question on measuring top for borders.
 

When measuring the middle top and bottom for borders do you just lay the top on the floor and measure, or do you stretch a bit to measure? I know it can make a big difference in the length to cut, but don't know which way to do it so I don't have waves.

idon't know of anyone who "stretches". I have laid it out a flat as possible done my measurements and go from there. There is a video on You Tube for measuring your quilt for borders. I measure lengthwise each side and the middle also. See what everyone else has to say.

I measure across top,middle, and bottom of the quilt. Take the total of the three measurements and divide by three to get an average. Fold the top and the border fabric in half and pin in that spot. Fold the quilt top and border in half from center point (pin) and pin at that corresponding spot. Do it one more time (you now have 4-5 pins holding) for the top half of the quilt. Repeat on the other unpinned side of the top of quilt. Sew, easing in any fullness then press. Repeat the same process for the bottom of the quilt. For side borders, repeat the averaging process by measuring left, middle and right side of the quilt top. Cut borders and repeat pinning process and you're all done.

I don't stretch it at all unless I am working on squaring the fabric up before applying the borders (then I wet the fabric & gently pull it back on grain/to the proper shape). I do press my quilt top before measuring. This last quilt I had was off 1/8" one direction & 1/4" the other direction. I just took took the median number (middle number when arranged from smallest to largest) and went with that. Borders turned out perfectly. :)

What I did to make sure they worked out was to put a pin in the middle of the side of the quilt top & the middle of the border. I pinned there, then pinned each corner & then kept pinning in the middle of each set of 2 pins until the fabric was basically flat. Then, I sewed & lo & behold I still ended up with a square quilt. Next time I will do a better job cutting, but you can make it work as long as it's not a huge difference (I'm sure it's not -- you would have noticed that before now).

I used my queen size bed last time, because bending to the floor was causing my back problems. The top stuck nicely to the bedspread.

I use Bonnie Hunter's method: http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/...der-hints.html

I agree and no-one has ever said "Do you realize your Queen size quilt is 1/2" off on that corner?" Actually I don't know if mine are "off" or not, have never measured one! If it looks good I'm happy.

I don't want to lead anyone astray but wanted to ask if there is anyone out there who doesn't measure?
I never do and have not had any problems with waves.
I simply make sure that the quilt top feeds without stretching and gently, and I mean gently, tug on my border strips to eliminate any "after stretch" as fabric cut on the width has a more stretch than fabric cut from the length (according to some). The other thing I do is baste all around the pieced quilt before adding the borders to stop any additional stretch.

CRO, maybe cutting the fabric on the length would be helpful to avoid waves although most times, one doesn't have that much fabric unless it's leftover from a back.

I always measured my quilts and then cut the borders. I tired recently on a small quilt to sew on a border with a walking foot without measuring and found that the quilt was off over 1/2 inch. Won't do that again.