DogHouseMom

Ugh! I've picked a border that I really want to use. It's strip pieced, then the strips are cut into 1.5 strips and sewn together with staggered edges so that when the border is placed the strips are on the diagonal and you cut off the triangle edges. Kind of like doing a border of squares on-point. Going to try to mimic it below

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My first problem was that I couldn't get my "scant" right for the strip sets (3 different strip sets are needed). And with it being a border, if the measurements were off I'd be royally screwed by the time I got to the first corner. Finally got that sorted after much ripping, then the 1.5" strips cut and started piecing them.

I pieced 5 of them together and I know I should have checked earlier (like the 1st 2 or 3 strips!) to make sure that they were straight ... and they're not. It's off. The bottom edge veers wider than the top edge.

Because I had such a heavy date with my seam ripper last night and again this morning, I decided I'm going to try to block these suckers into shape instead of ripping them apart.

So one side of the diagonal needed to be stretched, the other shrunk. Got it blocked on my board now with one side watered and one side starched.

I picked this border because I thought it was a perfect fit for the project, and I still do. I'm determined to make it work. It's only my second time fitting a pieced border, and my first time blocking fabric!! Fingers crossed.

If it doesn't work I've got plenty more fabric :)

feline fanatic

Sounds like Seminole piecing or a variation of it. I've never tried blocking a strip set but I think Barnbum did it with her flower bargello and it worked for her.

One word of caution with this border. Once all assembled you will be attaching I bias edge and your quilt will have a bias edge. I recommend loads of pins when attaching to keep it from stretching on you and a stay stitch on the outside edge to keep it in shape for quilting. Sounds lovely, can't wait to see a picture.

ghostrider

One trick on borders that are bias edged like that (and there sure are a lot of them!), is to not cut the angles off until after you sew it to the quilt body or the next border. That way there is no bias edge when you are messing with it.

DogHouseMom

Yup! Had already planned on that. It's what I did when I pieced the squares on point border. Sew first, cut later.

I just went in and check on it and it seems to be working better on the stretchy end than the shrinky edge. Applying more and more starch.

QuiltnNan

i wish you'd shared that with me when i was adding the seminole borders to my daughter's king! :-)