sewn your border together and then sewed them to you quilt? I usually sew the first border to the quilt then the 2nd and so on, but I was thinking, it would be a lot easier to sew the border strips together and then add it to the quilt. How do you usually do it?

I do one at a time. Never have tried it all together.

I did it once but thought it looked dumb at the corners, draw it out on paper to see how the third and fourth strip will look when you sew them on, they kinda make a t
edited to add....
that was before I learned how to miter corners, if you miter they will be perfectly matched

The problem is at the corners joins if you sew them all together first, unless you are using mitred borders. Imagine it - you sew inner and outer border strips together for the top and bottom, sew them onto the quilt. Now you're probably thinking you can just sew the inner and outer border strips together and add them to the sides, right? (Yes I thought about this too at one time.) :oops: But if you were to just sew the inner and outer border strips together and add to the sides, that pesky inner border would continue all the way, top to bottom, probably not what you want, right? Theoretically you could do it if your corners are mitred though.

I do the sides 1st, square off, add top then bottom

I agree with the others. It really depends on how you want your borders to end up. If I'm doing mitered borders I always sew the borders together before attaching to the quilt. If I'm doing something more decorative than I have to reevaluate.

Same here......Sides First, then Top and Bottom......Works for me every time.
Happy Quilting

I have done it several times but you have to do a mitred corner.

Ditto, sides then top & bottom.

Ditto

Thanks everyone, I was going to miter the corners. You are right dunster, the inner border fabric would go all the way to the top and look odd, never even thought about that! Was just trying to find a faster/easier way of adding a border. LOL Shortcuts generally get me into trouble!

I have done it, but only if I am putting a block in each corner. Otherwise can end up looking a bit different where the come together, but not bad.

I sew the borders together and then to the quilt. It gives me better stability and control. I've done it on all my quilts irregardless of corner type.

every time I do that, something goes wrong. So, gave up and do them one at a time

It's easier when you work with narrow borders to put them all together and then attach a larger border to the main quilt top. But there's no wrong way, just what works better for you.

This is what I do also :-D

Only when I miter.

Oops, sorry :(

One at a time; you get a different look if you try to sew them together first and then to the quilt.

Besides for mitered corners the other time this method works is if you have big cornerstones. They could be a solid block or some pattern in each corner. Look at my avatar. I did it that way in the actual quilt

This works well for me!

I do it all the time; If I'm using blocks in the corner or mitering only. Otherwise, sew them on one at a time.

Works great if you are mitering or using cornerstones...otherwise you'll find that "whoops" moment.

I have done both ways. It is a different look if you sew the borders together first and then attach. It is easier that way. And you DON'T have to Miter. The top borders just go all the way across the whole quilt. I think it looks cool that way. It makes it look like the border fabric. I am not good at mitering and I don't like dealing with all the bulk of the quilt when adding many borders one at a time.

If you sew them together first, they don't come out right on the corners, unless you are going to miter the corners. If you are going to miter the corners, you can sew the borders together first, sew them on the quilt, then miter the corners, and the corners will of course be right.

I guess I don't know what you mean by they don't come out right. they have always come out fine for me. My Aunt also does this too and she has been quilting for 30 years. You make your measurements and cut them all the same length, sew them together and add them on.

It looks funny when you sew the borders together and then put them on. I did it once, and think it spoiled the quilt. If I hadn't been so lazy I would have redone it.

I guess it is personal perference. I don't think it looks funny. It adds a different look to the quilt. If you are making an heirloom quilt, yes one at a time. but if you are making a quick throw for your car, sew together borders and add all at once.

I have done a number this way but I DO use mitered corners. I agree with dunster--that is basic to sewing the binding strips together before putting them on the quilt. If you do this, remember you have to make the strips a lot longer that just the first measurement--Usually 10-12 inches on both ends of the binding. After you sew your angled seam, then I just move over 1/2 inch and stitch across again--cut the tails off between the lines of stitching, press and square them up--you are on your way to half square triangle blocks to use in another project.

I've done that on my quilts that were getting mitered corners.

I sew the borders together and miter the corners. If I wasn't mitering the corners I would sew them on separately.

Welcome to the board and oh, my word, what a cute doggy!!!

I also do the sides. square off, then top and bottom

works pretty well when you are doing mitered corners... just match the seams

If they are complicated I make the border, measure, and add a strip if it is too big.

I had three borders on last quilt center was flying geese so everything had to match up I had to make four separate corners in order to make everything match up properly .I put all three borders together attached to sides,then attached corners to both end borders and attached the end borders as one piece.My corner borders looked like L had geese going vertical and horizontal in order to make turn and match up, same with inner and outer border. Hope this isn't to confusing I'd post a pic but it is on it's way to be quilted.

it works well if you are mitering, otherwise you may not be happy with the result

Now that is a really cool ideal!! I will be trying that one on the quilt I am working on now, thanks a ton as I was searching for a way to make it "different" than the norm for me. ^_^

I tried sewing border 1 to border 2 and it did NOT work for me. I had to rip it apart and start over. Maybe I did it wrong but I won't be trying that again!

In order to keep your quilt square, you should measure down the middle of the quilt, either horizontal or vertical, cut two strips that measurement and sew, either the sides or top and bottom, easing the strip to fit if need be. Then measure down the middle again, including the strips just sewn on a repeat the process. This will avoid "wavy borders" which are the bane of any longarmer. You want your quilt to lie flat and be square, just sewing a strip to the edges will distort the quilt. I fixed one quilt for a lady who did this, and she had 3 extra inches on one side of her quilt, and it was only a 40 x 40! I hope this makes sense to you.
Michelle G. in El Paso