Wavy borders on quilt
Do you ever find that once you have finished your quilt top that it doesn’t lay flat? This is more common than you think and can happen frequently when adding one or more borders and especially on quilts that have blocks on point or fabrics on the diagonal. Today’s topic is all about helping you create nice flat borders on your quilts.
Here’s some examples of what wavy borders can look like.
I have pieced quilt tops for over 25 years and only now that I am a longarm quilter have I realized that this method is a MUST for keeping borders nice and flat.
If you just sew your border fabric strips and then trim excess off you may not notice that the centre quilt blocks can stretch at the seams as you sew (blocks on the bias can stretch all the way along) causing wavy borders. First square up your quilt top centre (adding borders to an unsquare centre will result in uneven edges). Note: Squaring up each block before sewing blocks together will be very helpful in achieving a square centre for your quilt top.
See this Diagram from quiltfabrication.com
For borders, measure the quilt top at the edges and across the center. Average that number and cut the borders that length. See this diagram from quiltfabrication.com
For adding borders, pin at the center, ends and quarter points...and eighth points if it is large. Sew with the fuller side on the bottom so the feed dogs help you distribute it across the quilt. This is a game changer on reducing wavy borders and puckers when quilting.
Here is a video link from a quilter that I found on YouTube that shows exactly how to use this method of adding borders to your quilt.
I hope you have found this tutorial helpful and I look forward to seeing your beautiful quilts in my studio.
Andrea Fehr
Quilting Farm Girl