How to Miter Multiple Quilt Borders

Your finished quilt can keep you warm or make a nice decoration.

A mitered quilt border results in a straight seam from the inside of the border corner to the outer point. This technique takes a bit more time than a butted border, which involves matching the ends of the border evenly as they meet, and requires folding the material in a very particular manner. To miter multiple borders on the same quilt, take new quilt top measurements after adding the first border. The new border length will change, but the sewing process will remain the same.

Things You'll Need

• Quilt top
• Binding
• Rotary measuring tool
• Yardstick
• Fabric pen
• Scissors
• Pins
• Needle
• Thread
• Seam ripper

Instructions

1. Measure your quilt top to determine the necessary length of the border. The border length for each side of the quilt top is equal to the length of the quilt side, plus twice the border width, plus a 1/2-inch seam allowance, plus 2 inches of miter allowance. For example, if the length of your quilt top is 48 inches and the border width is 2 inches, the border length formula is as follows: 48+4+1/2+2=54 1/2 inches of total border length for one side. Mark and cut the border at the necessary length.

2. Mark the centers of the borders and each length of border. Pin, starting at the center marks, and then sew the borders onto each side of the quilt, leaving the last 4 1/4 inches on each end unattached so you can manipulate the fabric later to miter the corners. End your stitches about 1/4-inch from the raw edges of the quilt body. Back-stitch to secure the strips in place.

3. Lay the quilt top flat and fold each piece of extra border back on itself so that the border comes together at a 45-degree angle. Check the angle with your rotary tool and press the fabric so that the creases remain sharp.

4. Fold the quilt diagonally, so that the back-stitched 1/4-inch and the raw edges line up. Pin and stitch the sides of the border together. Repeat this step with each corner.

5. Press the corners so that they lie flat and cut away excess material.

Tips & Warnings

• Using a sewing machine is not necessary, but can make the work easier and faster.

References

• Youtube: Adding Mitered Border to a Quilt
• McCall's Quilting: Borders

Resources

• Quilt University: Methods of Measuring for Borders