bj riley

Can someone explain to me why not cutting to length can make the sides wavey?

grammy Dwynn

One has a greater chance to stretch the boarder fabric while sewing. So the boarder fabric is 'longer' then the quilt. Then the waves appear.

Boston1954

Me too. I do think I have had a problem with waves on mine either.

Onebyone

When I measure the middle length and width and it is the exact measurement as all four sides then it is a miracle for me. Never happens much though. That difference has to be included in the border so the quilt will lay flat. Same with sashings on blocks. If the block is not perfectly square then the sashing has to be eased in when sewing.

gale

If I'm doing something small like a wall hanging, sewing first and then cutting works for me. For anything bigger I cut first using the center measurement of the quilt top.

mary123

Thanks ladies.

Prism99

There are multiple reasons.

One reason is because the quilt top itself may not be square. Say, for example, your quilt top measures 100" through the middle both ways. Each of the 4 edges may measure differently -- 99.5", 100", 100.5", and 101". Sewing on borders and then cutting to match simply means you are exaggerating any wonkiness that is already in the quilt top. If something on a quilt top is going to stretch from handling, it is going to be the edges. Measuring through the middle allows you to create a squared frame to which you can ease the quilt top to its "theoretical" measurements.

Even if you start with a perfectly square top of 100", there is a tendency for both edges to stretch a little when sewing the border fabric to the quilt. (The cut edge of any fabric stretches more easily than the center of the fabric does, because the cut edge has no supporting fibers on one side.) You may sew a side border on and cut the border off at 101" (because that is how long the seam is now, after both edges have stretched). Each time you sew another border on, there is additional distortion of the top and what is now the outer edge of the quilt. By the time you finish putting all of the borders on, all of the seamlines connecting the border to the quilt top are longer than they should be, which means that the border fabric has been cut longer than the middle of the quilt. This quilt ends up with fabric edges that are longer than the measurement through the middle of the quilt, and the excess fabric means that the quilt will not lie flat (edges will ripple). This becomes even more obvious if the quilt is hung.

Prism99

If you go to a quilt show that displays beginner quilts, take a close look at the edges. It's quite common to see rippled or wavy edges on those quilts, probably never even noticed until they were hung for display. The advanced quilts always hang perfectly flat and square.

luvTooQuilt

Im with Tartan.. but im not much for perfectly square quilts and im ok wit a lil bit of wonky.. lol..

mighty

I do mine the same way.