Olivia's Grammy

I have one client that has rather messy quilts. One quilt had all four sides measuring different. I had to give the quilt back for her to fix. Did I mention that she is one of my close friends. Well she "fixed" it and brought it back to me. I always check to see if the quilt is square, but this I missed until I had it frame and started quilting. She put darts in the inner boarder in order to make the out boarder fit. She was happy but I wasn't. She is still bringing be her quilts to be finished.

leggz48

We all have different levels of acceptable work, huh?

jillaine

I want to share how helpful this post has been to me. I am in the midst of making a king-size quilt for my in-laws. It's from Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day (har har har) Kaleidoscope Quilt book. I was just about to start putting the border on when I read this post. Those of you who recommended measuring from the middle and then cutting the strips to that length were RIGHT ON. I had never done borders this way, and I sure am glad I did. I used to just start at one corner, attach the border and go! Now, I have borders that are the same length as each other, and all around. Don't know how it is I never learned this before. THANK YOU.

nativetexan

hmmm, i used to measure but just don't have a lot of room. mostly i cut a border close to the quilt measurements and pin the center, then just start sliding my hand along the border and top and pin, slide and pin, etc. then do the other end from center out. works well for me. then i trim excess off when borders all on.

bearisgray

If one has limited room, one can fold the top in half or quarters so that it fits on a flat surface. Then measure half and double that number. I find it's easier to do that than to try to wrestle with the top when it's all stretched out.

suebee

here is a great video on "extra fullness" and trying to "quilt that out"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPHsB...feature=relmfu

Scakes

Can you believe I'm having a bad week? Lightening got my modem again - later in the day after posting this. I got my borders and my bindings mixed up when I was posting this. I really do put my borders on first and then the binding after it is quilted. Sorry to be so goofy.

bearisgray

The woman is a miracle worker. But why should she have to be????

germanquilter

I used to measure my borders and pin and sew on until my LAQ and a quilter for 35 years told me to just make larger border strips, sew on and trim excess. I seem to sew pretty accurate 1/4 inch seams because I have not had any issues with wavy borders. I do wonder if it is the material difference between the quilt top and the borders though that could affect waviness. I tend to not mix Batiks and regular fabric and try to use the same-weight fabric throughout a quilt unless it is really scrappy.

jillaine

Phenomenal! Very helpful; very amazing. Should be on the must-view list of all LAQs who are faced with poorly measured borders. (And I'm thinking this is translatable to "regular" machine quilting as well?)