Free ruler borders and frames1/4/2024 ![]() Place fabrics right sides together and sew a diagonal seam to make a bias join. This kind of seam uses more fabric than one where the ends of the strips are butted together. Using a bias seam makes the join almost invisible. These shorter pieces have to be pieced for long borders and this should be done using a diagonal or bias seam. When doing this, you are still on the straight grain but you do get a small amount of stretch. You would need to calculate extra for mitered borders as noted above.įor large quilts, it is more economical to cut border strips from the width of fabric. In this case, to figure out the amount of fabric needed would simply be the length of the longest border plus seam allowances for straight borders assuming they are less than 10" wide. You have to plan for this from the beginning to work out how much fabric is required. Using the lengthwise grain means that the fabric has no stretch or give and you may end up with unpieced strips. You begin by sewing all four borders on the quilt. For details on how to do this, see this lesson: Mitered Corners Figuring Out the Fabric Requirements for Borders I find it actually helps if I draw a little diagram to make sure I have the calculation correct.Īttaching borders to form mitered corners is a little bit different. The extra half inch includes the seam allowance and a little wiggle room for creating the miter. You must add the width of the border and another 1/2" on EACH side of the strip (the ends of the border strips need to overlap so you have enough fabric to create the miter).įor example, the math would look like this:ġ/2" + border width + quilt measurement + border width + 1/2" Multiple borders are done in the same way as described above adding and measuring one border at a time.Įach time a new border is added, measure the entire distance through the middle of the quilt to include the borders as you did when adding the sides on the straight border above.Ī mitered border is measured in the same way as if you were adding cornerstones where you measure both directions of the quilt, however do not cut the strips this length as we need to add extra fabric to make the miters. Measuring through the center gives the average measurement of the two sides - just in case it isn't quite square. Lay the quilt on a flat surface and measure through the middle from top to bottom. You need to trim so that all the sides are straight, the corners make right angles and the quilt, when folded, will meet exactly in the four corners. ![]() Use the aid of a long ruler to ensure your line of trimming will be straight all the way down the side of the quilt. Use the largest square ruler you own and put it in the corner. ![]() Lay the quilt out on a flat surface with your cutting mat under one corner. It may look square but it is important to measure and make it correct before starting. The first step is to square the quilt edges. Don't skimp on the finishings - be sure to take a little extra time to finish your quilt correctly. Your quilt will NOT be square and you may even have ripples along the edges. Attaching border strips without measuring them first is a disaster waiting to happen. You've spent all that time creating your beautiful quilt so it is important to get the borders correct.
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