arbed31

I am trying to sew borders on a quilt top. I was told to measure from the center and not the edge. The border fabric is too short.

Please someone with experience help me!

virtualbernie

How much too short? You should ease in the fullness.

amma

That is a correct way to measure for borders.
How long is your measurement, and how much are you short on the border piece?

ccb2200

I have been told that that is the best way to measure for your borders and that is how I do it. Do you have the right borders on the correct side of the quilt? If you put borders on the top and bottom then you want to measure again to get the correct size for the side borders, because these borders won't be the same size as the top and bottom borders. Hope this helps you.

arbed31

I tried that it didn't work.

amma

I fold the borders into quartes sections, pin the center of the border to the middle of the quilt top. Mark the quarter line of the quilt top and match that to the quarter mark of the border. Then pin the ends. As you sew, let the machine help ease the longer piece in with the shorter one.

amma

If you are working with a 48" border and your top measures 50" at the top and bottom, you will find it difficult to ease in 2" without some ripples/ruffles...

virtualbernie

That's what I was trying to say in my shorthand version. I need to learn to expand my explanations! :D

katesnanna

If you are 2" short and just a beginner I would suggest corner blocks. I was taught to measure through the centre and both sides and get an average.
Don't make the corner blocks just 2". Make them to fit with your block size and trim the excess from the border strip.
As amma said, fold the quilt edge and the border into quarters and mark with a pin then line them up, That way if you do need to ease some in it will be done evenly. I wouldn't try to ease in 2"- nothing more than 1/2".
Hope this is of some help and just one tip- don't ever give up. Happy Quilting

pab58

How about adding a corner block? :wink: