Trouble sewing on borders that lay straight...wavy edges
 

I am puzzled about sewing on borders... I cut the fabric lengthwise, I use the walking foot, I measure fabric first, then sew together. But my border edges still seem to stretch. What am I doing wrong. I am about to make a quilt for a friend who is buying very expensive fabric and I don't want to ruin her quilt.
I have not had this problem with every quilt I have made, could it be the fabric? Am I leaving out an important step???

I measure 3 time. Once on each side (doing the sides here) and once thru the middle. Average these measurements. This is the figure for your side borders. Once you have sewn them on than measure again, across the top, the bottom and thru the middle. (This is assuming you are not mitering, a whole other subject.) Than I also sew with a walking foot with the body of the quilt on the bottom. Hope this helps. :)

You need to measure in the middle of the quilt, both length-wise and cross-wise, for an accurate measurement. If you do this carefully. it should eliminate the problem.

I do the same as dakotamaid. EXCEPT I find the middle of the quilt and the middle of the border .... I start pining from that point to each edge.

OR you can use Elmer's Washable School to glue the border on the stitch. If interested see http://sandyquilts.blogspot.com/2008...nd-quilts.html

Actually I do glue, I hate pins!

I do mine the way Bonnie Hunter (Quiltville) does. I cut strips the width of the border (not the length). I trim one end, fold the quilt in half, lay the border out along the folded center, align/pin one end, smooth out (do not stretch) along the quilt and trim at the other end. I do not use a measuring tape. My borders are never wavy using this method, and it's easier than trying to measure a long border. If the quilt I am working on is big, I will pin every foot or so along the way so it doesn't shift, then trim when I get to the end. Once I sew those 2 on, I refold the other way and do the same for the other sides.

Here is a link to her hints.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/...der-hints.html

I must be nutbars I cut mine wof. if it takes two strips so be it but the wof makes it sure easier to quilt on. I also pin top edges then middle edge then work my way out pinning about every 4 inches lots of pins but seems worth it.

I also cut my fabric the WOF and use two or three strips depending on the size of my quilt. Then I lay the border down the middle from top to bottom and cut it off that length. I then start pinning along the side and if the quilt is a tad bigger than the lenght of the border I ease it in by pinning it. Once the sides are on and pressed I measure the quilt from the middle side to side. Then I pin it on the top and bottom . My borders are never wavy and I do this with every border that I add on.

I don't know where I got cutting fabric LOF I will try WOF, thanks.

I don't make larger quilts anymore but I did what Tartan stated. I first check that my quilt is square. Once I have measure, I pin. At the half way mark, at the quarter mark, at the eight mark. Marks on both border and quilt top and I match them as I pin. I make sure that the border is exactly where it should be. I never used a walking foot and never used starch back in the 90s. If I thought something might be out of whack, I would run an 1/8 of an inch stitch to make sure every thread stayed in place. Good luck. If you have to rip, then do it gently because whatever caused this problem will increase with severity if you are not careful with your thread removal. Take your time. Good Luck

[QUOTE=dakotamaid;6603601) Than I also sew with a walking foot with the body of the quilt on the bottom. Hope this helps. :)[/QUOTE]

Dakota, what do you mean when you say "the body of the quilt on the bottom?" Does it mean to sew it on with the top of the quilt facing down?

Thanks

What I meant was I cut my border whatever my border width is, for example 6.5" wide. If I have enough I cut LOF but do sometimes cut WOF and piece them.

Whether you use the Bonnie Hunter measure thru the center method or an average of three measurements doesn't matter to me. However, pinning the center of the border to the center of the quilt edge, then pinning again, half way between the center and the corner and again at the corner, then additional pins between all those other ones is the answer for me. I used to just cut a length that was long enough (plus) for the border and sew merrily along, but once they were SO wavy I took it off and measured against the opposite side that had fit properly and found that I was almost 2 inches different. Ever since then I measure.

I measure through the center only, both for length and width. Depending on the fabric, it's repeat, etc. I will use either LOF or WOF. If the fabric has a very small print, I don't worry about matching and cut WOF and piece. If there are directional issues or specific repeats that matter, I will cut LOF. I cut the measurement of the middle of the quilt. I start pinning in the middle of the side or top/bottom and work my way to the ends. I match the end of the border fabric to the end of the quilt and 'ease' in any excess. If your 'excess' is in the quilt, put that side against the feed dogs. If your 'excess' is in the border fabric, put that side against the feed dogs. The feed dogs will help 'ease' the excess fabric while you are sewing, usually without much puckering. Particularly if you distribute the excess throughout the width/length of the quilt/border. That's why I start in the middle. Fold the border fabric in half; fold the quilt in half. Finger press both folds. Match up those marks, match up the ends and evenly distribute the excess throughout each half.

Im lazy. Just cut WOF and make sure it is long enough, if not add another strip, then sew it on and trim off any extra. Never have had wavy borders ever.

I cut my fabric width of fabric, measure down the middle of the quilt length wise, then cut my border to that measurement. Next I will measure the width of the top including the boarder and cut my fabric that measurement and sew on to quilt. By using this technique have never had a wavy quilt.

I used to do the three measurements then average, but I heard a lecture from a professional quilter who insisted that the measurement you should use is the center measurement only. I have since started doing that and my quilts look a lot flatter and have almost eliminated any wavyness in the borders

Here's a tutorial I did that shows the difference in methods with lots of pictures. I put it on a page at the top of the blog so it can easily be found again.
http://frommycarolinahome.wordpress....ders-tutorial/