How to Add Material to a Quilt Top

When you have finished piecing a quilt with simple or intricate quilt blocks, it is time to add material to the quilt top. Add material to your quilt by sewing on borders. Make your borders as thin or as wide as you desire. Add more than one border to create different effects. Often a quilter will add a thin inner border and a wider outer border to make a beautiful finished quilt top.

Things You'll Need

• Quilt top
• Border fabric
• Iron
• Cutting mat
• Quilter's ruler
• Rotary cutter
• Tape measure
• Pins
• Sewing machine
• Cotton thread
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Determine how many inches you wish to add to the dimensions of your quilt top. For example, if you wish to add 10 inches to each side of a quilt, you could divide this 10-inch measurement into one, two or even three borders (1-inch inner border, 3-inch middle border and 6-inch outer border).

2. Select border fabric you like that will complement the quilt top. Use border fabrics that echo the other colors in the quilt top. Often quilters use a bold and bright color for a narrow inner border and more muted colors or patterns for outer borders.

3. Iron the fabrics so they are completely smooth and wrinkle-free. Match the selvage edges (the printed edges) with right sides of the fabric facing out and fold the fabric in half. Fold the fabric in half again by bringing the folded edge down to the selvage edges. Iron the folds well so they are crisp.

4. Place one folded border fabric onto your cutting mat with the folded edge at the top and the other fold and the selvage edges closest to you. Cut vertical strips for your border pieces. Add ½-inch to whatever the width is of the border you are cutting. (For example, if your border is 1 inch, cut the strips 1.5 inches wide.) Cut enough border strips to sew around the entire perimeter of your quilt out of each border fabric.

5. Lay out your quilt top and smooth it flat. Measure the length of the quilt through the center of the quilt. This is the length you must make two inner borders. Stitch the inner border strips together if necessary to make two inner border strips this length.

6. Sew one inner border to one long edge of the quilt. Lay the border piece over the quilt top with the right side of the border fabric facing down. Line up the edges of the border strip and the quilt top and pin the border in place. Stitch the border strip to the quilt top using a ¼-inch seam allowance. Remove the pins. Repeat with the other long inner border piece on the opposite long edge of the quilt. Press the borders well with the iron.

7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to measure the width of the quilt, stitch the inner border strips together to make them long enough (if necessary) and stitch the width inner borders to the quilt top.

8. Repeat steps 5, 6 and 7 to measure, cut and sew on all other borders to the quilt.

9. Iron the entire quilt top.

References

• C&T Publishing: Quilt Borders