luvspaper

I've always been told that the density of quilting on the border should match the density within the quilt middle so that it will "hang" correctly. If you don't do any quilting, I think it would majorly shift over time and washes and possibly sag. I would at least do perpendicular lines every 6 inches from your inside seam.

Barb in Louisiana

The batting statement tells me it has to have a seam or a tie every 6 inches. That's what I would do. Batting shifts and knots up if there is no quilting to keep it stable, especially when it is washed.

ctrysass2012

You could do a stretched out S the full length of the border. That would sort of mimic the ribbons but only 1 line.

DOTTYMO

I would definitely quilt the border if only to hold it steady while I fit the binding.

Barb_MO

If I were to stitch a line in the middle of the border, I think I would to a line 1/4 inch away from center on each side. you could probably draw a line on it with chalk or a sliver of bath soap/

Geri B

Yes, do some simple quilting on that last border.....it will get the most wear and needs to be secured..it will not take away from the design of the fabric. Especially since this is a lap quilt, it will get more handling and laundering that a bed quilt. Remember, we launder things more often these days than years gone by.........

Sewnoma

I don't always quilt in my borders and they seem to wear just fine. I have one I use as a throw and since the dogs snuggle in it too it's washed very frequently and no problems at all with batting shifting. We probably do launder things more often than in days of yore but batting is a lot more stable now too, so I think that compensates.

If you do ties, think about the loooong expanses with no ties! If you were tying that quilt you could very well have had ties along the edge of the border and not in the border at all and it would have been fine.

The way my gran taught me (and she tied all her quilts) is that if you need a tie every 6 inches that means if you go 6 inches out from your first tie and use that measurement to draw an imaginary circle (so a 12-inch circle with a tie in the center), you need to put ties on that circle edge; top, bottom, left, right. Keep that up until the entire quilt is covered.

If you have a quilt tied like that, or draw up one in your imagination or on a piece of paper, you can see there are long stretches in each direction with nothing securing it. My gran made ALL of her quilts that way, and they all have survived wonderfully. The bindings wear out and some ties go missing over the years but I've never had one where the batting shifted.

mckwilter

This is actually a doll quilt, so really didn't need any stitching in the border, which was 2-1/2" strips, but it looked unfinished to me, so I did a straight line echo quilt all around it.
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Jingle

I always quilt my borders. Reason being I don't want to take a chance of the batting bunching up. I always do FMQ and don't think a quilt looks finished if the border is not quilted. Your quilt, do what you like.

Donnamarie

It is a good idea to check the package but I was always taught that you quilt (at the bare minimum) 4 fingers apart. I think it is a good rule of thumb (or fingers).