Make sure the fabric is smooth and aligned properly. Press seams open. Make Continuous Crosswise Grain Quilt Binding Strips . Her work has been published in several magazines in both Canada and the United States. She was named "Canadian Teacher of the Year" in 2003 by the Canadian Quilters Association and has won numerous awards for her quilts. Cut your border strips the length of the fabric instead of the width. Measure your quilt through the middle horizontally. Be sure to come back tomorrow to learn about some other fun things you can do with the embroidery features on THE Dream Machine 2 by Brother. Finish sewing partial seam on top border. You can use a four patch or nine patch units in checkerboard arrangements to achieve a stunning border. If you can mitre the corners, that gives a good effect to the wallhanging. … Cut more as necessary. This is especially important when you are taking your quilt to a long-arm quilter. Kathryn Hatter is a veteran home-school educator, as well as an accomplished gardener, quilter, crocheter, cook, decorator and digital graphics creator. Sew the strips together to make 2 border strips that are about 48″ long and 2 that are about 55″ long. This fun scrappy quilt is quick to put together and a great quilting pattern for beginners. I like to place one or more of the lines on my ruler on the seams to help keep the border straight while cutting. To check if your quilt is even, measure the quilt horizontally and vertically through the center, then at either edge. Repeat Step 2 through Step 5 to cut and sew an outer border, except the width of the outer border should be wider. Reply; Mary Jane Cardwell April 13th, 2014 . To each strip, I'll add 2 x 4" + 1" = 9", giving the strip extra overlap on the adjoining borders. I recently found this awesome jelly roll French braid quilting video tutorial by Pattymac Makes, on YouTube, and I could not wait to get started on this lovely idea. Piece together 2 strips for the front border and 2 strips for the back border the same length as the center of the quilt that you just measured. Cut the remaining fat quarter or scrap fabrics into 2″, 3″, and 4″ strips that are about 7½” long. Using the strip width determined earlier, cut strips from selvage to selvage until you've cut enough fabric to surpass the required length. If you’re a novice sewer, strip quilts are a great place to start your quilting journey. If your strips aren’t long enough, just add a piece left over from the 45½” strips. For length: Measure one side of your block and see how tall it is. Although it may seem to be a time saver to just lay a strip on the side, sew it down and cut off the excess, it really doesn't reduce the time by a significant amount. I can't stress this enough... Be sure that the fabric you'll cut the strips from is square. Use built-in decorative stitches to create faux... From the light colored inner border fabric, cut 5 – 1¼” x WOF (width of fabric). Pin the border's center to the center of the quilt's edge. Fold the fabric one more time to have the fabric folded into four layers. Pin the other width border in the same way. Our goal is also to keep viewers abreast of new quilting products, and how to use them effectively to make quilting easier and enjoyable. Pin one length border to a length edge of the quilt top by placing right sides together and matching raw edges. Strips lose 1/4 inch for each seam it takes to stitch them together, so allow a little extra length when cutting. FREE PDF download is available for a limited time only. The length doesn’t have to be exact, because the strips will be trimmed to 6″ after the borders have been sewn on. Lay the two side strips (one red and one white) one on top of the other exactly, RIGHT SIDES UP. Cut 2 strips the width of the quilt plus twice the border width and 2″ inches extra and 2 strips the length of the quilt plus twice the border width and 2″ inches extra. This isn't necessarily a fabric you used in your actual … For example, if your border will nish at 4" wide, then cut contrasting squares 4½" x 4½" (theyll nish at 4"), or piece quilt blocks that will nish at 4" square. One popular border technique is to have a narrow border first and then a wider border to finish the quilt top. They may have a line of white running along the side and sometimes have printing along the edge. Pin one width border to a width edge of the quilt top by placing right sides together and matching raw edges. How To Add Borders to Your Quilts with Jenny Doan from ... - … The 2x the border width makes sure to cover each adjoining border, and the extra 1" is added insurance. Creating the Border Get four strips of fabric. I made a pair of small curtains using these jelly roll … ... C utting along the length of the fabric will ensure that there will be no stretch on your border when you sew it onto your quilt top. Stitch strip 3 to strip 2 and its end to strip 1. Use a unique pin to signify center. You're on your way to a flat border. Sew the strip sets together along … Take a look at how our Pieced Borders contribute to a quilt. Pin the other length border in the same way. That is a recipe for wavy borders. Too easy!!! DO NOT sew the border strips together on the diagonal, as this introduces a stretching point, resulting in a wave. You can also use the “fabric thickness sensor” button, found on help screen #9, to make adjustments for your particular fabric combination. Lay out your quilt rows and sew them together with a straight stitch on your sewing machine, then sew the rows together to make the full front. You cut long strips of fabric, sew the edges together to create strip sets which are then cut one final time into shapes for quilt blocks. Jean has been designing and publishing patterns since 1997. Learn how your comment data is processed. Press the fabric and place the selvages together. Press the seams toward the quilt top. Fold it back down again and continue the 1/4″ seam. Cut the side border strips to the average measurement from Step 3. The last step to sewing the quilt top is to make and sew on the borders. This will ensure that you have the same measurement for both sides of the quilt. If your strips aren’t long enough, just add a piece left … Trim off extra fabric from end of strip. Start with 6 to 8 strips. Cut two borders to this length and sew them to both sides of the quilt, matching the center of the quilt top with the center of the border. Example: Width of quilt before border = 65″; width of border (s) to be added = 6″. You can stitch the plain border with squared corners or with mitered corners, depending on your expertise. All borders strips are cut to the quilt top side lengths, plus an additional 2x the border width plus 1". To add the back, cut out the fabric squares and lay them on the ground pattern-side down. Yesterday I showed you how to use 7 machine embroidered blocks created on THE Dream Machine 2 by Brother and add some strips to make larger blocks for the Working Girls Quilt. 4 Cut or piece four corner squares to the same dimension as the width of your borders. It’s 11¼” wide – a real bonus for any machine quilter! Sew both width borders to the width edges with a 1/4-inch seam allowance. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This article will explain how to make quilt borders. Sew on bottom border and then the left border. And now you’re all ready to quilt your machine embroidered block quilt. 3 Sew the side border strips to the quilt top and press the seam allowances toward the border strips. Thank you for your demonstration on borders. THE Dream Machine 2: machine fusible applique and... Prepping and cutting fusible appliques with the ScanNCut2, Using strip sets to make quick and easy quilt blocks. Tips You can make a multicolored border by using the same technique on the same quilt. Loved your fabrics in the quilt you made. It is a bit different than the standard checkerboard as I added in some negative space areas. Press to the border and measure again through the center. Checkerboard patterns are easily strip pieced. So all corners are symmetrical, stitch a square in middle of … Making beautiful borders with your walking foot, Making placemats using a modern disappearing 9 patch block. ... Sew an orange strip to a green strip and an orange … You can sew the upper edge into the binding, making one seam do the work of two. Sew the strips together along their ends, press seam allowances open to reduce bulk, then trim the strip so that its … How to … Prepare to cut out the inner border. Stitch 4 to 1 and its end to 3. To make a simple quilt, cut your fabric pieces into squares, adding 1/4 inch to each side for the seams. Sew on right border. Cut out 1 1/2-inch wide strips of fabric. If you are looking for a fun way to use your jelly roll strips that can be customized just about any way you want? Now your border is centered on the quilt. Okay, here are the "oh, my"s. Oh, my, how wonderful to be working at a school where the culture is … 2. While this may seem simple, there are several steps that need to be taken to ensure that the fabric is on the straight of grain and as flat as possible. ... For yet another look try positioning the strips at an angle to the quilt with the angle changing direction at the center of each side. Cut two borders to the measurement you just took and s… The blocks in this quilt were set together using simple sashing with scrappy posts. ). As a regular contributor to Natural News, many of Hatter's Internet publications focus on natural health and parenting. QUILTsocial was created for all quilters, beginners and experts alike, to empower them with the skills, techniques, and creativity required to make quilts that will be cherished forever. ... After setting your quilt blocks together with a simple sashing, you can then start adding borders to your quilt center. Piece border strips end-to-end to achieve length. Join 3 strips together, end to end, to make 1 long strip. Yes, our methods have changed quite a bit in the last quarter century. Project ideas for using leftover fabric applique pieces! How to Sew a Fleece Blanket With Fleece Binding, How to Make a Mitered Corner With Satin Ribbon, Copyright 2021 Leaf Group Ltd. All Rights Reserved. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. THE Dream Machine 2 by Brother showing the home screen. I really like the look of your scrappy border :). For your quilt, you could use any of more than 900 built-in embroidery designs from THE Dream Machine 2 or use designs that you have scanned and/or saved in the machine. For the purpose of these instructions, we will learn how to make this double border. ... Often this will require you to piece a border … Place the strip sets right sides together, matching the outer edges. I'll try to post a photo of a zigzag border strip tomorrow. Beautiful. Trim off extra fabric from end of border strip. Sew the quilt blocks to the sashing strips, always pressing seams toward the sashing. To make the Braided Quilt Border Pattern: Advertisement. For side border strip length, measure through quilt center from top to bottom, then add twice the border width plus 6". Here's some math: my finished border width is 4". Flip the binding strip away from the body of the quilt so you can turn the corner. Quilting is a craft that has been popular for years. Then match up the ends and center point of your border and your top and pin in place. Checkerboard designs form when blocks of alternating light and dark squares are placed next to each other in a pieced border. Don't just sew on a border and cut it off when you get to the end. Advertisement. A mitered corner is stitched at a 45-degree angle to the sides of the quilt.Figure 1: A plain border can have squared o… This past weekend I taught my Bargello Flower class and one of my samples, The Sunflower Quilt, has a checkerboard border on it. For the past several years she has been designing patterns for new fabric collections by Northcott Fabrics. Hatter has also had publication on home improvement websites such as Redbeacon. Lay the two strips of border on top of each other and measure and cut them together. Cut a strip of cream fabric the same size. Tip: Sew together all 5 of your strips for the front border and then all 5 strips for the back border. See all our, Making Log Cabin-style borders for machine embroidered quilt blocks, Creating machine-embroidery wonders using the fill stitch feature. This project is so cute, and you can use the lovely braids for just about anything. Place the fabric on the cutting mat with the folded edge on top and the selvage edges on the bottom. To make sure your quilt lies flat, you must measure your border strips before sewing them on the sides of your quilt top. Step 1. // Leaf Group Lifestyle, Sewing Notions (thread, scissors, pins, etc. Jean holds a Fiber Arts Certificate in quilting and has taught extensively throughout Canada, including six national Quilt Canada conferences. Sometimes a quilt will have just one border, and other times a quilt will have multiple borders of different widths. Lay out your quilt top and decide what kind of border or borders you will sew onto your quilt top. Stitch triangles made with strips to corners. Thank … For width: Keep in mind that you will lose 1/4 inch on both sides of the quilt border. But if you’re an advanced sewer, a strip quilt is such a welcoming … Don't join strips with straight seams across their ends, because that method creates a binding with seam allowances that travel from the front of the quilt to the back in a straight line, resulting in too much … Identify the selvage edges by looking for edges not cut off the fabric bolt. Think of the ease of sewing one nice, long, straight hem–you can definitely sew one nice, long, straight hem! All rights reserved. I’m obsessed with how easy strip quilts are to sew, and with how many fun design looks you can achieve from these identical cuts of fabric. Cut batting strips this length also. For example, if your quilt measures 40" long and your border is 5" wide, you would cut your side border strips 56" long (40" + 10" + 6"). Five inches would be a typical outer border. The two side borders are made together, as are the top and bottom borders as follows. Privacy Policy - Contact us Copyright © 2021 A Needle Pulling Thread. The quilting process alters the measurements of the quilt. Make two inner border strips to the length measured in Step 9. Repeat Step 6 through Step 13 to sew the outer border to the quilt top to finish sewing on the borders. Stitch strip 1 to the end of strip 2, creating a 90-degree angle. From remaining 1¼” strips, cut 2 – 1¼” x 41″. 65″ + 6″ + 6″ + 2″ = strip 79″ long. Make sure the seams of the cornerstones line up with the seams of the borders of the top and bottom strips when you sew the sides in place. Sew on the top border first, using a partial seam. The above picture has more because that's the original … To perfectly fit your borders, first measure the length of your quilt in the center, then on both ends. Pin one length border to a length edge of the quilt top by placing right sides together and matching raw edges. Pin the other length border in the same way. Six 5-1/2" strips can be cut from the border fabric (37" divided by 5-1/2" rounded down to the nearest whole number) Which makes a 252" continous border strip (6 times 42" usable WOF), clearly not enough for 256 inch piece needed. Simple yet effective free-pieced border for baby quilt. Although you can have dozens of border options to think about when planning your quilt, you most likely will use one of two basic types.The easiest and most common border style is the plain border, shown in Figure 1. Help screen #9 showing the fabric thickness sensor button. If you are going to add a hanging sleeve, now is the time to pin it in place. This will be the length of the strips you'll cut. It does an excellent job of keeping all 3 layers of your quilt together so they don’t shift as you’re quilting. [shareaholic app=”follow_buttons” id=”23735596″]. Trim the border so it’s 6″ wide. Would have liked to seen how to do borders on a larger quilt where you would have to add to the border strip to make it long enough to fit the side of the quilt. Borders made with crosswise grain strips are somewhat more stretchy than lengthwise grain border strips, but either type is suitable. 15 Responses to “How to Make a Quilt Border: Cutting and Measuring” julie April 10th, 2014 . The measured method will result in a flat quilt, one where the borders have no extra fabric to make quilting difficult. The width could be as wide as you wish. Cut strips from light and dark fabrics. Measure the length of the quilt top (including the new borders). Step 3: After sewing your blocks and sashing strips together into rows, you’ll need to measure the row width. One of the students suggested I do a Technique Tuesday post on how to make a checkerboard border so here it is.