Orange Crush, 2013
I try to find easy ways to do things because at heart I am lazy! Mitred corners are one of those things that I've found an easy way to manage. Not saying it is the "correct" way but it works for me. I don't plan on entering a quilt in juried show; I just want to make beautiful quilts and I think mitred corners are a nice finishing touch. If there are several borders it can get a little tricky lining everything up and that equals stress. I've got more than enough stress in my life so I figured out a stress-free method of doing a mitred corner. I'll give you the math to figure out the length of the border strips but first I'll explain the mitre technique.
I prepare the borders in the usual way. When I stitch the borders to the quilt top I start and stop ¼” in from the edge of the quilt top and then press the seam towards the border. To mitre the corners I lay the corner of the quilt on my ironing board and press so that everything lies flat and smooth. Then I fold under one edge of the border to create a 45o angle and press. Make sure that the short edge of border that is folded under lines up with the long side of the border. I pin the folded edge in place. If there are multiple borders I am able to make slight adjustments so that each border seam matches up perfectly. In the example below I have a 1" green border, ¼” gold border and a 6" outer border. Notice how everything matches up perfectly.
Now here comes the math for the width and length of the border. You need the measurements of the finished quilt top without the seam allowances. Lets say the quilt top measures 60 ½” by 70 ½” with seam allowances so that means it will measure 60 by 70 without seam allowances. To this I want to add a border that is 8" finished (8 ½” with seam allowances). This means the finished width of the quilt with the borders will be:
8" + 60" + 8" for a total of 76"
The finished length of the quilt with the borders will be:
8" + 70" +8" for a total of 86"
Now add in the seam allowances back into the measurements. We need ¼” on either end of each border so that is a total of ½” to be added to the length of each border. The top and bottom will measure 76 ½” x 8 ½” The borders for the sides will measure 86 ½” x 8 ½”.
Check out my pattern Orange Crush for instructions on pinning and sewing the borders to the quilt.
Again thank you to everyone who has sent get well wishes to my Mom and who has voted for her quilt, In My Garden. I told her that her quilt is entered in Quilting Gallery's Show and Tell and she was surprised that I had done this for her and she was thrilled to know that people like her embroideries. Here are the last few embroideries from her quilt that I haven't yet shown you. I think her work is fabulous and hope that she gets well soon so that she can get back in the sewing saddle again!
