them or even the way everything thinks they should go.  Have fun with the borders!

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.

I’d like to again say that this is only what works for me.  The way I make borders is my personal preference, not based on some border school I’ve attended or any advanced design training . . it’s just the way I like for my quilts to look.  If you make quilts with one narrow, non-pieced border, or you make your quilts with 10 one inch borders . . so long as you like them . . that’s great!  My quilts are no better than your quilts; in fact, most of you make prettier quilts than I make.  I’m just sharing info I’ve been asked to share.

There’s a lot of talk about Fibonacci Numbers related to quilting.  The thought goes through my head as I’m creating borders . . sometimes, but I always do what feels right or looks right.  You can google “fibonacci numbers” if you want to learn more about it.  It’s truly an interesting concept though it doesn’t always work when you’re trying to get to a number that will work for a pieced border.

Here’s an interesting story.

Glistening Rose Garden

This was the first quilt I ever designed totally from scratch.  I entered it in lots of shows when it was first made and it won lots of ribbons.  One quite famous quilter/judge happened to judge this quilt at two shows within a couple of months of each other.  I’m not going to say her name or the shows where this happened but the first time she judged it, and I’m not looking at the comments, though I did save them, she said something like . . the outer border is too wide for the quilt and the quilting overpowers the quilt.  It happened to win a fist place ribbon at that show though.  When the quilt came back from another show and I was reading the judges’ comments, I noticed this same person who had written the above comments at the first show, wrote this the second time she saw the quilt . . Excellent quilting in outer border. Nicely frames the quilt!  Go figure!  Then Bonnie Browning asked to use the quilt in her book, Borders & Finishing Touches 2 so my feelings weren’t too hurt over the first comments I received.

But, to me, that proved that I could do whatever I wanted to do with my borders.  And, honestly, I make the quilts I want to make and I make them the way I like them.  If they turn out nice enough, I enter them in shows but for the most part, I do not design a quilt, piece it and make it with the intention of it being in a show quilt.

A few hard fast rules I try to follow:

1. When deciding on borders, my first decision is whether there will be a pieced border at some point.  If so, I have to decide the size of the blocks in the pieced border and my main goal is then to get the quilt size to where it will be a multiple of that number by the time I get to that border.  This sometimes take adding several borders prior to the pieced border.  Often the side borders will need to be wider than the top and bottom borders (or vice versa) to get the pieced border to work.  Suppose I need to add an extra 4″ (total) to the sides.  It’s easier to add 1″ to the sides of one border (both sides = 2 extra inches) and then add 1″ to the sides of another border (both sides = 2 extra inches so I now have those 4 inches needed) than it is to add 2″ to the two sides of one border.  That can sometimes make the quilt look  a little out of balance.  We’ll talk more about this later.
2. I try to never end my quilts with a pieced border.  As a longarmer, I know the problems this can create.  Also, when adding binding, I sew it on using a 3/8″ seam allowance so if there are any points in an outer pieced border, I’m going to lose them.  So, I try to always add a non-pieced border as the outer border.
3. Do you want your binding to be the same color as your outer border?  If so, you’ll want to end with that same fabric that you’re using for your binding.
4. I look for a “framing” appearance when adding my borders.  You can see the example in the Peaches & Dreams quilt.  See how the center portion and the pieced border, are “framed” by the narrow orange border?  Then the entire quilt is “framed” by the outer orange border.

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.

The next statement I make will cause many of you to remove my blog from your blog reader, never to return to my blog again but, here it is:

I do not measure before adding borders!  I just don’t do it!

I use Electric Quilt.  Let’s just do a shameless plug here and get this part out of the way.  If you don’t have EQ, you can order it from me here.  Thanks!  If you’re not an EQ user, well . . why not?

Back to measuring, there are two reasons I do not measure (well, three if you count that I just don’t like that part!):

1. If I’m measuring a quilt, depending on the size, I can come up with a very wide variation in numbers.  It can be stretched ever so slightly to yield a slightly larger number than you need; it can be scrunched just a bit to yield a slightly smaller  number than you need.  Even with pressing, the top can be distorted a bit so that your numbers aren’t totally accurate.
2. If you know your blocks are measuring perfectly at 10″ or 12″ finished, and you know your sashing is measuring at 2″ finished, why can’t you just figure that 4 blocks x 10″ plus 3 sashing strips x 2″ = 46″ plus 1/2″ seam allowance (1/4 on each edge) . . your border needs to be 46-1/2″.

Who wants to measure down the left side, measure down the right side, measure down the middle, add them all up and take an average?  Not me!

The only potential for a problem that may arise is when your blocks are supposed to be 12″ finished and you have one that might be 12-1/4″ or one that may be 11-3/4″ but quilters . . make sure those blocks are right!  If your blocks aren’t right, your sashing isn’t going to be right and then one side of your border may need to be 46″ while one side may need to be 46-1/2″.  So, figure out how to get those blocks as right as possible.

If you don’t have Electric Quilt, you can simply make yourself a chart:

# of blocks x size of blocks = ________

# of sashing strips x size of sashing strips = ________

This is the size of your top with no borders.  Don’t forget to add 1/2″ for the two 1/4″ seam allowances.

Then for each additional border you add:

Start with the size of your top without borders.  For this example, let’s say the top is 46″ x 58″.

You will know that your side borders need to be 58-1/2″ before you attach them.  Let’s assume this border is 2″ finished.

Your width of your top is 46″ plus you’ve added 2″ on either side so 46 + 2″ on the left and 2″ on the right.  Now your top width is 50″.

Here’s a chart that I use when making borders.  If I’m sewing away from home, I always make my borders before leaving home, whether pieced or straight, and layer them with the outer border on bottom and continue stacking them til the first border to be added is on top.  Then I roll them up and tie my little bundle loosely with a selvage or strip of fabric.  When I’m ready to sew, I untie the bundle, unroll it and the first border gets added to the sides of the top, then the next border gets added to the top and bottom and so on.  I keep this little chart with the bundle so I have it for reference if needed.

Now, if you’re using Electric Quilt, this is very easy!  This is what you see when you have just the top drawn out.  Click on these to make them larger!

Notice:

1. In the top of the “Horizontal Layout” box, you see the size of the center of the quilt.
2. You see the size of the blocks, the size of the sashing and the number of blocks used.
3. Towards the bottom right, you see the size of the quilt at this point.

Let’s add that first 2-1/2″ finished border (cut 3″).

Notice:

1. In the “Borders” box, you see the size of this quilt after adding these borders.  Since I always add the side borders first, I use the measurements from the first box where no borders were added yet so my side borders are cut 3″ x 58-1/2″.
2. This particular borders box tells me that once the side borders have been added, the quilt measures 51″ x 63″, seam allowances not included.  So, I know my top and bottom borders need to be cut 3″ x 51-1/2″.  My top, including seam allowances now should measure 51-1/2″ x 63-1/2″.
3. I know that the next border (next round) I add will be the side borders.  So, whatever width they need to be,  the length will be 63-1/2″.

My next border will be a pieced border.  I’m using 3″ finished squares.  I needed to be sure that the top at this point measures numbers that are multiples of 3.  We will talk more about this later.  I know (because my calculator tells me) that 63 divided by 3 means I need 21 – 3″ blocks for the sides.  51 divided by 3 = 17 so I need 17 – 3″ blocks for the top and bottom.  And, I need four 3″ corner squares.  So, I need 21 and 21 (two sides), 17 and 17 (top and bottom) and 4 (corners) blocks for the border.  I need 80 – 3″ (3-1/2″) blocks for this pieced border.

Notice:

1. You see that we’re working on the 2nd of 2 borders.
2. You see that this top will be 57″ x 69″, not counting seam allowances, after the addition of these borders.
3. You see how many blocks are added to the sides and top/bottom.  You have to remember that you’ll also need the 4 corner blocks.

The final border is going to be 4″ (cut 4-1/2″).  I know that since the quilt was 57-1/2″ x 69-1/2″ after the previous border, my side borders will be cut 4-1/2″ x 69-1/2″.  From this screen shot, I can see that the top and bottom borders will be 65″ long finished so I will cut those 4-1/2″ x 65-1/2″, for a final measurement of this top top to be 65-1/2″ x 77-1/2″.

Some may find it easier to measure than to do the math.  I find it easier to do the math and keep the chart.  However you do it, please make sure your borders fit properly!  One method you might want to avoid is taking long strips and sewing . . without regard to measurements.  Ask me how I know this method doesn’t always work!

You know I loved pieced borders.  How do you feel about borders?  Do you prefer not to add borders?  Maybe just a plain non-pieced border?  Do you love multiple borders, especially pieced borders?

If you’re one who doesn’t like multiple borders and/or pieced borders, well, I’ll try to come up with something else to interest you . . because I aim to please everyone!

For those who love pieced borders, I’m going to do a series on pieced borders.  The posts won’t we back to back or every day . . they’ll be just whenever I can get them done.   More than giving out free patterns, I want you to feel confident creating your own borders and making them fit your own quilts.

The Star BOM we did recently had 7  borders, including the pieced ribbon border.

The Big Star quilt offered as a free pattern has multiple borders, including a pieced border.   I just remembered that I need to write the instructions for the second border option.

I’ve seen gorgeous quilts with no borders at all so I’m not saying that every quilt needs multiple borders or a pieced border (or two) . .  I’m just saying that I love multiple borders and pieced borders and I’ll share a bit of what I’ve learned through the years about borders for any of you who may be interested.  I will add a section over on the right side bar under “Free Patterns and Projects” and try to keep this organized.