Barb in Louisiana

You have gotten some great advice here. I wanted to chime in with my two cents worth.

I have 2 Brother machines. A higher end, combo sewing/embroidery machine which usually sews like a dream. It weighs about 35 pounds, so I don't really like lugging it to classes and sew-ins, so I have my little Brother, purchased from WM for about $150 that only weighs about 17 pounds. It goes to all classes with me. It doesn't sew quite as good as the Big Brother but I have not had anyone make fun of my baby Brother. Sewing machines are like cars....we all have different preferences. I wouldn't upgrade until you feel the need for something different or yours goes to the great sewing machine heaven.

Now, on to the borders. A wise quilter once told me one time that a quilt that is finished is worth much more than a quilt half done. I square up all the parts/blocks or rows as I go. When I get to adding the borders, all I have to do is make sure the borders are cut and sewn fairly straight. I have the problem of getting to the borders and not knowing what to do. I finally figured out that laying the quilt out with my choices of borders tucked under the outside edge in the widths I am thinking of and taking a picture with my camera gives me the best perspective on what the finished product will look like. And, yes, It does take me several pictures sometimes. Once I make up my mind, I go with it. Remember....that finished quilt is much better and more satisfying than sitting there agonizing over what to do.

On some of my earlier quilts, I did the borders too narrow. I look at them now and think "I wish that last border was bigger." Am I going to do anything about it? No. It's finished. Learn from the experience and move on. Thanks to my wise friends advice, I am now able to finish quilts and I really need to. I have ended up with almost 40 UFO's to finish in 2015. The good news is I have completed 4 already this year. Three were bindings only. One had borders to be added and had to be quilted. The feeling of getting them completed has spurred me on. I'm off to do another binding today for one I quilted several days ago.

Bottom line....as Larry the Cable Guy says.....Just Git 'er Done!

Edited to add: This board loves giving advice on borders. Start a new thread and show us what you are thinking about for the borders. We might can help with your process. My MIL never did quilts but did a lot of clothing sewing....he famous motto was "As you sew, so shall you rip." My ripper is my best friend and helps me get those little areas where my seam went astray back into the straight category. And if that quilt is 1/2" longer on one side than the other, no one really cares. After washing, sometimes, it adjusts itself and sometimes not...but it's okay. I enjoy every quilt I make and so do the people I give them to.

mom-6

There are times when I feel a border (or multiple borders) will enhance the quilt. There are times I want it larger and a border (or two) seems the best way to do it. And there are times when simply doing the binding next feels like the way to go.

I would definitely sew them together if you are going to miter the corners. That is ever so much easier and more accurate.

As far as upgrading your machine, unless there is a particular feature(s) you seriously want, stick with what you have and enjoy using it till it gives up on you! I personally prefer the vintage straight stitch only machines that have proven themselves for many years, are easy to maintain and purr like a kitten when in use. I may at some point get an embroidery machine and if I do will probably get as many bells and whi stiles as I can, but usually I manage to talk myself out of spending that much.

My advice to you is go with what YOU want to do on YOUR quilt and have FUN doing it!

Jackie Spencer

The best lessons learned are from our mistakes. And we all make them!! The ladies above have given you some knowledgeable advice, just jump in and go for it!

lfstamper

Great guidance here! I would add just GO for it as you have done the research! Good luck.

Barb_MO

First of all I think I would tell the helper that I have learned enough for a while and going to do the rest on my own. It gets old pretty fast when the teacher thinks you can do any thing right. Go on with your project and enjoy not have someone hanging over your shoulder point out the mistakes. Get the attitude that, "this is the way I do it".

quiltsRfun

As far as upgrading your machine, if you're happy with the one you have that's all that matters. There are plenty of quilters who make gorgeous quilts on the vintage machines they've found at yard sales or thrift stores for $50 or less. It's not the price of the machine or the bells and whistles that matter. Learn how to use the machine you have and have fun doing it. Too many rules will spoil the experience.

feline fanatic

Wow, I am so sorry your mentor is one of the dreaded quilt police. Actually she is worse, she is the next level up in being a quilt Nazi as you said. My best advice to you is throw out every lesson she has taught you that contain the words "never" "always" or "ruined".
As a LAQ I have seen borders with more waves in them than Waikiki beach and guess what, I have managed to quilt them out or put in a carefully camouflaged pleat and the quilt turned out beautifully. One was so bad, I simply removed the border, re-measured it and the quilt, cut it down, reattached it, and guess what the quilt wasn't ruined!
I guess like any teacher, you have to use a filter with the lessons. Use what will help you, consider other things and throw out the inflexible rules of "never, always, and ruin". Already this woman has done damage to your quilting karma by giving you border phobia.
Having done quite a bit long arming and prior to that hand quilting I can confidently tell you there is nothing wrong with poly thread and poly batting. I’ve used plenty of both. In fact you are placing limits and constraints on your quilting by excluding ANYTHING, be it thread, batting or even fabric. There are some absolutely gorgeous poly threads on the market. In fact there are some major award winning LAQ out there that refuse to use cotton thread and will only use poly or silk. Look up quilts by Margaret Solomon Gunn, she is one that avoids cotton thread due to linting issues messing with her tension. I bet this woman is one of those old schoolers who believes and perpetuates the myth that poly thread will cut through cotton fibers. Not true. This has been debunked by Superior threads. They market both kinds of thread so have no reason to push one fiber over another.
As far as your borders are concerned… There is absolutely nothing wrong with sewing two borders together and attaching them to your quilt. In fact true masters do this on a regular basis. You just have to miter the corners (which I have seen judges seem to favor that in shows) and measure and pin. Same with a pre-printed border fabric. So please, lose the phobia because you aren’t going to ruin all your hard work with a mistake in the border. Let go of the perfectionism and spread your wings and fly. I think you will be much happier. No human is perfect only God is perfect.

ManiacQuilter2

I am right now trying to help a newbie and it is difficult sometimes to back off. From this board, I have learned that there is more than one way to make a quilt. First of all, stick with the machine if it works for you. I started quilting on a Singer but then upgrade to a Bernina in the early 90s and I am STILL using THAT machine. I don't need all the bells and whistles that others may need.

I am a perfectionist just like you. I normally take my time deciding what fabrics to use in my borders. It is like framing a picture. I audition them up on a design wall and until I am delighted with the selection, I keep changing the fabric. The most important rule of thumb is to measure. Always measure twice and then cut once. That is a very old carpenter's saying. There are some who say average everything and if that works for you, that is great. I measure the exact length of a side and that is the amount of fabric I carefully pin from the edge and then the center. It should match up perfectly if you measured correctly. You just want to add the same length to each side of the quilt. Remember you are in the process of learning. The Amish have a tendency to make a mistake in their quilts they make since they believe that God is the only one who can make things perfect. So don't worry or fret about the mistakes you are bound to make. We have ALL made mistakes on a quilt or two or maybe more. Remember this is a hobby and should be FUN!!

Being disable now, I find that eliminating the border works better for me. Many busy patterns really don't need a border unless you need it for size. Good Luck and hope that you are able to post some photos soon.

Cass62

In my working life, I am a trainer...and I'm going to suggest that any good teacher would make you feel free to spread your wings and fly, rather than hold you back. In fact, they would kick you out of the nest if they saw you were afraid to fly. There are a million ways to create a quilt, and in my opinion, the only "rule" we should all remember is "DIFFERENT ISN'T WRONG."

This lady who is mentoring you is so caught up with her own "correct" ideas, she's missing out on some great, innovative techniques, and I suspect she's not enjoying her hobby as much as she could if she'd loosen up her corset and breathe. I'd love to meet her, because I'd tell her that she herself has an awful lot to learn about quilting.

*Off soapbox*

Now, you finish this quilt however you like, and if you make a mistake, guess what? You either fix it, or you move on. But you're not going to let this person paralyze you. You're going to flap those wings and SOAR, little birdie! When you're done, please post pics of your finished quilt for us to admire.

grammy Dwynn

To quote my LQS owner ~ "quilters choice". Your choice of machine, your choices of boarders. Your choice of what makes YOU comfortable. "

We all have 'suggestions' here, it might be what we 'like' or are 'comfortable' with or even what we were taught (right or wrong). So we may suggest what works for US, but that does not mean 'it's a rule'. You decide what you like/want, aka "QUILTERS CHOICE".

Good luck on finishing your quilts. Remember to share with us so we can ohh and ahh.