Why should I pin my borders?
 

Disclaimers - I'm self taught and have been quilting for 2 years. I made lap sized quilts (45 x 70), with plain borders and FMQ them on my DSM.

I had not been pinning my borders. They are just a piece of fabric, no piecing on my borders. I would line up the border top and the quilt top and just sew down the side without pinning.

I read here that it's important to pin the borders before sewing them on so I began doing that. I don't notice any difference in my finished product. My lap quilts always came out fine before.

Is that because my borders are plain and tend to lay flat? Is it because my quilts are on the small side?

I don't understand why I should continue to pin the borders before sewing them. I'm thinking I may go back to just sewing them.

Thanks a lot!!

Also, since you are using your side measurement only to determine your border length, there is no easing/stretching involved. In many cases folks measure their quilts both sides and center to make sure it is square. If there is any discrepancy in those measurements, you can take an average of the 3 measurements to help 'square up' the quilt with the borders. In that case, your border fabric may not be the same length as your quilt, hence the need for easing/stretching your border fabric.

I know - I've read about this! It seems awful confusing to me. I haven't even attempted it. The most I've done is to simply measure the quilt top to bottom or side to side, cut borders a little larger and then pin them together before sewing. Just as you suspected NJ Quilter. Perhaps my quilts have not been totally spot on perfect but I've never had an issue with seriously wavy borders as I've seen in blogs. They quilted up fine on my DSM and I have been able to proudly give them away.

I still wonder if my simple borders and small sized quilts are the reason why I don't need to go the extra mile.

My rule of thumb is to go with whatever works for you !! -- I also use plain borders, but after having one wavy one that was not laid on a flat surface to pin, I have gone back to my pin-it-down-on-a-flat-surface method and then sew -- no real rules in quilting!!--good luck on your future projects!!

Also, do you cut most of your borders lengthwise, parallel to the selvedge? Fabric cut in this direction stretches less.
You obviously are not pulling on the quilt body or borders as you attach them. You are also blessed with a machine that feeds well. After you attach the borders, lay the quilt out on a flat surface. If it's wavy, you can always remove & fix. Quilting should be fun. If you are happy with your results, then we certainly are!

I don't worry about pinning if I am doing a smaller quilt. I do with a large one. As your quilt will not always go thru your machine without some shifting it is easier to get off with a longer boarder. I may just pin every quarter or more often depending on how many seams are on the quilt edge. The more pieced seams the easier it is to get off

I confess sometimes I use a sheet as a border and then I just rip it to the width I want. No piecing involved since it is a very long piece of fabric.

Today I used regular fabric, not a sheet. I cut from selvedge to selvedge. I don't think that's "parallel" is it? I got lazy and didn't pin and it came out fine. Perhaps my luck is a combo of the size of the quilts, the simplicity of the borders and a machine that feeds well.

Thanks for all the replies. I don't think I'll be pinning anymore.

I use Bonnie Hunters border method. There is NO measuring involved and my borders come out perfect every time. I just fold the quilt in half, lay my border strips on the fold, smooth out and cut even with the end. If I am working with a larger quilt, I will start at one end and pin every foot or so and fold it up as I go along until the other end is on the table. I think it's more accurate that way. The trick is to SMOOTH and not stretch the fabric as you go. I usually pin the center and ends first when applying the borders. The I pin periodically between those.

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

The wavy ruffly borders are indeed emphasized with a larger quilt. It becomes very apparent when hanging a quilt like in a show or a wall quilt or if you ever decide to use a LA quilter or quilt on a rack. I have gotten some that were so bad the only way to quilt them was to put strategic tucks in here and there. One was so bad I had to take the border off and remeasure it and redo it (with makers permission of course!) She too was a new quilter and didn't understand the importance of measuring the quilt through the center and cutting the border fabric to those measurements.
One border was 4" longer than it's opposing mate! Every single border measured differently. Here are before and after pictures to emphasize:
Before fixing, sewn by just slapping fabric on and cutting when you reach the end:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]542010[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]542011[/ATTACH]

And here it is after I fixed it, not ruffly at all:
[ATTACH=CONFIG]542012[/ATTACH]

Most smaller utility quilts it will never be noticed. And because you don't quilt on a rack, it isn't noticeable when quilting. It really becomes apparent when hanging that the edge is wavy. Even more than when laying flat on a floor.

If you are happy with the way your quilts turn out, don't have issues with wavy or ruffly borders and feel like pinning is a waste of time, by all means go back to doing it the way you were. There are oodles of quilters out there that do it the way you describe with no issues whatsoever. But if you ever decide to make a quilt for a show or have something special you want to send to a longarm quilter then you definitely want to measure the center of your quilt, mark center point on the top and precut to size borders and pin, easing in any fullness.