Well, I extended it one more day - I just have to finish the miter corners on the border of my quilt top and it will be done. My quilt is set on point, so the miter borders are a necessity. I have done it on smaller quilts but never on a queen size - I'm definitely stalling. Any quick tips?
The easiest way I know is to sew the extra long borders to right and left sides- sew all the way from one edge of the quilt to the other edge. Then sew on the top and bottom borders but start and stop 1/4 in. from the edge of the quilt using a back sitich to secure the ends. This eliminates the peeky-hole you will often get when you start and stop all corners 1/4 in. from the edge. Then, working with the right side of the quilt top up, extend both borders at one corner so they cross over each other- be sure the border that you stopped sewing 1/4 in. from the edge is on top. (Doing this right on your ironing board eliminates the need to move everything for the next steps.) Fold under the border that stopped 1/4 in. from the edge. When you fold it under in the 45 degree position, it will perfectly match the underlaying border where it's extended out from the quilt. Take a ruler with a 45 degree angle line on it and double check for a perfect angle. When adjusted, press a crease in the fold. Then you have two options- either pin it very carefully from under the crease so you can flip it back and machine sew on the crease line.... OR pin very carefully on top of the crease and stitch the crease down by hand using an invisible applique stitch. I find the applique much easier to get the angle perfectly angled. If you go for the machine stitching, you can baste it first, either by hand or machine and double check that everything is okay before sewing it with your normal size stitches. Trim off the excess border fabric.
It's really exactly the same as mitering one your smaller quilts... just a bit larger. Good luck!
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
On Jan 29, 2:59 pm, "Bonnie NJ" wrote:
Just one: once you have your binding sewn on, and the ends joined together, do the four *corners*, before you do anything else. Fold the fabric to the back, taking great care to get the mitre just right on the front. Pin the binding for about four inches either side of the corner - making sure you don't get any twists into it. Then turn the quilt over, feel where the bulk of the fabric is within the binding, then fold it so that the bulk of the fabric on the back part of the corner is on the other side. Make another good mitre, pointing the outer corners, and pin the whole corner very carefully. Once the corners are pinned nicely, you can zoom along without having a hold up for the corners. . In message , Bonnie NJ writes
No tips, but I am so impressed by your progress, and that of everyone else. I had high hopes for a project of my own, but came down with the worst case of The Crud (more like flu than cold, I guess) I've had since high school, and it pretty much wrecked my week. However...I'm still going to plow into my project and complete it now that I'm starting to think I might actually survive. :)
Congrats to all who partook! Hope to see lots of pics!
Nancy in NS
I think mitering corners on borders is big fun; it's easy to entertain us old biddies. Getting from the ironing board to the SM is a bit tricky. To make everything stay where I want it, I use Wash Away Wonder (double-faced) tape. I'm not terribly impressed with that stuff and expect plain old Elmer's glue stick would work quite as well. I sneak just a little tape in the seam allowance so I can travel to the SM after I do as Leslie suggested. Pins can slip just the least little bit and if you're mitering with stripes or a fussy-cut print you don't want that to happen. If you're not sure you're following our guidance (and it is just so hard to explain without using our hands), it wouldn't hurt to make a trial run with a scrap square of about 12 to 18 inches. Good luck. Polly
Pat: Thanks for the tip. I've never thought to do the four corners *first!* I will give that a go.
I already do work to distribute the folds on back opposite to those on front. It does make for neater corners.
Also, I like to hand stitch those folds closed, whether I use hand or SM stitch> Just one: once you have your binding sewn on, and the ends joined
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