Originally Posted by ecmoore
It depends on whether you're planning on using a longarmer, and whether you're doing something like entering the quilt in a show. For years, I've managed to put borders on by making long strips, then just sewing them on, trimming the strip so that it's even. That's worked well enough for me when I'm hand quilting, FMQ, or using a walking foot.
It doesn't matter whether you put the top/bottom borders on first, or the sides - that makes no difference other than in the look.
This is how I do it. I never cut my borders before sewing them on. I have never been able to make them come out the right length. Doing it this way, I have never had a border be rippled or crooked.