sewcrafty

I personally don't think that every border needs to be pieced. I'm doing an over-sized queen size bed quilt and out of 7 borders only 1 is pieced and it was planned like that purposely. The top of the quilt is the main focus. IMHO sometimes less is actually more.

117becca

i must admit that i like borders - I think it can be the picture frame to a wonderful picture. And that does mean that there are times, less is more..If i'm designing the quilt, i usually wait til the quilt top is done, and then create the border

just_the_scraps_m'am

YUP, you are all right. borders are boring & if they're not, they're taking your eye away from the center which is supposed to be the focus...right? IMHO

quilt3311

Mostly do what the quilt says it wants. If it needs a fancy border I do that, but lots of times all the quilt needs is a quiet border to frame the work. I do use "piano keys" a lot though. Usually have strips of fabric left over and just cut into 2" strips and length that the quilt needs, usually 4" to 6" strips. Then do a square on the corners. Also will sometimes use scraps from the quilt, cut them 3 1/2" and sew long ways. Then just fit that to the quilt edge after a small 1 1/2" stop border.

illinois

If I piece anything in the border, it is in the corners. I like an unpieced border, thinking it is stronger where hands are going to be pulling on it. If it needs "movement", I'd rather do it with quilting than piecing.

quiltlin

I'm with you. A while back I decided to always try and do something different on the borders. However, I do agree with the person who said that by the time they get that far they just want to get it done so sometimes I just do plain borders. I have been successful sometimes with HST's or piano keys or just a 4" (or whatever size) square around for the border.

steelecg

There are many ways to border a quilt - I think it is the finishing accent to the quilt- try some different ones

sandpat

It all depends on the quilt and what it needs or calls out for. I learned a ton about doing borders working on so many IRR quilts. You soon learn when less is actually more. I like a nice quilting area to work with also.

cowpie2

It all depends on the quilt. One quilt I made had a very busy pattern and having borders made it really finished looking, others, I keep even the binding as thin as possible because the quilt stands on it's own.

Like everything else it is probably personal preference, but I use them when I think the project will benefit and don't when it won't help.

Ritacarl

If you don't use borders, how do you finish off the edges? Do you pillowcase your quilts?