I don't do the measure the center thing either. And I don't have wavy borders either. If your quilt is square to start with and measures the same, left, center and right it's really not necessary. I make my borders long enough and pin them on from the center out. I sew with the quilt top on the bottom and the border on the top to prevent the machine slightly easing my borders to the quilt top.

I am on the OCD list.

I measure left, center, and right sides of the quilt.
Take an average of the three measurements.
Cut the first borders several inches longer than the length of the center of the top
Fold the border strip in half - mark the center point - then measure to the ends to the 'exact' length of the center
Then I divide/fold the 'needed' part of the border into fourths and then eighths
I also divide the edge of the top into eigths and match up the segments and pin them at those intervals
I usually end up really close - but occasionally I'll get a bit of creeping on a long stretch - and I'd rather cut off a couple of inches on an end than be 1/4 inch short

Then I measure the the other direction which will include the attached borders.

Bottom line: I cut the border strips a bit longer, but mark them 'exactly' before attaching them.

This is for the butted - not mitered - way of doing borders.

You can measure your quilt before staystitching. If the edge measurements are the same as the measurement through the middle, then no edge-stretching has occurred and staystitching will prevent the quilt edge from stretching while you attach the border.

Stay-stitching will not, however, prevent you from sewing excess border to the edge. If you sew with the border on top and do not use a walking foot, the presser foot will likely stretch the border fabric slightly compared to how the feed dogs move the underneath quilt top layer, resulting in excess border fabric being sewn to the quilt top edge.

If an edge measurement is larger than the measurement through the middle, then the edge has already been stretched and staystitching will simply prevent the edge from stretching even more; it will not eliminate the existing distortion or prevent additional distortion from the presser foot/feed dog difference.

Edit: OOPS. I think I got the presser foot/feed dog difference backwards. Must need more coffee........

Great thread information
 

This is a great thread with great information. No I don't LA, no I don't show.....however I do want my quilts to be the best that I can do....so I will square up my quilt and measure the borders because now I know and understand why.....

I always measure, then measure again! Then I pin very carefully and stitch. If possible I also cut my borders lengthwise rather than across as there is less stretch and no piecing. I have never had a problem with borders.

I had learned that if one does not have a walking foot -

that the bottom layer - against the feed dogs - will feed the fabric a bit faster than the top layer that is against the presser foot.

So that one can more easily ease in fullness if that's the layer that is against the feed dogs.

Stretch and Sew classes had a motto - "Sew with a relaxed bottom" - meaning that the top was stretched to fit the layer being eased in -

Another reason to have a quilt 'squared up' - it is so much easier to fold a quilt when the opposite sides are the same length.

This is why it's so important, to have a comfy sewing chair!

This is a really great post. And now I have a dumb question (realizing there are no dumb questions): How do you measure your quilts, as in, what do you use? On the floor with a tape measure? On the floor with acrylic rulers end to end? On the floor with a metal carpenter's ruler? It seems to me tape measures are not all that accurate and I know a metal carpenter's ruler can give a wrong reading, since it has no "give" to lay against the fabric. But I don't know of any other long rulers.

Anyone?

This is how I do it, too, because when I first began quilting, I found instructions online that described this method. And I'm nothing if not a rule follower! ;-) BUT, I do not always piece the borders using a diagonal seam. I really prefer the look of a straight seam and that's what I've been doing for my last five or six quilts. I realize there is less "ease" that way but it hasn't seemed to matter so far.