mcar

At first I thought it wasteful. But I learned that cutting the border, sides lengths first, lengthwise of the fabric gives the border material more strength. After all it has to hold many pieced sections together! then the shorter width pieces can be cut from the lengthwise fabric. They of course are shorter. Depending on the width of the border there is some material left and that is ok. I learned this from Japanese Quilt Inspirations. For the quilt I chose to make I cut the borders of each block the same way, out of lengthwise fabric. There were many boxes around beautiful prints. I just got the quilt back from the LAQ and am hand sewing the binding to the back and enjoying the quilt.This was a new approach for me and I had to revise my thinking, but I am happy with the results.

jitkaau

This is generally how I do it, especially if a lot of bias edges are involved in the body of the quilt.

ptquilts

I usually back up a few steps when I hear "You should always...." or "You should never...."

grann of 6

I always do mine like the quiltville tute. I never use a measuring tape because they slip and are just not as accurate as laying the fabric on the quilttop through the center, or anywhere but at the very edge. Then I pin ends first, then center, then maybe one in each section if it is the lengthwise strip I am sewing. And I always put the side strips first. I think the "older" lady just didn't put her phrase into words very well; not sure what she meant. If I have enough fabric I use the lengthwise cut of fabric so I don't have to seam, otherwise I do the 45 degree seam.

GemState

Often the instructions say to piece the border using a diagonal seam, like you would when piecing binding. There is quite a bit of waste when doing it this way rather than a ''straight across ' seam. The wider the border the more waste there would be.
If you cut from the length of the fabric so as not to have a seam you would save fabric. This is my understanding of what she might have been talking about.

SunlitenSmiles

lengthwise cut borders always work best for me, I cut generous four, use one each side, then top and bottom

you can usually get two sets of borders out of a length of fabric or use the 22 to 28 x length piece for blocks

SunlitenSmiles

LOL, roflol very good advise !!!!! for life as for quilting

IdahoSandy

I sew my borders on first, then cut off the left over, doing the two sides first, top and bottom.

bigsister63

I never thought of that but she is RIGHT. I usually sew 2-3 strips together and then cut side measurement from them and have several inches left over. I sew all strips together for binding and have only 1 piece of left over fabric. I will now start sewing all border strips together before cutting! Thanks for the great tip!!!!!

bigsister63

Beware of add8ing borders this way since the outer edge of your top may have stretched!