Why Quilt Borders Matter

I pieced this quilt more than five years ago and finished quilting it yesterday.  


Back when I pieced it, I just slapped on some borders, no measuring involved.  Although I prefer to be lazy and just sew on the borders with no measuring, it really does pay to take the time to measure the top and do the average size for the borders to work towards a flat quilt top.  If you don't, you end up with something like this.

This amount of ripple WILL NOT quilt out.

I tried using the starch/iron/steam method I mentioned a few weeks ago, but even that couldn't rescue this quilt.  I ended up having to sew in a tuck on one of the borders because I just couldn't ease it in any more.

The quilt currently does not lay flat, although I could probably block it to remove the little ripples.  Not planning to go that far though, since I already had to take an ugly tuck and it's not show quilt quality.


I do really like the quilting pattern I used on this.  It's called "Hubby Love" by Beany Girl Quilts.

So the lesson is:  always take the time to do the math and measure to ensure quality borders.  Your longarmer will love you for this and you will love your finished quilt since it will be flat!

In other news, we had a nice garden harvest the other night--lettuce, a few green beans, and the most delicious potatoes and cucumber!

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