Thanks for the welcome and all the replies. I just made my first mistake. I wanted my border to be 2". So what do I do, I cut the fabric 2 1/2"! That just didn't work out right. What was I thinking. The bad thing is I'm out of border fabric. I hope the store still has some of that fabric left.

Just so I get this right. Do I sew the border to the front of the quilt first (only) and then sandwich, then top stitch or tie, then sew the binding to the back? Here's hoping someone can understand what I'm saying. There is no quilting group in the town I live in. I live 1 1/2 hours outside of Vegas so not able to get to Vegas anytime I want.

Thanks

Are you doing a whole border with mitered corners or four strips? If you are doing four strips then sew the top border then the bottom border then each side or vice versa. If you are doing one border all around the quilt with mitered corners start sewing it on in the lower half of one side, not at a corner. Sew the border on then layer the quilt, baste, and quilt. The binding will be sewn to the quilt after the quilting is done. I hope this helps. I'm thinking a border cut 2 1/2 will be a 2 inch border-- 1/4 for the seam on the quilt and 1/4 for the seam on the binding.

Did you cut them to length and that is why you are short? If so, put a contrast color of fabric in each corner.

Sounds like a great quilt. Welcome from WA

Welcome from Illinois!

Dingle,

It sounds like you have the word border confused with binding. Binding is the strip of cloth you sew on the front of the quilt after you finish quilting it and wrap it to the back then hand whipstitch or machine in the ditch stitch to hold it down. Any quilt can have several borders. Those are put on surrounding the middle where the pattern is. They act like a frame or matting on a picture. The "binding" covers and seals the raw edges of the finished front, batting and binding.

I hope this doesn't confuse you more.

Hi & welcome to the board! From reading the thread, I think that I agree with mrspeedy...do you mean binding? or do you mean border? It would make a huge difference in our advice for your next step as they are 2 totally different things.

I got confused with all the terms when I first started quilting. You know that like everything else..it has a language all its own :wink:

mpspeedy you're right, I did mean the binding. Thats what I needed to know it what order it's assembled. So am I right about doing the top, then sew the binding to the top, then sandwich, then tie or stitch in the ditch, then turn the binding to the back? Do I have it right now? Thanks for your help.

mplsgirl, I lived it Rockford for 26 years. Moved to NV 18 years ago. My Sister use to live in Roscoe. I love the desert and winter only lasts a couple months here, but I sure do miss the green, fresh rain and squirrels! My brother still lives in Loves Park. I do not miss your winters. Last month we had a freak "snow storm". Got about 1" and it lasted about 6 hours then it was all gone. That's my kind of winter!

Nice to meet you.

OK, now that you've clarified...here is what you do. Sew together your quilt top however you'd like -including BORDERS. This is the step that I think you've already done...so

Next is the sandwiching step. Cut your backing to be approximately 4" or so wider AND longer than your top. Lay it pretty side DOWN on your surface. Lay your batting (also cut larger than your top) as the next layer.
Top with the top of your quilt. Baste, then quilt. Be sure to read threads on this board about sandwiching and basting for some excellent tips
Now...you square up your top(trim the excess making sure the sides/top/bottom) are all straight). Now is when you sew on your BINDING. I like the double fold, so I cut mine 2 1/2" or 2 1/4". Make 1 long strip...long enough to go all the way around the quilt plus a little extra. Fold the binding in half (longways) with wrong sides together and press. Place the raw edge to the edge of your squared off quilt on the FRONT side and sew on using your walking foot. There are lots of good tutorials on this board about how to put on binding and how to do the mitered corners Flip it over to the back side and attach with your chosen method.

Good Luck!!

These posts are just like the talk my sewing buddies and I get into at our sew days. :D :D :D :D Someone will say something and they mean something different and a whole lot of confusion will develop and at the end it's OH well that makes sense now. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: