Borders | One Piece or More Acceptable?

[Jo H.]

I've been doing some deep contemplation on borders :shock: and whether it makes a difference on whether a border is cut from one long piece on the straight of grain or whether it is equally acceptable to have pieced together two pieces of the fabric to make the length needed for a border. The cost for fabric has made me shop more conservatively and buying 2-1/2 yards of fabric so that I can have one solid piece on a long border doesn't make financial sense any longer.

So -- if there were two finished quilts that were exactly the same but one quilt has the last border in one piece and the other quilt had the same border but pieced in two sections so that they could be sewn on the straight on grain, would you think the one that had the solid pieced border was superior?

[Dawn S.]

If the piecing is done well, (small stitches with a fine thread, and matching a print, if there is one) and it is quilted well, it is equal to the one with no seam. Actually, you will probably be seeing more quilts with seams in their borders, as the price of cotton rises and people by less yardage, or draw from their stash. And, there will probably be more cornerstones in borders!

Dawn
In beautiful Northwest Montana

[Pam D.]

JoJo, for my own BOM, I would prefer one long piece for my borders, but I dont have huge lengths of any of my fabrics except the white on white, so most of my borders, particularly the bigger ones, will have to be in at least two pieces.

[Teri L.]

Piecing the border is perfectly fine. One thing I would encourage is mitering, if possible as visually the diagonal line isn't as easily noticed as a straight line.
Teri

[Margo C.]

Lots of sound advice here JoJo. I would only add that you make every effort to cut the borders on the straight of grain to make the quilt lay or hang flat and straight.

I also do not object to borders of different fabrics, but then, my favorite quilts are very scrappy! :wink:

[Pam D.]

Teri, funnily enough I nearly put in my previous post 'would it be less noticeable if you did a diagonal join rather than a straight one' then thought 'don't be daft of course it wont.' :roll: :roll:

[Pam D.]

A little piece of advice that I have rarely seen anywhere is that the least unforgiving fabric choice is solid, no matter what you are doing. The eye travels until it has somewhere to stop. In solid fabric it is the seam line. The minute you use fabric with a pattern, even tone on tone, marbled, etc there is now something other than seam lines to occupy the eye. We all have our own style of quilting and i also believe that should be our prime consideration. I enjoy making planned scrappy quilts which means that I am in control where the fabrics fall and not a free fall of fabric. Now that I am using stash fabrics only the challenge sometimes is how to achieve something pleasing to the eyes with what I have. The following quilt is planned scrappy with autumn colors and the constant of neutral background. The border was two more "leftovers." They were bindings I had prepared and then changed to a different fabric. I pressed the fold line out using vinegar and water. Because of the amounts I had to be creative. I used the mitered joins because they seemed to flow unlike straight joins.

[Pam D.]

I agree with the mitered joins!

Maggie in e. Central Illinois

[Margo C.]

I really like your quilt, Agnes. "Planned scrappy" is my favorite color! :lol:

Whereas the favorite color of my DH is "bright shiny objects" :roll:

[Beverly C.]

What is the vinegar/water ratio to iron the fabric flat? I have seen that reference before but don't remember what the recipe is. I'll put it where I can find it this time!! Beverly

[Beverly C.]

I don't know the vinegar/water receipe, but another trick if you have a crease that won't budge, is to get a piece of natural sisel string, soak it in water, lay it down in a straight line on you pressing mat, place the fabric on top with the crease exactly over the string, then press with your iron. A pressing cloth is optional. This has worked well for me in the past.

Rosemary

[Beverly C.]

Generations past, like my mom and grandmother. used a cloth dampened with undiluted vinegar to set creases in men's pants. Going from there I experimented and found that a 50% vinegar, 50% water works fine and doesn't smell quite as strongly as a pickle factory when I are pressing. I keep a spray bottle of the solution at my ironing table to spray as needed. Give the fabric a minute or two to absorb the liquid and better removal of the crease. The smell disappears.

[Hannelore N.]

What does the vinegar do to the fabric seeing that it's an acid?? I presume if you use it then you should wash your quilts as soon as possible. I'm the world's slowest piecer and some projects have been hanging around semi-finished for years. If I would use that vinegar/water mix could the fabric start to deteriorate?

On a cheeky note: I love pickled cucumber. So, if I press green fabrics, I could use the liquid from the jar and then sniff the lovely scent for weeks?

[Hannelore N.]

I believe it is not strong enough to have any effect. I have never seen any adverse effects in my quilts. I personally haven't done a study. All I know is that it was quite regularly used to press the crease. If it was harmful I am sure an alternate would have been found. Have you ever heard of using vinegar as a fabric softener? It would be more diluted but that is another trick from by-gone years. That is definitely meant to stay in the fabric till the next laundering.

[Pam D.]

How interesting! I've never heard of using vinegar on fabri,cs only about using it for removing limescale, which I do. Thanks Agnes, you teach me something new most days Long may you continue to do so.