Using strips for borders
 

I am using a striped piece of fabric for a border. My problem is, if I use the straight grain them my stripes are off and if I make the strips right, the grain is off. What is the best way to go? Am I making any sense?

Could you show us a picture or that fabric and the rest of your quilt? According to how the rest of your quilt looks, the stripes may look good cutting them into squares and then alternating them as 1 straight, then 1 sideways..all along the border. Another alternative is to cut the strips so that you can miter the corners. So, you would cut all down the length of the fabric and miter the corners. or cut them across and have small stripes all along the border, think piano key, and miter the corners.

Edited to add: Now you know why I can't get quilts finished. I see too many possibilities.

And I just read that the stripes are off. What do you mean by that? Not a straight print of the stripes? That could make it all even more interesting.

sometimes I do the stripes horizontally. it is easier and the borders look great. I'm thinking more binding though.

Quilt construction isn't like garment construction. You can be less concerned with the fabric grain because you're not looking for the item to drape a certain way when it's done. You should strive to keep the grain, however, the print trumps this. Cut it on the stripe. The quilting will take care of the grain being off.

If you miter the corners so the strips meet up, it should look great. Of course mitering has never been easy for me to do but with my trusty bottle of Elmer's washable glue, I have better luck getting them to match up correctly.

Thanks for the help. I'm going to go with the pattern.

If you don't Cut along the stripe your border will look wonky and messy.

It is not going to be that critical when using it in the border. Think about the quilts that have been made of lots of bits and pieces. Go with the most pleasing to you. If you do not and you go with the 'rules', you will never like the look of the top!

Yes, you are making sense. If you want the stripes to run the length of the borders, cut your fabric on the printed lines of the stripes. Make sure your seam allowance is consistent to keep the stripes straight along the seam line. Do not worry about the “having too much fabric” to lay flat for quilting. Usually this will not be much and, if necessary, you can ease it in.

If you use the grain of the fabric (rather than the print on the fabric) your borders will be wonky.