Putting borders on a quilt done with the system I am teaching here really stumped me. I had the sashing figured out at least several weeks before I came up with a good way to do borders. Actually, all that meant was that I didn't have the right, simple idea soon enough... I was trying to make it more complicated than it needed to be. Nonetheless, this can be a little hard to grasp, so really take your time. Read all the instructions and study the photos...

 If you had proceeded to this point, you would have a nice, rectangular quilt top... blocks joined by neat sashing, but no outside edges to the blocks. Most quilts have borders, and it is apparent we need either a border or edge binding, if not both. In my sample project, I did not want a border, so it pictures only edge binding. However, Sunbonnet Sue had nice borders, so I am going to use pictures of that quilt to show how I did the borders... then I will show the edge binding system I use.

Here is a picture of Sunbonnet Sue again:

This picture should make more sense to you now... you can see all the blocks, and understand how the dark stripes between function in joining the blocks into a quilt top. You can also see that a wide, dark border has been added. In this case, the border, and the edging, are the same material as the sashing. The border was cut as 3". Some of that dimension was, in the finished product, overlaid with sashing and edging. Watch how it all works out.

To proceed in making the border... lay out your material as a sandwich... back, bat, and top... cut your border to your desired width, cutting all three layers as one. As in making the sashing strips in the previous section, it is desirable to cut lengthwise and get full length borders, but if you must join, do so. As with the blocks, I think it is a good idea to baste or pin to stabilize the layered border. I chose to edge stitch as I described for applique blocks... i.e. a very long, loose stitch 1/8" in from the edges. This was adequate stabilization.

Plan on doing the side borders first. I goofed on Sue, and did the top and bottom first, which lengthened the sides unnecessarily. Essentially, you are going to treat the border as if it were one long block. Make the necessary sashing pieces, front and back, exactly as you did for the blocks. Attach a border exactly as you did a block... sewing the front sash on with two blind seams, then sewing the back sash on by visible top stitching.

I don't have any in process photos of this, since my sample project didn't involve borders, but here is a close-up of the border and edging on "Sunbonnet Sue Treadles On"...

Study this picture carefully. Note the sash joining the two blocks... work that was described in the previous session. This sash ended at the edge. Note the border, joined to the quilt edge with sashing identical to that which joined the block... applied the same way. You can also note the edge binding, but we will get to that a bit later. The 3" of the binding actually would measure from half-way into the sashing out to the edge. The sashing, which is 1" wide, is 1/2" onto the blocks and 1/2" onto the border. The edge binding, on top, is 1" wide, to match the sashing.

Now, here is a very critical part of the process... the corners. Doing these in such a way that the sashing pattern comes out logically is really tricky.... here is a detail photo:

This is the Southwest corner of the quilt. (Yes, I know it looks like the tree is upside down... this particular block is titled "Sunbonnet Sue Treadles Down Under"... you figure it out.) Now, as I said, on this quilt, I did the top and bottom borders first. I wouldn't do it that way again, but I will describe it as it occurred to avoid confusion. Note how the sashing that joined this bottom border to the blocks APPEARS to go under the sashing that joins the side border on, and continue to the edge of the quilt. It doesn't really do that. What has happened here is that, using careful measurement of the actual quilt, I made a join in the border, adding the corner section and treating it as if it were a miniature block. The short piece of sashing that looks like a continuation of the bottom sash is actually the piece of sashing that joined this corner to the side border piece, which was cut to the actual length of the quilt top (i.e. the blocks...). Obviously, there was a similar treatment at the top. It takes some careful work to make this come out right, so that the corner treatment on the side border ends up looking like its piece of sashing is part of the long bottom sash. They have to be level with each other. Once the side border is made, with the two corner pieces properly done, it was a fairly simple matter to add the side border, just as I did the top and bottom borders. In the detail photo, you can see the sashing that joined the side border on, coming down all the way to the edge and creating the appearance that it is crossing the bottom sash.

Again, in the case of Sunbonnet Sue, I did the top and bottom borders first. If I were doing it now, I would do the sides first.

OK... that gets your border on... now, let's look at how I make and apply my own edge binding.

You may have worked with commercial bias binding tape at some time. As far as I am concerned, the idea is OK, but the actual product is a mess. It is cut on the bias so that it will go around curves... most quilt edges are straight. Why mess with bias cut fabric? Also, the selection of colors is limited, and offers no patterned material. By making your own tape, you can cut on the square, and have a nearly limitless variety of choices in colors and patterns.

The theory with the commercial tape is that you can attach it with a blind seam on the front, and a topstitched seam on the bottom that will come out truly straight and even on top, and won't ever, ever drift off of the tape... It doesn't work like that in my neighborhood! When I make my own tape, I make it in such a way that it is noticeably uneven. The top is wider than the bottom. This means that the bottom seam is not going to wander off the tape on the top when you are stitching the work upside down.

On my sample project, I didn't use a border, and I made my edge binding narrower than I would for a quilt. After all, it was a small item. The pictures I will use here show the making of the binding for this project. The actual dimensions of the edge binding for Sunbonnet Sue involved cutting the strips to 3" and folding/ironing them in such a way that the top ended up being 1" and the bottom 1/2". I will show a detail photo later.

I use an open corner treatment... This doesn't mean anything to you yet, but we'll get there.

Cut a piece of binding slightly longer than the edge you are going to bind. Measure the edge, and fold/iron the strip at points that will result in it being the same length as the edge. This will fold the raw ends inside. Now proceed as in the pictures:

Here is the finished piece, except for the final corner treatment...

As noted above, I use an open corner treatment. Many consider this a bit crude, but it is simple and effective. Maybe it's a guy thing... If you want to, you can study books about how to miter corners, etc. Anyway, I just did a section on corner treatment for the Summer Mystery quilt, and I am simply going to copy it bodily into here. This quilt used a self edge, rather than a tape, but the corner treatment is the same idea...

(From "Treadle On Summer Mystery Quilt")

The next step, binding the top and bottom, involves one tricky decision... how to handle the corners. I generally do square or "open" corners (It's a Guy Thing...). Most folks with a bit of experience like mitered corners. If I do miters at all, I cheat and do what is really a half miter. The secret of a nice looking corner, either way, is good pinning before you sew. Here are some pictures.

Here is the simple square corner... the edge has merely been folded mover. A modest amount of care may be required to keep the inside edge from trying to move out, but this is really very easy. You stitch the long seam and the corner is made. You can hand stitch the end opening closed, top stitch with the machine, or just leave it open.

Here are two pictures of making a half-mitered corner. If you want to get into mitered corners in more detail, most books cover it.

Here are two photos of the finished corner on Sunbonnet Sue Treadles On. This was done in the "square" or "open" style.

OK...We've completed another long journey in Treadle On quilting... As I said at the beginning, the idea of joining pre-quilted blocks is not new... However, doing it the way I describe here may well be. Certainly I never encountered any instruction that approached it this way. In showing this system to other people, I have yet to find anyone else who has come across anything like it. Someone else may, at some time, have worked out the same ideas. It wouldn't be the first example of a re-invented wheel.

I hope it is something you can use. If you are a careful and precise quilter, as opposed to an in a hurry type like me, you can probably learn to do this to quilt show judging quality... me, I just wanted to have a way to put appliqued blocks together...

Treadle On and have fun!