Ever Use Darts To Cure a Wavy Border?
 

I was reading up on quilting tuts today and I came across someone that was trying to fix a very, wavy border. This was just a charity quilt, so she went ahead and repaired the border by taking it in in places using darts. Has anyone else ever tried this? How did it work out?

https://frommycarolinahome.com/2017/...a-wavy-border/

~ C

I wonder if it would be easier just to take the border off and fix it? Or maybe she had a reason not to.

honestly, my thought is that if your object is slinging out a bunch of “charity” quilts as fast as possible perhaps you should slow down and concentrate on quality over quantity.

I think that the author was machine quilting this quilt for someone else, so fixing it properly might not have been an option, or even worth her time.

~ C

I watched a show on Quilt TV (host name was Jodie) years ago and the instructor showed how she fixed a wavy border and it was invisible. Hard to explain but you tuck in the fullness under the seam before layering. I use this method and no one can tell. I don't measure my borders, just sew them on and cut to fit if I use a border.

Thanks, that was an interesting article. When I was teaching a friend to quilt, who had made clothes for years, I showed her how to measure and cut her borders, and she went home, and just cut strips and sewed them on..... didn't tell me that.... and when we got to the longarmer, that was her first comment, that the borders were different measurements ....I looked at my friend and she sheepishly said....I know you told me that, but I didn't think it would make a difference...we laughed. https://cdn.quiltingboard.com/images/smilies/smile.png

Frommycarolinahome is a blog that I have followed for a few years. If you read the article, she states that she would usually send the top back to the maker to fix. But in this case, it was a charity quilt that she was quilting for free. Putting darts in the borders to counter extra fullness, is a radical fix and in this case, worked very well. For those who deal with donated tops, it is not always time or cost effective to properly correct every error.

Too much fullness in the border is often the result when the border has not been cut to fit or is on the bottom while sewing.

I quilt my own quilts. I use hand guided pantographs and there are no open spaces that are more than 2 square inches, most are about 1 square inch. Every once in a while, even though I measure and think I have everything good, I get a surprise when I get down to the last roll of the quilt or sometimes, even on the sides. At that point, if the last border is a print, I just fold (small darts that aren't sewn down until quilted) and quilt those boogers down. You can't see them or find them. Sometimes, it's four or five of those folds because I want the fullness distributed across the quilt. Now this is only for utility quilts. If it is a special one, then I would take it off the long arm and fix it.

My practice with borders is to "Sew as You Go". I have never had a wavy border or such problem! With the border fabric cut a few inches long, I lay it gently on the quilt. No stretch to fit or need to push the ends in to fit. I pin at about 4" from the start and about 4" along from there. When I sew I remove each pin as I get to them and put it another 4" along. Never do I try to fit the whole strip to the quilt at once! Try this on a practice piece!