Picadilly to the Nines - How I cut striped fabric for the border

All of the hourglass blocks are sewn into nine patches. The next step is to sew them together to make the border. I need a break from part of the quilt so decided to work on the small striped border that will be between the centre panel and the hourglass blocks.

That means it is time to cut the striped fabric! Stripes are easy to cut because the print can be used as a cutting guide. I need strips that are 2 1/4" wide. There is a thin gold stripe with a dark band on either side. I will use this gold line as my placement guide. It will be the centre of the strips this means there will be 1 1/8" on either side of the gold line 1 1/8 + 1 1/8 = 2 1/4").

I used a 6 1/2" ruler and lined the 1 1/8" mark at the top and bottom of the ruler on the gold line. I placed white dots on the gold line for the photograph. I like to use the smaller ruler because I get a more accurate cut. A 12" ruler is just too long for this delicate job.

1 1/8" mark at the top

1 1/8" mark at the bottom



I cut and them move the ruler lining up the 1 1/8" marks and cut another six inches until I've cut the length of the fabric. Once the strip is cut I turn so the fresh cut edge is to my left. I line up the 2 1/4" mark on that edge I trim the excess fabric on the right.

I repeat this process until I have the desired number of strips.

 

I cut the first to strips and was so eager to see how this border would look on the quilt that I decided to stitch them to the quilt right away! I am really happy with how it looks! And when the hourglass blocks are added it is going to be a bobby dazzler!

 

 

Look how perfectly the pattern matches up on the mitre! Stripes are so much fun to work with and they add a special touch to quilts. When you know how to cut them it is a breeze and sure to impress!



 

I've also been working on the diamonds that will go in the border of 81. My plan was a border around the entire quilt with a line of diamonds appliqued to the background fabric to finish the quilt top as was done on the original.

 

My quilt "81"

Diamond border on the original

I've decided a row of single diamonds won't be substantial enough for my quilt. As I played around with the based diamonds I realized that four stitched together into a larger diamond will be more dramatic so that's what I've been doing. These are some of the diamonds I've made.

And this is what they will look like on a border strip....much better!

Until I post again, happy sewing!