This is one of the many nightmares of every quilter. The wavy, untamed, lumpy, too big border. As a quilter I deal with them the best I can. I push, I ease, I steam, I finagle the material as best I can to keep from getting those folds and pleats in the borders. But....I can only do so much. Here are a few pictures of my daughters quilt where she did not put the border on correctly. Funny story...by the time it came to putting the borders on, she was OVER the quilt. She no longer "liked" the quilt, so "loving" the quilt was completely out of the question. She just wanted it done!
Here's the quilt...you have seen it before.....(it's the split 9 patch)
This is just after the first row has been quilted....you can see I'm already in for a long road ahead.
The other side of the quilt isn't much better...like I said she was "over it" and does not want to become the Princess of Blocks. (She calls me the Queen of Blocks)
If you notice in the picture above the pink border is not lined up straight with the bar on the machine. That's because I had already been working with the extra fabric from the beginning. When I attempt to straighten the quilt, this is what it looks like.....can you say "forever waves of grain?" and I'm not talking about wheat like the song.
As we progress this is the way tucks and folds look due to too much fabric.
some bad and some not so bad.....
I can tell from this picture that the borders are going to give me problems. Check out the bellowing, balloon like border on the right side of the quilt. Yep, serious trouble.
Here's a view of some of the tucks and folds that MUST be done to keep the quilt somewhat on line. If I didn't I would end up with massive amounts of fabric at the end. When the borders are this bad, a quilter has no option but to tuck and fold......
Approaching the end of the quilt with all of the tucks, folds, pleats and stretching the top that I've done. Here is what the last row looks like....
There's still more tucks to come. If you notice the pink has different waves than the final border, this makes tucks in the pink and not the print.
Can you say ruffle??
The good news is the quilt is finished and because she knows (and loves) the quilter she didn't have to pay to have this quilt finished. She has had the quilt with her at school for the last couple of years and loves it. It's done...her friends are amazed that she made it. A well seasoned quilter might have a different opinion, but for her it's good enough, it's done, it's not a show quilt. It's a quilt that she grabs to snuggle up while watching TV in her room and for her that's good enough. (All pictures used with permission, not that she actually had a choice.)
Borders are an important part of the quilt. It's not as easy as just sewing them on. I didn't know this when I first began quilting, but now I know. If you have any questions about the "correct" way to apply a border, do some research, ask questions. It does make a difference.
Thanks for checking on me,
hugs,
joanne
love to hear what you've got to say......
