TRY TECHNIQUES | PIECING

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Straight Borders

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Border Basics

Quilt Designer: Tammy Kelly
Quilt Name: Spring Beauty, American Patchwork & Quilting, June 2006

Just like a picture frame and mat enhance a photograph, borders help show off the center of a quilt. Borders can be as simple as single strips of fabric or intricately pieced or appliquéd. The simplest type is a straight border.

Borders should be in proportion to the size of the finished quilt. As a general rule of thumb, a small wall hanging should have a border of less than 6" while a king-size quilt can handle a 12" to 14" border. Borders that are too wide diminish the quilt center design. To decide how wide to make a border, begin with your finished block size. If your quilt center is made of 4" blocks, try a 4"-wide border.

If you want to change the size of a quilt, avoid adjusting the border only. Unless the change is minimal, widening just the border can make the quilt look out of proportion. Instead, consider adding sashing, pieced borders, or multiple borders to enlarge the finished quilt.

For border inspiration, look at quilting books and magazines for appealing border and block combinations. Study the proportion of the border to the block size and the amount of piecing or detail in the border as compared to the blocks.

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