Hi All
Have been lurking for a while and found this forum with lots of good info.
I am learning how to quilt. I just finished the top. I did the Fence Rail. Needed something real simple to start out with and if I do say myself, the top turned out nice. All the seams matched.

Now I can't seem to find out if I put the boarder on next or do I do the batting and back next and do the boarder last? Also is this a quilt I do the the stitch in the ditch? And at what stage do I do that?

Thanks for all your help.
Have a great weekend.

Welcome to the board from St. Louis! Definitely put the border on first! Then layer it with the batting and backing. This would be a good one to stitch in the ditch (which actually means you stitch 1/8 of an inch off the ditch) - you can stair step the quilting. Be sure to use a walking foot if you are going to have the feed dogs raised! :lol:

Welcome from Dallas, Texas.

We love pictures here. Let us see what you are working on.

Yup. Borders first.

Welcome from Southern California

Welcome from Maryland... I agree borders first.

I'm new here too and I have learned a lot from these talented posters. One thing I didn't know to do for a long time is if I had more than one border to put on a quilt, sew the borders together first. This way you only have to wrestle the whole quilt top one time in the machine to get the borders sewn on.

Welcome to the board!
You will find some great advice and wonderful people here!
Ask your questions...you will get alot of answers.
Normally you do your quilt top, with borders then "sandwich" the quilt with top-batting-backing.
You baste or pin these layers together, securely...then quilt as desired.
Then square is all up, evening up all edges then do the binding...stitching it to the top layer to flip over to the backing and finished by hand.
This is how I do it but I am sure others will chime in with their methods and helpful hints.
Kirsten

Hi and Welcome from southern Indiana!

Welcome from NE CA. Glad you found us. If you want a border, that comes next. Then you make your sandwich. You can stitch in the ditch, you can stitch to the side of the ditch, you can tie it, you can meander, basically you can do it anyway you want. After, it quilted/tied/however, then you put the binding on. When you're done, don't forget to show us pictures. We love pictures as you probably already know.

Welcome!

Don't forget to pin well and don't use straight pins to pin after you sandwich it, use either safety pins or quilting safety pins or you can use that gun with the plastic thingys.

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:

Don't worry you did not make a mistake if you cut it like that. Like Bella said, the half inch is taken up by 1/4 inch seam when you attach it to the quilt and 1/4 inch seam when you attach the binding.
Listen to me, I am a new quilter too and here I am giving you advice. The people here are great and very helpful.
I find that you learn with each one you do. I remember when I made my first quilt and the triangles on some of the blocks did not match perfectly when I sewed them together. I wanted to rip them all out but did not have the time because it was a Christmas present for my son and his family. My sister told me, hey those tiny mistakes are what make it more precious and she is right. I have learned to lighten up. I still try and match my blocks as best as I can but I try not to stress if I cannot do it. I do not plan on showing them, I make them for the pleasure it gives me and for the people I love.
Listen, now that you know the border will be ok, go buy some more fabric, you never have enough!! LOL :lol:
Don't forget the pictures when you are done.

To Dingle, If there is no Fabric left for border, why not try a corner square of some other matching fabric. :roll:

Welcome from Tennessee.....

Good for you on finishing your top. I made one for my daughter many years ago. If you are adding sashing strips around the top do that now. and then make a sandwich consisting of the top, the batting and the backing. It's best done on a big table or the floor. Then you either baste through all layers or you pin them together using many, many pins. Make sure you backing and batting are larger than your top, you can trim these after you have quilted. Start quilting from the middle out. I use a PVC pipe frame and hand quilt but you can quilt it on the machine in the same manner.Remove the pins as you go. When your don trim you back and batting a little larger (1/4inch) than the finished top.The binding is the last thing to go on. I use binding I've made from material . Usually mine is 2 and 1/2 wide material I've pressed in half and sewn to the top side of the quilt. I lay the folded strip with the fold towards the inside of the quilt top and sew 1/4 inch all around the quilt.putting the ends one in side the other at the start/end point and then I flip it over and do a tiny stitch on the back side. If you have any questions there are many people on this site to help you when you get stuck.Watch some of the tutorials, they are really helpful Good luck, show us when you're done.

Why didn't it work out right? 2-1/2" wide strips make 2" wide borders, allowing for a 1/4" seam on each side. Is it too short? If so, supplement with blocks (cut 2-1/2" x 2/1'2") and add the blocks before you sew the border to the rest of the quilt top. Putting on the binding is the final step. My personal preference is to machine stitch it to the top and hand stitch it on the bottom.

Why didn't I think of that!!! I'll be passing that tip on to my quilt buddies...

Hi Everyone
In case some of you missed my last post it didn't work out because I used the wrong "B" word. I wanted to say binding, not boarder. I'm not putting a boarder on this. I need it to be roughly 50x60. I wanted to put a 2 1/2" binding on the quilt and made a mistake by cutting the fabric at 2 1/2". I should have cut it 4 1/2". Fabric store is 1 1/2 hours away. Not worth running to Vegas just for that, and my next trip won't be until sometime in April :( I'll just have to figure something else out until then. If I can't find the print I'll just have to use a solid. Don't want this to go to waste just because I can't get the print. Thanks all for your help.

Kris

Kris 4 1/2 in is a pretty wide binding. If you cut 2 1/2in, double it and sew it on 1/4in on top of quilt then flip and blind stitch it to the back you'll have a regular size quilt binding of 1/2' which I think is pretty normal. Most of the patterns I've used say cut 2 1/2 Some people like the binding a little fluffier and cut the binding strip 3". or 3 1/2 but I would think 4 1/2 would give you an awfully large binding. What you could do with the 2 1/2 if you don't think it is big enough for your binding is just make it a border around your quilt. Have you started quilting it yet? If not it may take you a while to do it. And by then you may have made a trip to a quilt shop.

Top is already done. I always thought the binding was 4" wide I must be confused. But I still don't have enough to do the binding. I messed up on a few strips with the ruler slipping so I used more fabric then I had planned to. I even bought more then I should have. Being a newbie I know I will make mistakes. Guess I just need to buy even more fabric. What a bummer :lol:

Kris

That is why all of us have such large stashes of fabric. We've been there. Believe me. I made a quilt for my sister last year and honestly had a piece of fabric about 4X6 left and I had to piece my border several times. I've been at this for years and the seam ripper is my best friend. I think I enjoy making throws so much because there isn't a normal size, it's what it is. When you make one for a bed it has to be in a close neighborhood to the size of the bed.

Hi. I'm sending you some good advice here: when you go to the store (in April?) get some Invisigrip to stick onto the bottoms of all your cutting rulers and templates. The @$%&)*(&^% acrylic and/or metal rulers and templates slip all the time if you do not have some non-slip stuff stuck onto their bottoms; even the ones that are "designed not to slip" DO slip. When you are cutting anything and especially a narrow strip of fabric, it is infuriating when the ruler slips. You can almost secure a wide ruler or template with your other hand and arm, but a narrow ruler is impossible to control properly without "gripper" on the bottom. I used to have the little vinyl circles stuck onto the bottoms of my rulers and templates but they are too fat and allow the rotary cutter to get underneath the ruler, causing more crooked cutting! So, I pulled off all the vinyl bumps and replaced them with Invisigrip. It's not inexpensive, so if you can use coupons or get it on sale would be good.

Cut the binding strip you have into about 16 inch lengths, sew two lengths together to get a 3 3/4 inch wide strip. Use another fabric cut 3 3/4 inch wide and alternate the strips, sewing them into the length you need for the binding. You'll have a nice looking binding and no one will ever know you didn't plan it that way.
The way I measure binding width is double how wide I want the binding to be on the quilt and add 1/4 inch. I press it half longways and sew the raw ends to the quilt, turn and hand sew the folded end to the other side. Happy quilting. :-)

Kris:
Ok still no worries as long as you have enough length to do around the whole quilt then this measurement should work. I always cut my QUILT BINDING (is this the right B word??? :wink:) at 2 1/2 inches and I do what is called a double fold or french binding. That is where once you piece the lengths together you fold the binding in half and sew that to the quilt. YouTube has some great videos on how to make a double fold binding and how to attach a binding to a quilt. I am dyslexic and always have a problem joining the double fold binding together to finish off the quilt. The videos helped alot.
Don't stress, have fun! :D

Welcome from Florida.

You've come to the right place to ask questions, these quilters are great!

Put your border on then batting and backing.

Have fun with it. Learning is an adventure. :D

simple quilter :) :D

Hi Dingle and welcome.

I don't know if anyone has suggested this but I have done it a few times and it always turns out great. Make a pieced binding with the fabric you have left. I had 12x2.5 strips left over and sewed these strips together on the diagonal, pressed the seams to one side, folded it in half lengthwise, sewed it to the front of my quilt then turned it to the back and hand stitched it down. Turned out wonderful and I didn't have to go out and buy more fabric. Good luck with whatever you choose to do.
Grammie2twins

Well I guess I better make me a list of things I need next time I go to town. This is what I already have. Cutting mat, rotary cutter, different sizes of quilting pins, 3 rulers, replacement needles for my machine, lots of neutral thread, extra clear bobbins, seam ripper and a good pair of scissors. What else am I needing? Remember I am new at this so I can't just jump into a quilt that takes alot of piecing. I think I might get frustrated with that and just quit. I need to stay simple until I really get the hang of this.

Also, what works best when putting the quilt all together? Pins, basting gun, basting pins or???

Thanks all of you for your help. I think I may really enjoy doing this!

Kris

One suggestion - check your top for squareness before putting on the border. Measure at the top, middle, and bottom, then adjust so they are the same.

Check the top in a couple places also - it will save a lot of adjusting later on.

Re: What else do you need?? Extra rotary blades for one thing. I have a suggestion for you. Look through catalogs ... ones you get in the mail or go on-line to all the places that sell quilting notions. You might get ideas of your needs from seeing what is available. There should be a detailed description of the purpose of each item. I must confess that I have bought a lot of things over the years that I have yet to use and a few things that I've tried but don't like.

Your other question about how to secure your quilt sandwich ... the answer somewhat depends on what sort of area you have available in which to lay out the layers and put them together. A lot of people put their layers on the floor and work on their hands and knees -- in that case, I think kneepads would be helpful. I have a 1/2-inch thick sheet of plywood quite high up on sawhorses so I don't have to bend over far. I'm able to smooth and pull the 3 layers taut, clip them to the plywood and then pin them together with quilter's safety pins. It works exactly right for me, but there's a lot of different ways to go.

Hi and welcome,
I know exactly how you are feeling. I'm newer to quilting and still making mistakes. Also rural and on my own. Everyone here has great ideas. You will be so happy you found us. Your border goes on next. There is a lady in the quilt world named Jean Brown that tells us to put the binding on before you sandwich the quilt with batting and backing. It sounds wrong, but makes sense. The edges of the quilt top will not frey with the binding attached. Then, it is an easy finish when your done with the quilting process. I have not done that yet, but will on my next quilt. As for the oops on the binding size. If you are using 1/4 inch seems, it should have worked. If not, then don't let it get the best of you. The borders are for framing the quilt and no one is going to get a tape measure and double check your work. Bottom line is that each quilt made is a reflection of the person who made it. Not one of them are perfect so go easy on yourself. You said that all of your seems matched up, and I think that is a larger hurdle than the borders. Lay the quilt out on the bed and look at it from the doorway. Can you tell that the border is not exactly 2". It doesn't matter that is is not. Unless you give someone the pattern, they will never know. I think you are doing fine. And yes, we love pictures here, so when it is finished, please post some. :D

I just wanted to say how glad I am I found this forum - you're all so helpful and I've already learnt loads!

With regards to binding, I always use the double method too; much easier to hem the folded edge on the back and I read somewhere that on ancient quilts it's always the binding thqt's the most worn out, so it makes good sense to make it strong! I'm sure all our works are the heirlooms of the future, so we should make them to last!

K x