I'm ready to add my borders to my top, what about you?
It can be easy to want to add the borders quickly and finish your quilt. You've been working on it for days, weeks, months and you are so close to being done, but nothing is more frustrating than a wavy border when you are ready to start quilting.
On Spinning Bow Ties we're going to add the top and bottom inner border first. To keep away the waves you should measure your quilt before cutting your border pieces. To figure out the measurement needed measure along the top, middle and bottom of your quilt, then take average of those measurements. Many times you can just take the middle measurement, but if you are new to quilting I recommend taking all three for each quilt you make until you are comfortable getting those measurements.
Once you have your border pieces cut, and stitched if they need to be, you'll want to pin it to the quilt top. As we know, the fabric doesn't always feed through the machine evenly, this is even more true when your top is getting larger and heavier. I enlist a family member to help with this part. If you don't have someone to help you can see how I pin borders on when I'm on my own: Read this post.
To add borders I pin the corners, then have someone help hold the top up and keep it taut, not stretched. Then I pin in the middle. If it's a large top I keep pinning the border in even intervals. Even, because that's how my brain works, but you can do it however you like. Just make sure you are keeping the top and border taut.
After you have put the top and bottom borders on it's time to measure again. We're measuring the same way, only the length this time. Right side, middle, left side and take the average of these measurements. Pin the same way. (The above picture is of the outside border because I got caught up stitching the borders on and forgot to take a picture of the inner border. Measuring looks the same though. ☺)
I am using a border with words printed in a straight line. Unfortunately that line is not on the grain on the fabric I am using. It happens. So what do you do? I chose to cut so the lines were straight and not worry about the fabric being on grain.
I am using a border with words printed in a straight line. Unfortunately that line is not on the grain on the fabric I am using. It happens. So what do you do? I chose to cut so the lines were straight and not worry about the fabric being on grain.
With the selvedge off so much because of how I lined up the fabric I need to trim off that selvedge carefully. I open up the strip, line up the ruler on one edge of the cut to make sure my cut will be straight, and trim off the selvedge.
Repeat these steps for the outside borders. That's it! Now you get to start to plan your quilting. We are so close to finishing our quilts!
Happy Stitching!
Jen
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