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. :-)

I've always been told that the density of quilting on the border should match the density within the quilt middle so that it will "hang" correctly. If you don't do any quilting, I think it would majorly shift over time and washes and possibly sag. I would at least do perpendicular lines every 6 inches from your inside seam.

The batting statement tells me it has to have a seam or a tie every 6 inches. That's what I would do. Batting shifts and knots up if there is no quilting to keep it stable, especially when it is washed.

You could do a stretched out S the full length of the border. That would sort of mimic the ribbons but only 1 line.

I would definitely quilt the border if only to hold it steady while I fit the binding.

If I were to stitch a line in the middle of the border, I think I would to a line 1/4 inch away from center on each side. you could probably draw a line on it with chalk or a sliver of bath soap/

Yes, do some simple quilting on that last border.....it will get the most wear and needs to be secured..it will not take away from the design of the fabric. Especially since this is a lap quilt, it will get more handling and laundering that a bed quilt. Remember, we launder things more often these days than years gone by.........

I don't always quilt in my borders and they seem to wear just fine. I have one I use as a throw and since the dogs snuggle in it too it's washed very frequently and no problems at all with batting shifting. We probably do launder things more often than in days of yore but batting is a lot more stable now too, so I think that compensates.

If you do ties, think about the loooong expanses with no ties! If you were tying that quilt you could very well have had ties along the edge of the border and not in the border at all and it would have been fine.

The way my gran taught me (and she tied all her quilts) is that if you need a tie every 6 inches that means if you go 6 inches out from your first tie and use that measurement to draw an imaginary circle (so a 12-inch circle with a tie in the center), you need to put ties on that circle edge; top, bottom, left, right. Keep that up until the entire quilt is covered.

If you have a quilt tied like that, or draw up one in your imagination or on a piece of paper, you can see there are long stretches in each direction with nothing securing it. My gran made ALL of her quilts that way, and they all have survived wonderfully. The bindings wear out and some ties go missing over the years but I've never had one where the batting shifted.

This is actually a doll quilt, so really didn't need any stitching in the border, which was 2-1/2" strips, but it looked unfinished to me, so I did a straight line echo quilt all around it.
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I always quilt my borders. Reason being I don't want to take a chance of the batting bunching up. I always do FMQ and don't think a quilt looks finished if the border is not quilted. Your quilt, do what you like.

It is a good idea to check the package but I was always taught that you quilt (at the bare minimum) 4 fingers apart. I think it is a good rule of thumb (or fingers).

Dina that's neat idea using a bookmark. Think I'll try it on my next quilt instead of doing X's

it all depends on the batting. maybe run a line down the middle

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Thank You all so much for your advice and comments! I did quilt a center decorative stitch and love the way it came out! I love this board (I just need to remember to get on here more often!)