Measuring for Borders

Yup, that's the way I do it too. It's certainly a lot easier than taking a number measurement with a tape measure, then measuring out that again. THAT would be really tedious. (The problem with this quilt was the discrepancy in the measurement through the middle and the measurement of the edge. I TOLD you it was a pain in the patoot! ) It's good you wrote that to remind us how to do it that way. I don't think it's used enough.

Glad you replied, Kathyl, because it makes me realize that I forgot to mention the importance of pinning the border to the quilt. We find and mark the mid and quarter points of both edges of the top, as well as mid and quarter points of the borders. (The longer the pieces, the more points we find and mark.) Then we match the marked points of border to side, and repeat for all borders. If there is some discrepancy, we 'fudge' which ever way will work best. Sometimes that means just easing in but sometimes it means we have to take in a smidgen of a few seams. Theoretically of course, all the borders are the exact correct size and such fudging is not needed. PAT

I do almost the same thing, though I fold the quilt in half & then fold the center to the outside edges, so that I have the center and the 2 sides together. If the 3 measurements (center, each side) are a bit different, I can then measure the borders against an approximate average.

Julia > In a "tedious" post, Kathyl remarked that she really dislikes measuring for

The pinning of the borders on a large quilt is where the tedium comes in. It's a lot of wresting and wrangling. That's when it seems like there must be 5 or 6 borders! Of course, if I was smart enough to do it on the floor rather than my ironing board, the task would be much simpler.

Pat, I do mind in a similar fashion. But don't have anywhere to lay out the whole quilt, nor am I very likely to get up and down from the floor. However, for most of my "larger" quilts I do the following. I fold the center in half. Then in half the other way, so I have the quilt quartered. I cut my border lengths the desired width and fold each in half. I then line up the folds of 2 of my borders with the fold of the quilt (doing the long way/sides first). pin at the folds, cut once at the other end, through all 4 layers of border for those 2 sides. For mitered borders make sure that there is at least a border's width extending beyond the edge of the quilt. (By folding and such you remember to put that extra on both ends.... sigh.) and I don't cut for the mitered borders, just mark the length. Since every thing is folded in half already you can easily mark centers of sides and borders. can also do quarters and such then if needed. (I frequently "press mark" my match points right at the ironing board, which is also where I am doing a lot of my cutting these days. ) Repeat, after sewing/pressing the side borders for the top/bottom borders.

I always cut my 2 opposite side borders at the same time so that I know they are the same length. IF opposites are the same length, then the quilt top should be square..... hopefully.

Oh, another note....If you are doing multiple borders it may be worthwhile to miter them. Sew the borders together, matching centers (you may end up with a "step pyramid" look at the ends). Then sew the borders to the center of the quilt in one pass. Saves a lot of hassle.

Pati, Gr> In a "tedious" post, Kathyl remarked that she really dislikes measuring f= or

I simply measure the quilt through the middle, cut two strips that length and sew them on. I measure the quilt with a 120" tape. Then, I measure the other way and do the same. My "problem" with wavy borders was solved this way. No floor needed.

Happy quilting,

Lenore

I do almost exactly the same, with a few minor exceptions. First of all, I work from 1/2 the quilt from a table (old back here). However, before that, I check for the middle compared to the sides by folding the cleanly ironed quilt into careful quarters and bringing the edges to the fold in the middle in both directions. (Quick way to check for square!!) As long as they are "within reason" (say less than 3/4" per corner depending on the size of the quilt, then I proceed. I "measure" as you do, laying strips along the middle, but I keep the middle of the border marked with a slight fold. I put another fold back at both ends (keeps the ends straight and square), and then I add two more folds at the 1/4 and 3/4 marks. I mark these same folds - 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 in the quilt top, the ends speak for themselves. I find that by marking and aligning these 5 points, any size differences are easily accommodated into the length of the quilt. I've had great, and very simple, success this way.

Lorraine in La Center

I've done that, but put my walking foot on to do it, seems to work pretty well if you go slowly and don't yank on the fabric at all.

Cheers Anne

Yep, I do it that way too. Works well. Sew with the piece that is the loosest (if any) on the bottom toward the feed dogs and it will all work in.

Thanks!