Directions for Mitering Quilts

Mitering borders is one way of creating a visual frame for a quilt.

Attaching a border to a patchwork quilt can be done using different methods. A mitered border connects the corners of four strips of fabric positioned around the edges of the quilt at a 45-degree angle. This method can be accomplished with any size of quilt top, so the amount of fabric you will need to cut to miter the border will depend on your quilt's dimensions. Choose a fabric color that will frame the rest of your quilt to maximize the mitered border's visual effect. Once you have added a mitered border, you can continue finishing your quilt using normal quilting techniques.

Things You'll Need

• Unfinished quilt top
• Ruler
• Fabric
• Scissors
• Straight pins
• Sewing machine
• Pencil
• Iron

Instructions

1. Decide how many inches wide you wish your borders to be, including a 1/2-inch seam allowance. Measure the length and width of your unfinished quilt top with the ruler. To find out how long your border fabric strips must be, multiply the desired border width by two and add it to the length of the quilt plus 6 inches. This measurement is for the border strip for the quilt's long sides. For the top and bottom sides, multiply the desired border width by two and add it to the width of the quilt plus 6 inches.

2. Cut out two strips from the fabric with dimensions that match the desired border width and the measurement for the quilt's long sides using scissors. Cut out two more strips with dimensions that match the desired border width and the measurement for the quilt's top and bottom.

3. Fold each fabric strip in half width-wise. Position each strip around the outside of the quilt top so that each center fold is lined up with the center of each edge, with the top and bottom strips on their matching edges edges. Place the strips face-down on top of the quilt. Keep the edges lined up and secure them in place with straight pins.

4. Sew across each border strip on the quilt top with your sewing machine's running stitch setting. Starting 1/4 inch from one corner, sew across the side and stop when you are 1/4 inch from the next corner. Remove the straight pins from the side. Do this for each strip.

5. Fold the quilt so one of the corners is folded exactly in half, with the front side of the quilt on the inside of the fold. Two border strips should be evenly lined up with on top of the other on one side of the folded corner. Use the ruler and pencil to draw a straight line from the folded edge of the quilt onto back of the border fabric. Sew straight across this drawn line, then press open the seam with an iron. Trim off any excess fabric. Repeat this step for the three remaining corners.

References

• QuiltUniversity.com: Mitering Borders
• AllPeopleQuilt.com: Mitering Borders
• Quiltville: Border Hints & Tricks