I am a fairly new quilter and have only done quilt as you go type bargello. My question is, do I need to quilt the border? Some of my borders are 4 to 5 inches wide, and I have been leaving them unquilted. Is that too wide? Does the batting stay where it is if unstitched, or will it clump up over time?

I believe Warm and Natural says you need to quilt every 9 inches or so. If you're doing the QAYG method, there is a fair amount of quilting in the quilt itself and I think you need continuity in the border, so yes, I think you should do some type of quilting in the border.

Your Bargello is gorgous! :thumbup:

You really need to have your quilting about the same all over. If you do the inside about a inch apart-------the border should be that way.

it depends on the batting. some batts need to be quilted every 2-4" if that is what you are using you need to quilt your borders. if you are using warm & natural then you can have up to 10" apart...but that does mean there should be quilting every 10"...so if your border is 80" long at least 8 places (every 10") needs to at least have a line of quilting....
the quilting needs to be in all directions, as close as the batting dictates.

In my opinion, a quilt isn't finished until you quilt the border -- especially a 4-5" border. If you don't want "busy" on the border, then a simple wavy line would work. I've seen quilts that haven't been, and it doesn't matter what the batting is, they look crappy after a few washings.

I agree a quilt doesn't look finished if everything but the border is quilted. I quilt my borders and use warm and natural batting.

I agree.

I finished one for an individual and she would not let me quilt in the border. It looked okay, but if it had been mine I would have done more. Just my opinon!

I saw one quilt with bunched up batting on one border after several washings. It was queen size length and the border was about four inches wide. I don't how common that is but it's a bummer when it happens.

I don't have any experience in that, but that is what I would be worried about if it wasn't quilted in some way.