Is this Border Security?

Is this border security? Have I done something wrong?

I wish I was writing about International Border Security, I love the TV show, love seeing the stupid things people do, but alas COVID has stopped us travelling so I am actually writing about patchwork borders.

My patchwork group decided to do a Round Robin quilts during one of our lockdowns, and I say one because we are now in lockdown 6 and they have all started blurring together. I have recently been given my quilt back and it got me thinking, in a wakeful moment during the night, about borders, rules that should not be broken re borders and what makes a good border. Now I must say I love how my quilt has turned out and I am looking forward to putting the final border on and quilting it.

So border rules and thoughts:

1.      When doing a Round Robin quilt with friends always treat the border, you are doing, as if it was for your quilt.

2.      Always make the border in a length that can be divided evenly by several numbers ie don’t make it 39,57 etc because nothing divides into them evenly. I always try and give the next person a few options ie they could 4 inch or 6 inch blocks or 3 inch or 5 inch block, you know what I mean. If you do put on a border that is not divisible by a whole number you are forcing the next person to put on a plain border to make the next border divisible by a whole number. I hear you say is that really an issue, in most cases probably not but a plain border may not look right if there are no other plain borders in the quilt it may look a bit odd to suddenly have one. Or in order to get the maths right it may require a wide border which may not work with the rest of the layout.

3.      I have put ½ inch borders on quilts up to an 8 inch. The size of the border, whether it is within the quilt top or an outer border, should be in balance with the rest of the quilt. Hence why point 2 is important.

4.      Borders can help pull stretched quilts back into line. When measuring a quilt for a border always measure through the centre of the quilt in both directions or you can also measure the edge as well and take the average of the 2 measurements. Never just measure the edge as I have mentioned the edge might have stretched.

5.      When it comes to outer borders I like to make the border either smaller or larger than the blocks it will be abutting ie if the blocks in the quilt are 8 inch then I like to make the border say 6 inches or less or 10 inches or more. It is all about balance.

6.      The other thing to consider, when putting a plain outer border on a quilt, is whether to mitre the corners or not. That will all depend on the overall design of the quilt but remember to decide this prior to buying the other border fabric as there is a significant difference in how much fabric you will need.

These are my thoughts re borders, you may not agree with me and that’s ok. We all look at patchwork quilts with different eyes so what one person likes another may not. That’s why I love this art form, there are so many layouts, colour and pattern possibilities, sizes and rules to be broken.

Happy sewing

Margaret