I hate to admit it but I jumped into something (this time attaching a border) without researching how to best do it first. That is unlike me and I really don't know why I did it other than I guess I am anxious to finish this quilt. I did the 'ole measure one side, cut a piece, sew it on and then whack off the extra. Of course I ended up with waves in my borders. I spent quite a bit of time last night and this morning reading about the proper way to measure and attach a border. Here's my question; should I tear the borders off and redo them using better methods (I'd have to use the same material that is already there because I don't have enough to cut new borders with) or do I chalk this up to lesson learned and hope the waves "quilt out" some? The center and larger outside border will have stipple quilting done, the smaller inside border will just have 2 straight lines stiched 1/4" in from each seam.

There is a part of me that thinks with as much time as I've put into this quilt so far, I should go the little extra mile to take it apart and do it all right, but then there's that other part of me that wants to cry at the idea of being set back a few more days. That part of me has a little voice saying, "It'll be okay, once you get it all quilted the waviness will not show." I'm just not sure if that voice is lying. :)

Personally...I would redo the borders. They may not completely lay flat when quilted. It's a beautiful quilt...I would redo them because my eyes would always go straight to the wavy borders.

I would redo them because you have a beautiful quilt top and I would think it would be worth it. I am working on an Amish quilt that is really getting a lot of "seam ripper" usage, but I will not give up. I know it will look good when done -

I would too...a quilt teacher told me NEVER measure the sides, measure thru the middle both ways and then deduct 1/2 inch and they will never wave at ya :thumbup: putting a little pressure on when sewing helps, pin both ends and then the exact middle...turn out perfect every time.

I would redo the borders for such a beautiful quilt and prairie points. I wouldn't be happy if I didn't. That's my personal opinion.

I measure through the center side to side with the border strip laid on top and smooth it as I go. sew on both top and bottom, Press and measure the same way through the center, top to bottom, including the previous borders, smooth out border fabs as before. This always work for me.

I guess I pretty much knew what everyone's answer would be. :) So here's another question, do I just redo the 5" border (which won't be hard, just a little time with the seam ripper), or do I tear off both borders, which means taking off the prairie points too? (I really want to cry thinking about doing all that)

LindaR, you mentioned measuring the middle then deducting 1/2". I hadn't read about deducting the 1/2", I had read to just measure the middle. Then find your 1/2 way and 1/4 way points, pin and ease in whatever fullness between. I'm wondering now which way to use?

I have always deducted the 1/2" since I was told that. I have never had a problem with them being too short. The woman who taught me that had a quilt shop and made beautiful quilts that always hung so nice on the wall. I made a quilt out of some blocks that my mother made me wayyyyy back when for a baby blanket and never finished...didn't know about the measuring thing and the borders are wavy. I just racked it up to a "beginner" thing and never fixed it. it is noticeable tho...your quilt is so pretty.

IMHO I would go all the way back to the narrow boarder (before the prairie points), because it looks a little more wavy than the outer boarder. I know that is a lot of work, but in the long run you will be MUCH happier.

I also had not heard of deducting a 1/2" off my the middle measurement. But, when you think about it.... hmmm couldn't hurt. Here is what my simple brain figured. When sewing, the quilt top is on the bottom, the boarder on top. Okay.!! The sewing machine will take up the difference, because the feed dogs will move more fabric, the boarder is just along for the ride.

The other reason I can see this working is that my first quilt instructor said that if you have two blocks that are not quite the same size (but should be) put the larger block on the bottom.

good luck unsewing

Before you go to all the trouble of taking off the borders, have you tried to just steam iron them flat? Those borders really don't appear all that wavy to me. Some steam and maybe some added starch may be all that's needed to tame them. I would try that first, if you already haven't.

It's a gorgeous quilt. I love the colors!

Your decision to make is "What can I live with?" Will you cringe every time you see the quilt with wavy borders? If so, you'd better redo it. If you can look at wavy borders and smile about how much you've learned since then, leave them be.

What do redo and no redo is dependent on the quilter.

If I chose to redo I would just remove the last border.

A lot depends on the look you are after, too. If you are after the crinkly look that cotton batting gets after washed and dried, you could probably get away with it. Mytwopals already mentioned steaming/ironing it flat, which would have been my first instinct.

*sigh* I've thought and thought all morning about this and I think I've decided to just leave the darn things and get this quilt finished. Honestly I'm tired of looking at this quilt. It wasn't destined for anyone's house but my own so I'm calling it a lesson learned and going on with life. The 2" borders really should be replaced as well but I just don't have it in me to tear it all back down to that point. I had hoped it would turn out nice but such is life. You win some, you lose some. :) My next one will be better, and the one after that will be even better, and so on. (Can anyone tell I'm really just trying to make this okay in my mind? :P)

My Mom always told me to put the bigger piece on the bottom. She called it "the saggy bottom" method.

Your center is so nice and flat. I agree that you need to take the borders off and re-do. Trying to work in all that extra will be a nightmare, whether you quilt this quilt or have it done.

Sweet quilt!

Good attitude, quilt it heavily and go on to the next quilt.

:thumbup:

HEY! You CANNOT steal my title, that of Justification Queen :)

However, I will share it with you
:lol: :lol:

I did something similar yesterday, however my quilt was not nearly as perfect and detailed as yours...my justification was that it was for an 8 year old boy (my son as well, so not even a gift for someone else's kid) and he'd never notice even though I'm sure it'll drive me nuts every time I see the binding....

BUT, it's DONE and at this point that's all I care about :)

So, I give you full permission to just move on to your next project ! :thumbup:

If I had done such a careful job of piecing....I'd want to get that border flat...I'm not as concerned about the little border with the prairie points...it should get enough quilting to make it work and the ppoints are flat.

I'm fascinated with LindaR and grammy Dwynn's posts...
is this Board great, or what? I've learned a couple of ways to come up with flat boarders and square tops...their posts really expanded my horizons. That 1/2 inch less method would surely take into account the usual reduced amount of quilting shrink in the borders that I've seen a few times...ie when the body is more closely quilted and the borders are more openly quilted. I love reading the reasons behind why something will/won't work...it's so much easier to remember what to do if we can think about why we do...or it is for me anyway. Thanks ladies for sharing! And I hope this quilt will make you smile when you're finally done with it, Rachel.

Are your fabrics prewashed? If not, they may shrink and the waviness may not be as noticeable.
I like to starch all of my fabrics and it seems to help keep this from being a problem. I am one who does not always measure properly...and I do glue baste my borders,which also helps keep the waves away.

Since you have decided not to re-do, maybe you can stuff the thin border a bit to puff it up so it doesn't look quite so wavy.

Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful quilt. I don't have anything to suggest to you that hasn't been said. It is what you can live with. But I have learned so much from your question I hope it will make my quilts better in the future!

i. too, would quilt a bit more on the wavy section to pull it in. but don't go overboard. you'd be surprised how much gets eaten up that way, especially when washed. then i would kiss it, and it would be all better.

btw, beautiful quilt.

I think your quilt is just beautiful!! I think everyone has those little things that we see about our own work that bugs us. Has there ever been one that was just "perfect"? And you're definitely right, every one just gets better and better!! Great work, you should be really proud of yourself!

Thank you all for your posts! This board is so friendly and helpful. I've learned so much in just the couple of weeks I've been reading here.

While the kids napped this afternoon I steam pressed the borders then laid it out with the backing and batting. Actually got the basting done while the kids still slept. (They took a fabulous nap today!) I was happy with how much of the wave was pulled out just with the basting. I'll do a little extra quilting in the big border and hopefully it won't be too noticable when all is said and done.

These fabrics actually aren't prewashed. I normally would prewash but when I bought the 30's fabric last year I bought it as precut 5" squares. I didn't want to wash little squares (didn't even know if you should) so I figured I would go the non prewashed route with this quilt and wash the whole thing at the end. I'm going to use about 40 dye catchers though and pray the pinks and reds don't bleed into the white!

LoL, I will gladly share your title, though I very often hold a different title, that of Queen Of Denial. :) Normally I would be saying, "Waves, what waves? I see no waves in that border." :)

ditto!

My nurse daughter told my husband "If you're calling me to see if you should go to the emergency room, then you should go to the emergency room!"

I think the same applies here, if you need to ask if you should do it over, then you know inside your heart that you should do it over.

If it were up to me, I'd put it away for a week, and then come back, rather then do something you'd regret.

I have never heard of the "deduct 1/2 inch. I will try it, I usually do not have much trouble though.

Bonnie at Quiltville says to always measure with the fabric down the middle, never a ruler. Since I have done that my borders have been fine. I, also love the crinkly look so my fabrics are never washed and I LOVE the Shout color catchers - no problems here and I've used dark reds a lot!! I use about 5 or 6 when I first wash. I've also heard that plain muslin will do the same.
I think it is a lovely quilt and bet you will love it, wrinkles & all. But then I love crinkly wrinkles.
Judi

I agree, re-do it. This is a BEAUTY. I think iwill make one with reproduction fabric.

Your quilt is just beautiful. It is so bright and cheerful. I think when it is finished it will be just fine.

After reading most of the replies, I guess I will be the odd woman out! I would NOT redo the border. I do not think people look that closely at the border but rather focus on the entire quilt, which by the way is beautiful. I go by the philosophy that : If a man on a galloping horse can't see it, then leave it alone. Now that is a slight exaggeration but one that might help put into proper perspective. By the way, did you know that all Amish quilts deliberately have a mistake in them? At least the story I was told is that they believe that noone can make anything perfect in this life; perfection is only possible by God. Therefore, in all and every Amish quilts, there is always something misplaced; mismatched; miscolored thread, etc. I don't know if this is true but my daughter in law has a very old one that was her grandmothers and hit took us months but we finally found the error. Very hard to detect but I like the philosophy and the story. Good luck, Diane

It sounds like you've decided to leave as is. It sure is a pretty quilt!

I have a thought in relation to undoing when you have prairie points. You could probably fold the fabric back and stitch just the prairie points within the seam allowance. That way, you'd have a strip of them left, rather than individuals pieces, when you remove the borders.

I'd love to see how it all works out. If you can, please post a picture when done. :)

Rachel, don't get mad at it get glad, I have one the same way and I'm taking the ladies advice and going to redo it. If you don't you will always regret it. You have put too much work in it to let it go. If it's worth doing it's worth doing right. It is such a beatuiful quilt. My ripper is my best friend. Evrything I do has to be ripped at some time or other. Lets know what you have decided. Good Luck. Cookie

Your quilt is beautiful with or without wavy borders! I'm sure everyone here has had those pieces which we just wanted to finish at any cost. Since the quilt is for you only, I agree with your decision to just let it go. If it were going to be a gift I'm sure you'd feel differently and tear it apart.
I've learned something new here today as well---the 1/2 inch deduction on the measurement is something I had never heard. And I love the "saggy bottom" theory!
Quilt away and post another pic when you're finished..

I never measure my borders exact. I have the width and a straight edge to start, but always sew and then square each border, have never had a problem. I think your borders may quilt out. No matter it is a beautiful quilt.

I LOVE your quilt - it's beautiful. No advice regarding "to rip or not to rip", but please post pics when it's done.