Today I’m sharing a quilt that’s a lesson in what not to do. I learned something the hard way on this quilt. I like the center part just fine, but that wide striped border? There is room for improvement.
I spent a lot of time on these scrappy string Spiderweb blocks, pulling brights from my scrap bin and not worrying too much about anything.
By the time I finish piecing a quilt’s center, I’m ready to be done. In the past, sometimes I’ve attached plain ol’ borders and called it quits. But when I’ve given more thought and effort to a border, it has paid off. Scarlet Spin is a good example.
Scarlet Spin by Diane Harris. Photo by Mellisa Karlin Mahoney. Used with permission.
I’ve learned not to rush to the finish line, but to take time to do the border justice. Bonnie Hunter influenced me with her borders, which can be as involved as the quilt center. I don’t think she has ever slapped on a plain border and called it good.
One of the last jobs to complete when you’re making a quilt is to add the border strips. It’s not my favorite part of the process but I’ve learned to do it so that I have good results. I dislike measuring long border strips for my quilts, so here’s how I cheat to get my border strips to the right length. This method helps avoid unsightly wavy borders which do not lie flat, which is what you get when the border strips are longer than the edges of the quilt.