Originally Posted by
quiltmom04
I have to disagree - and I apologize for using this particular posting to quote, but if you measure the center and make the borders that length all you are doing is stretching or easing the borders to fit that measurement. If the edges of your quilt are not the same as the center, your quilt is not square, and stretching or easing will only compound the problem -visually. You might ease the border, but then all you'll have is the center puckered into a border. The border might be straight - you've just moved the problem in to the center. You have to correct the problem of why the edge of quilt is not right. Do you have to just trim a bit? Or take a bit more of a seam in some of the pieces. But if the quilt doesn't lay flat before the borders added, it won't lay flat when the border is on.
The reason for measuring through the middle of the quilt and cutting the borders to those measurements is so that excess border is not sewn onto the quilt. The most common cause of wavy edges is sewing a border on without measuring first because chances are high that either the border will stretch as it is sewn, or the feed dogs will feed more border than quilt with each stitch. This also takes care of minor differences in measurement in the quilt top itself (e.g., one side slightly longer than the other). Trying to solve large discrepancies in this way won't work for the reasons you provide.