QuiltnMyra

Me too, Craftnut. Thank you, that is so helpful. I really like my borders to compliment the quilt, part of the overall look so to speak and that formula just seems so right.

Boston1954

I like to put two borders, usually the inner one will be about an inch and a half. The outer border's size depends on what I want to put for the quilting. I have one I'm working on right now that is 4 inches wide. I have seen some that are much larger, and look very nice. I would not want to go so wide that it over powers the main body of the quilt.

glorcour

if you use the Fibonacci sequence of numbers, you will achieve perfect proportion. divide the width of the block by 1.6 and continue dividing each answer by 1.6. A 12 inch block could use borders of 7.5, 4.75, 3.0, 1.875, 1.125, 0.75. these sizes are rounded up or down to the nearest eighth of an inch and can be used to determine border and smashing widths to provide a balanced proportionate look. Start with the size of the block and continue dividing each answer by 1.6 and rounding to the nearest eighth of a inch.

glorcour

what are smashing widths? I meant sashing. this tablet does autocorrect. duh!

lclang

Somewhere I read that your border should not be more than half the width of your block. That is just someone's opinion, there are no rules. Do what you think looks best!

paoberle

I might decide based on the amount of fabric I have remaining. If I want to make my quilt larger I will add a wider border, or maybe two borders. I lay the quilt on the floor and play with my fabrics until it feels right.

G'ma Kay

I tend to make the borders the size they need to be to make the quilt the size I want it to be for a bed.

stitch678

The border is the "frame" that sets off the rest of the quilt, and more importantly, it helps you attain the "finished" size you desire for your intended use.So you may need a narrow border to keep it from getting too big ... you may then need a stronger color. lf your project needs to grow to fit a bed, for instance, he can add a wider border, or multi borders. He can have some fun adding pieced borders with shapes that echo/compliment the main portion.There are medalion quilts that have a smallish center and the rest of the entire quilt is borders , others have only the binding to "stop" the eye...totally a personal choice

QandE2010

I use this method, but if I have less of one fabric that I need, I use it "loosely". LOL.
Here is a link to the Fibonacci sequence.

http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/fi...-sequence.html

Roberta

Thanks to you all for your advice. A special thanks to Craftnut. I too am going to save your post as Luana is going to do. It should come in very handy in the future.