I hate borders too and multiple ones are even worse. I measure through the middle of my quilt and cut my border this measurement less 1/2". I then starch it well and pin in really well making sure to pin it in matched sections (at least halves and quarters). This seems to control the ripple and the wave although some fabrics are worse than others to stretch. The starch and slightly shorter length does definately help.

why do you decrease it by one half? That would make the border shorter than the quilt.

If you are trying to "ease" in the excess, don't use your walking foot. The walking foot makes sure that the fabric doesn't get moved so there is no "easing". If you want to ease in the excess, then use your regular foot and put the longer piece on the bottom. The regular foot will push the top fabric just slightly causing it to lengthen slightly.

That makes sense about the walking foot. My sides were ok and the walking foot kept the fabric from stretching but I didn't think about it preventing the opposite. This site is sooo helpful.
Light bulb moment!

i pin the centers, the ends and maybe in between. helps a lot.

I've run into this before too, so when I measure, I round up when I cut the border. Then when I'm done, I can just trim off any extra that hangs over. I know my way is probably far from what the experts do, but it keeps me from coming up too short!

I have eased in more then 1/4". You simply distribute it over the entire length of the border. Pin #1 goes in the center. Pin #2 and #3 go in at each end. Then you pin pin pin distributing the fullness over the entire half of the quilt. I have eased in up to 1/2" with no pleats, puckers or tucks. And yes a square quilt makes a huge difference in LA quilting.

Thanks so much for all your help. I'm now going to tackle the outer borders and see if I can put this information to work.

also always put the bigger piece on the bottom smaller piece on top