Am I the only one that thinks plain borders are overused? I understand some quilts need them but I'm getting tired of seeing quilts with one thin strip and one thick strip of fabric. I'm trying hard not to do that anymore.

OK...I won't lie...I do them cause they're the easist and quickest...:)

each quilter has his/her preference.

That's funny!!! Only because i can soooo totally relate!!

By the time I get to the stage of needing borders, my mind is usually too fried to do more than a couple of plain borders. I also like to use them to show off my quilting! Pieced or other techniques used in borders are wonderful too! That is what makes quilting such fun, there is something for everyone's taste!

I seldom use borders at all, plain or fancy, never really have. I think when they are added, they should add something important to the design of the quilt...and certainly more than just size! :oops:

I love big borders for fancy quilting but for donation quilts I like maybe 4 inch borders for easy peasy border. I love multiple borders on quilts. jmho

I make quilts to be used... so while I enjoy piecing the tops, I don't always go all out on the borders.
It might be different if I was making heirlooms instead of utility quilts :D:D:D

I love a pieced border, they can add so much more visual interest but can be tricky to work with and are very time consuming. A plain border is a great place to showcase fancy quilting like feathers and such.

A lot can be said for using the many border prints available as well. Jenny Byer is like the queen of designing and using border prints to enhance the quilt and really give it a wow factor. Again you have to match the repeat and be very careful on your corner miters. And as ghostrider said you want to enhance or compliment the overall design of the quilt. Sometimes plain borders do that.

I too like more than a plain strip of fabric in the border, but sometimes, that is all that a quilt needs to give it the finished look.
My favorite border is the "piano key" but sometimes that is just too much distraction for the center of the quilt.

It depends on the quilt...some demand a plain border, some just binding and others a fancy border...

Same here. I'm working on a quilt right now that I had in mind a pieced border. But now I just want to get it finished so I'll probably settle for a plain one.

You know what, I used to think quilts NEEDED borders but I have decided I like quilts with the pattern all the way to the edge....... now I have to make one!
:D

I agree it depends on your quilt, if a plain border is right or not, however, that being said, I just purchased 2 quilt books that show how to do different borders.

I think of the border as the 'frame' for the quilt and prefer the thin and then wider plain borders. It pleases my eye.

And I have to agree with other posters - by the time I get to the border stage, I am ready to move on to the next project, so even if I preferred them, I probably wouldn't do anything fancy.

I "almost" always use pieced borders, even if it's just something in each corner. Or a pieced block or design in the middle of each side Or sometimes just around the bend of one or opposite corners. To me the quilt is designed all the way to the edge; that includes borders. I also love the piano key effect.

Jan in VA

I love to play with different borders with EQ7. I very seldom do the standard thin inner border, wide outer border, but sometimes that looks really nice.

I always have a border - maybe plain or fancy but I think it adds something to a finished quilt.

amen to that! :lol:

i very much admire quilts with pieced or clever borders. so, hat's off to those with the patience and talent to use them. seriously and sincerely. :thumbup:

nevertheless, i must confess, i'm too often too lazy to do anything but a plain border. (imagine how lucky i feel when a plain border is the type best suited to whatever i'm making. it's a "yipeeee!" moment. :lol: )

I think it depends on the quilt...some need a border, some don't. Some need more than just plain strips. Some have borders simply to make the quilt bigger...some don't because the quilt is big enough. I have nixed a border on a quilt because the quilt was big enough, even when I thought it "needed" a border, but I really didn't want it bigger. Sometimes I do two borders...sometimes one...sometimes more, or none. Depends on the quilt and the situation.

For the first time, I'm trying to incorporate something "extra" into borders for a quilt. I *need* to put borders on it to get the size I want, but I want to do something more with it. I may do a scrappy border...or maybe one with a few star blocks as corner stones (it's a little boy's alien quilt). I don't know yet...this one is a design as you go...lol

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

If you do not use a border on your quilts, how do you finish the edges? Also if you do use a border and want a gathered lace ruffle (a narrow one), do you attach the lace and the border at same time or the border then the lace?

New at it.

I do both, I think it depends on the quilt. I don't want to take away from the quilt design itself, but at the same time, on other quilts, a pieced, or fancier border, really adds to the quilt, so it just depends.

Thank you Happy MRS. Your reply helped me to make up my mind.

Sometimes plain is good but I think pieced borders can really make a quilt pop. I hate to hear when people add plain borders to make a quilt come up to a certain size. But a quilt belongs to the maker so she or he can do whatever pleases them right? That's how I look on it--I try to not judge in that respect.

I too think of the borders as a frame - they need to set off the quilt not detract from it. It depends on each quilt what looks best.

You may be confusing binding (which is applied to the edges of the quilt sandwich after the quilting is finished, to hide and hold together those raw edges) with borders (applied to the quilt top before quilting). I know I mixed up terms when I started quilting, still do in fact.

I am very partial to antique or reproductions style quilts and I don't think that they used borders like we do today. I feel that many of the antique quilts had the patchwork pattern out to the edge or just had extra background fabric out to the edge. This is all just personal preference and I agree the border does make a place for some very nice quilting to go around and it is also a quick finish.

I often get enough material that I have strips of each of the materials in the quilt for the border.

I recently started thinking I would challenge myself to do more pieced borders. The first thing I tried was Bonnie Hunter's Braid border...it was so much fun to make!

Another I would like to try is when the border is part of the block, just colored in a way that makes it look like it's a border.

Borders, I can't finish anything yet to even do a border!!1