gingerd

I have 2 borders to put onto a quilt. Can I sew the two of them together then put onto each side of the quilt?

In the past I've done them individually. I just wondered why I couldn't sew them together then onto the quilt.

Thanks!

GEMRM

Doing them individually means each frames the quilt around it's entire edge. Doing them joined will mean that the corner won't be right(I think).
But, if you're going to mitre them then I think it might work?
Somebody else chime in here please with corrections if needed!

quiltingshorttimer

Gemrm is right--if you sew the borders together first then put on the quilt without mitering them you will end up with the inner border going across the outer border at each corner. You could do it with them joined if you miter them. If this doesn't make sense, take 2 markers of different colors and draw your quilt on paper and then put the two markers in your hand together and draw the borders like you'd normally sew on a border (for me that is sides first and then top/bottom)

zozee

Another thought if you don’t want to miter: use cornerstones. You could sew the two border strips together and wouldn’t have to worry about the issue mentioned above.

gingerd

Thanks ladies! I totally forgot about the corners!

Tartan

It is actually better to sew multiple borders together before adding them to a top because you are less likely to get ripples.

SusieQOH

Ah! That's good to know, thanks! I have trouble with that.

Watson

Tartan and Zozee are both spot on. Sew them together and then use cornerstones for some extra wow.

Watson

DeltaMS

I have done it both ways. I always miter my corners if I have that option.

Iceblossom

When I am putting things together I try to keep the pieces a similar size as much as I can. That is, put half a quilt with half a quilt, not one row on most of a quilt so that makes putting on borders smoothly a bit of a challenge. I pin a lot... about every 2". I use long quilting pins and pin well below the seam line so that the fabric is held securely but no pins in the feed dogs or under the needle. I really believe that my good results come from pinning and pressing all the time every time. I've tried other techniques and I've seen people who do great things without pinning -- but they aren't me and I'm not them!

With multiple borders as already said, you can sew them together and then miter or put in a corner block.

One other thing that hasn't been mentioned yet is with butt joints you can lessen the number of times you go around a quilt with multiple borders. Let's see how well I can describe it:

First attach the first border to the two opposing sides to the "bed" of the quilt. Then sew the two borders together for the remaining sides, and attach them to the bed. Then you attach the final long borders.

Ideally I want to (a) miter or (b) go around more like a log cabin but there are times when I only have so much fabric and don't have quite enough for the long sides and I'll use that technique. I'm happiest when it is a small print fabric and the seams do their disappearing trick, but I've also had to do it with solids. Less happy but always happy to get the top done!