How to Sew Borders on Quilts

How to Sew Borders
on Quilts

How to Sew Borders

on Quilts

Step-by-Step Instructions for Sewing Borders with Bu! ed
Corners, Borders with Corner Squares, and Mitered Borders
2 How to Sew Borders on Quilts
Are We Done Yet?
Many quilts languish as unquilted tops, never  nished,
never used. I happen to be a ““process”” person——I like making
the quilt top but am often bored with it by the time it
comes to  nishing. But if I tell myself ““Done is better than
not-done”” and take the few remaining steps to complete
my quilt, I’’m a lot more satis ed. I still need to:

1 Add borders if desired (and I’’ll tell you how to do
that in this article).

2 Make the back. Layer and baste the quilt, batting,
and backing. Then quilt or tie the layers (see Making
a Quilt Sandwich).

3 Bind (See Binding a Quilt).
Quilt Borders

Sometimes we quilters add borders without really thinking
about it, but not every quilt needs or should have a border.
Borders also don’’t have to be uniform. I made a quilt
for my bed, and I made it long enough to have a pillow
tuck but realized that if I put multiple borders at the top
of the quilt, you’’d just see strips of the borders running
across the pillows. So I made the side and bottom borders
the widths I wanted, but I didn’’t put any borders at the top
edge. Now the pretty piecing shows on top of my pillows.
Experiment by sewing borders of uneven widths, or try
adding borders on only one or two sides of your quilt.
Borders should enhance the quilt, not just make it larger
(though I  gure that is a good enough reason if needed).
For best results, don’’t cut border strips and sew them to
the quilt without measuring  rst. I used to just sew on the
border strips and trim them to size afterward, and then
wondered why my quilts were odd shapes and would not
lie  at. But my imperfect piecing, added to my lackadaisical
pressing, equaled a top that was not a rectangle but
instead a trapezoid with sides more than an inch di􀆤 erent
in length. If I make opposing borders the same length as
one another, I can ease or stretch the quilt top to match
the borders, and then I end up with a miraculously rectangular
quilt top! Measuring the quilt top through the center
and cutting strips to match ensures that the  nished quilt
will be as straight and as ““square”” as possible, without
wavy edges.

So the  rst step in making borders for quilts is to measure
the quilt top through the center in both directions to
determine how long to cut the border strips. If your quilt
sides are uneven, measuring through the center usually
gives you a length midway between the shorter side and
the longer side. If one side of the quilt top is longer than
the other, cut opposite borders to match the center length
measurement, and then ease in or slightly stretch the quilt
top to  t the matching borders. If a quilt is rectangular
instead of square and the borders are just basic strips,
I think it usually looks a little better if you sew the side
borders on before the top and bottom borders. It really
doesn’’t matter which is sewn  rst, it’’s just a personal
preference.

Many quilt patterns call for plain border strips. If a border
is longer than 40", some instructions have you cut along
the crosswise grain (selvage to selvage) and join the strips
where extra length is needed. Other patterns have you cut
border strips from the length of the fabric (parallel to the
selvage) so that you don’’t need to piece. Some quilters
hate seams in the borders and others feel that by the time
the quilt is quilted, the seams aren’’t visible. Cutting all the
borders on the crosswise grain and piecing borders can
save fabric, and that is a factor for me. A big part of my
decision depends on what my border fabric looks like.
Most of the time I don’’t mind seams, but be aware that
solids show seams a lot more than small prints do. Large
prints sometimes end up with a seam right in the middle
of a motif, which can be visually distracting, so in that case
I’’m more likely to choose the seamless option. If you’’re using
a directional print, you may want to cut the borders so
that the print faces one direction in the side borders and
the other direction in the top and bottom borders. That
can take a lot of fabric, but it might be worth it! Look at
what a di􀆤 erence the direction of the border print makes.
Borders with Butted Corners
A border with butted corners is the easiest and most common
border to make. It’’s particularly well suited for a quilt
pieced simply from squares and rectangles, such as a Nine
Patch.

1 Measure the length of the quilt top through the
center. Cut two border strips to this measurement.
Determine the midpoints of the border strips and quilt top
All borders cut
along the same grain
(selvage to selvage).
Two borders cut along
one grain and two from
the opposite grain.
Side borders
Top and bottom borders
Side borders
Top and bottom borders

3 How to Sew Borders on Quilts

by folding them in half and creasing or pinning the centers.
Then pin the borders to opposite sides of the quilt
top, matching the center marks and ends, and easing as
necessary. Sew the border strips in place. Press the seam
allowances toward the border strips.
2 For the sides, cut two border strips the same length
as the quilt top. For the top and bottom, cut two border
strips the width of the quilt top.
3 Sew the side border strips to the quilt top and press
the seam allowances toward the border strips.
4 Cut or piece four corner squares to the same
dimension as the width of your borders. For example,
if your border will  nish at 4" wide, then cut contrasting
squares 4½" x 4½" (they’’ll  nish at 4"), or piece quilt
blocks that will  nish at 4" square.
5 Sew a plain or pieced block to each end of both the
top and bottom border strips. Press the seam allowances
toward the border strips.
2 Measure the width of the quilt top through the
center, including the side borders just added. Cut two
borders to this measurement. Mark the centers of the quilt
edges and the border strips. Pin the borders to the top and
bottom edges of the quilt top, matching the center marks
and ends, and easing as necessary. Sew the border strips
in place. Press the seam allowances toward the borders.
Measure center of quilt,
top to bo!om. Mark centers.
3 If you want to add multiple borders, repeat steps 1
and 2 for each round of borders.
Borders with Corner Squares
If you like the simplicity of sewing a border with butted
corners but want to add a bit of variety, you can piece contrasting
corner squares, run a narrower inner border out to
the quilt edge, or piece the entire border! Here’’s how to
add a plain border with corner squares.
1 Measure the length and width of the quilt top.
Measure center of quilt, side to side,
including border strips. Mark centers.
6 Matching seam intersections, sew the border strip/
block units to the top and bottom of the quilt. Press
the seam allowances toward the border strips.

Borders with Mitered Corners

Mitered borders on quilts give a picture-frame look and
tell your fellow quilters you were game to try something
considered a little more di􀆧 cult than butted borders. The
truth is, mitering quilt borders is not that di􀆧 cult. Once
you muster the courage to try them, mitered borders are
a great addition to your quilting repertoire. I like them in
quilts with two or more borders and in quilts with a lot of
angles in the piecing.
1 Estimate the  nished outside dimensions of your
quilt, including the border. For example, if your quilt
top measures 45½" x 60½" across the center and you
want a 5"-wide border, your quilt will measure about
55½" x 70½" after the border has been attached. You
q

4 How to Sew Borders on Quilts

need ¼" on all sides for seam allowances, so to give yourself
some leeway I suggest adding an additional 2½" to 4"
to the border’’s length. Then add ½" to the border’’s width.
For our example quilt, you’’d cut two border strips that
measure 5½" x approximately 59" long, and two border
strips that measure 5½" x approximately 73" long.
If your quilt has more than one border, you can match the
center marks of each and then sew all the border strips
for each side together at once, and then sew the resulting
border units to the quilt top. To calculate the di􀆤 erent
border lengths, estimate the size of the quilt after
the  rst border is added, just as you would for only one
border, and then add ½" to the width and 2½" to 4" to
the length. For example, if you wanted a  nished 1"-wide
inner border for your 45½" x 60½" quilt top, you’’d cut
two strips 1½" x 50", and two 1½" x 65".
2 Fold the quilt in half and mark the centers of the
quilt edges. Fold each border strip in half and mark
the centers with pins. Measure from the center of the quilt
top to the edge to  nd the halved length of the top. Measuring
from the center of each strip, use a pin to mark the
halved quilt-top length on each border.
4 Lay the  rst corner to be mitered on an ironing board.
Fold under one border strip at a 45° angle to the
other strip. Press and pin.
Length of quilt top
Center
Right side
of quilt
Stitching begins
"#$" from corner
of quilt top.
Stitching ends
"#$" from corner
of quilt top.
Center
Pressed crease
Wrong
side
of quilt
3 Pin the border strips to the quilt top, matching the
centers. Align the pins at either end of the border
strip with the ends of the quilt, and ease the remainder
of the border strip to  t. Stitch to the quilt top, beginning
and ending ¼" from the raw edges of the quilt top. Repeat
with the remaining border strips.
5 Fold the quilt with right sides together, aligning the
adjacent edges of the border. If necessary, use a
ruler and pencil to draw a line on the crease to make the
stitching line more visible. Stitch on the pressed crease,
sewing from the previous stitching line to the outer
edges. If you have multiple borders, be sure to match the
seam intersections of each border.
6 Press the seam allowances open, check the right side
of the quilt to make sure the miters are neat, and
then turn the quilt over and trim away the excess border
strips, leaving a ¼" seam allowance.
7 Repeat with the remaining corners.