Exploring the Basics: Borders

We've discussed quilt styles and even assembly approaches.  Once you have your quilt center pieced and assembled, you can add borders.  

Border Styles

As with assembly approaches, there are numerous types of borders.  Yes, your pattern may already include instructions for a particular type and size of border.  But understanding some of the various types of borders gives you the ability to make changes to suit your personal tastes and needs.  So let's have a look!

Butted or Square Corner Borders

In this example above, both the inner border (yes you can have more than one!) and the outer border are both butted or squared borders.  You may see them also referred to as long horizontal borders.

Let's look at the quilt as a line drawing.  Ah....now you can kinda see why it may be called a "long horizontal" border style.  The top and bottom borders are the longest borders on the quilt, for both the inner border (the narrow one) and the outer border.

This is by far one of the more common styles of borders.  And if you're wondering why the top and bottom are longer than the sides, here's one common school of thought.

By adding the side borders first and THEN adding the top and bottom, you may be able to minimize the amount of piecing you have to do.  It all comes down to the math.  I know - I've thrown some math at you in the past.  Here it is again!  If you had know how much math was in quilting...well....enough said!

Mitered Borders

Mitered borders have a 45 degree angle and join at the corners of the quilt.  No - most quilts would NOT have two different border colors.  I did that simply to highlight the miter so you could see it!

While many quilters shy away from mitered borders because they call for a bit more attention to detail, they can add an extra design element.  More on that later.  

A definite plus to mitered borders is that you have the ability to strip piece them - something you CANNOT do with butted or square corner borders.  Because the inner and outer borders share the same angle, you can piece them as a long strip set and then miter at the same time, which can be a real time saver!

I have a brief little tutorial on my website that walks you through the basics of sewing on a mitered border.  You can find it here.

Pieced Borders

Borders don't have to be large, plain strips of fabric.  Oh no - they can be pieced.  Almost anything you can put in the quilt center or in a block can be part of a border as well.  In the example above, there are flying geese, strip sets (the dark and medium pink) and even pieced corner blocks.  All of these elements come together to form a more complex border treatment.

Border Design Elements

One element of border design is fabric use.  In a butted border, a striped print may not shine as well as an overall print (as seen in the first example above).  The blunted ends of the border do not make the most of the stripe print.

Look at the difference a border style can make - using the same fabric and the same orientation of the print!  The mitered corners maximize the impact of the stripe for a wonderful effect.

Size Matters

Size - or scale of the border in relation to the quilt center - is another design element that should be considered.  The general rule of thumb is that the border should not be larger than the largest block in the quilt.  Now before you say "yes, but....," of course there are some exceptions. 

But consider the example above.  The 10" outer border seems to dwarf and minimize the quilt center.  Suddenly those 9" blocks look overwhelmed by the extreme size of the border.

Multiple Borders

Multiple borders are not only an interesting design element, offering the opportunity to repeat accent colors and provide contrast, but they also can enable the quilter to make a quilt larger without sacrificing balance.  

By adding a second inner border, sized between the small inner border and the large scale outer border, additional depth and contrast is provided in the quilt.

If you are trying to make a quilt larger, consider a few options:

• stitch additional blocks to make additional rows of blocks
• increase each border size slightly
• add an additional border

Keep in mind the examples above when making those adjustments.  Borders are definitely part of the overall quilt design, and will have an impact on the look of the finished quilt!

Measurements Matter Too

Has this ever happened?  You follow the pattern exactly.  But perhaps you had some difficulty with some of the blocks.  Your quilt center doesn't look perfectly square or straight.  Your measurements are somewhat different than the pattern is listing.  So what do you do?

You get your tape measure out and you measure your pressed quilt center.  WHERE you measure is KEY!  Measure from the top of the quilt to the bottom of the quilt IN THE CENTER.  Cut your side borders to this measurement.

Pin the side borders on, and gently ease in any difference.  Hint: Putting the bigger piece on the bottom, near the feed dogs, will help ease in any difference in measurements. Taking this step will help "square" your quilt up (make it more even in measurement) and help it lay flat.

Now measure the quilt across the width, again in the center, and cut your top and bottom borders to the measurement.  Again, pin and ease in any differences as you stitch. 

It is worth the little bit of extra time this takes, and your quilt will look so much better because of it!

While I've covered a just a few broad aspects of borders with you, I haven't covered all of them!  There are many many more options!  That's one of the amazing aspects of quilting for me - all of the possibilities.

Kate is going to have more insights on quilt assembly for you as well, so hop on over to her blog to get more helpful suggestions!

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