Is it necessary to quilt the outer border?
 

I am making a lap quilt for a friend and the outer border is 3 3/4"; is it okay to not quilt the outer border? It's a fabric that I would like to leave plain. I did 'stitch in the ditch' between in the seam between the inner and outer border.

Thank You in advance for your help.

I need an answer to that question also.

It truly depends on your batting. Check the package to see how far apart you can quilt with that batting. Also, how large is the quilt? If you have long sections of border (i.e., bed size quilt) it might be more problematic vs a wall hanging that is not going to be laundered as frequently. I would probably be tempted to put some sort of quilting in the borders regardless - just to make sure there is no shifting even with the SID that you've done. Is there a spot within the fabric design that you could hide a 'tack' type stitch at least?

The batting states that it can be quilted up to 6" apart and the size is 47" x 51".

Without a picture it is hard to give advice but you are suppose to quilt every 6" vertical and horizontal and you are planning on leaving 47" unquilted?? The reason that we quilt is to keep the batting from shifting. Maybe a few parallel or perpendicular machine quilt lines???

That makes sense ManiacQuilter; I think I better put something in there! Thanks so much!!

You might put one line parallel to the edge, right in the middle. I do most of my borders that way. It ends up looking fairly good. I use a bookmark as sort of a guide. I just put one side of the bookmark against the inner border seam and sew along the other side of the bookmark. When I get close to the end of the bookmark, I just move it down. I find that easier than the blue painter's tape.

Here's a picture of a recent quilt I did that way, in case it helps you decide what you want to do.

Dina

I like that! Thanks so much, I think I will definitely do that. I have been trying to attach a pic, but I can't get it resized to allow it to download.

Pic of the quilt in question.
 

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My friend wanted a birthday fabric on the outside border, so it's got ribbons and streamers in it.

ManiacQuilter, I guess I wasn't thinking about it like that. I was thinking about the 3 3/4" and not the length and width of the quilt. I feel a little silly now. :-)