Pieced Border for SIZZLE

Maybe you are not a fan of applique'. Why not consider a pieced border instead?

I love applique'--it just takes me a while. Since I am making two of these quilts, a Cool and a Warm, I decided to applique' the Warm version border and piece the Cool version border.

My Cool version is being made from the Kit available from  The Quilt Show Store.  I tried a few variations but I had to be able to use just the Kit fabric remaining after I finished the 9 large blocks--I didn't want to come up with a design that would require purchasing more fabric.

After "test-driving" 3 options, the border I decided on is made from 4" blocks, that are half square triangles (HST) and quarter square triangles (QST). Easy to make and I had just enough fabric to make it.

NOTE: you could make these units 3" for a narrower border--I chose 4" so the numbers here are for that size.

There are 15 of these on each of the four sides--60 total. There are 4 corner blocks that are made from HST only--white and dark blue. All 64 of these blocks are 4.5" unfinished.

My preferred way to make HST is with the Half Square Triangle Ruler. This strip of white is 4.5" wide--with two cuts I have the 4 white HST needed for the corner blocks:

I cut all the blue fabrics with the Half Square Triangle Ruler--I needed a total of 64 HST. In planning this border, I had to be sure I had enough Kit fabric left for those 64 HST--I did.  The blue fabric strips were cut 4.5".

Here the white and dark blue Corner Block HST placed right sides together, ready to be sewn:

After sewing, press toward the blue. Trim each corner block to precisely 4.5". You might notice the selvedge is still on the white triangle--I save time not cutting it off at the beginning, but I do cut it off at the end:

The Quarter Square Triangles are made from white and green fabrics. I prefer what I call the "Sew First Method". I cut strips of white and green fabrics, 5.5", then cut into 5.5" squares--15 squares of white, 15 squares of green.

NOTE: Precise quilters' math says we can cut these 5.25" square--I increased them to 5.5" to allow for a little "insurance". If cut 5.25", I have to be 100% accurate with the cutting, drawing the narrow pencil line, the sewing and the pressing.

Draw a diagonal pencil line on the back side of the white squares--I use a mechanical pencil for an accurate, narrow line. Put a white square and a green square right sides together. Sew 1/4" on BOTH sides of the diagonal line.

Use any ruler that fits from corner to corner to cut the sewn white/green squares apart on BOTH diagonals:

When cut apart they look like this:

Press toward the green fabric (note--this green is not a kit fabric, it is just used here for this demo). Notice the units are NOT THE SAME--two have the white QST on the left, two have the white QST on the bottom. This is important, you need them both:

Give each white/green QST a blue HST friend--the HST are smaller than the QST. I lined up the raw edges of the HST so they were centered on the QST:

Once sewn, press toward the blue triangle.

Trim each unit to 4.5" precisely. I place the 2.25" mark at the center of the unit, being sure the diagonal lines are diagonal. Trim two sides, rotate the block completely around, and trim the remaining two sides.

Ready for first trim, 2.25" mark in the exact center;

 After the first trim, ready for the second side trim:

Done, exactly 4.5". Make a total of 60 of these:

Lay out 15 of these units to create one border. Sew them together in pairs, then "ruler check" your work. This is important in the beginning because being slightly off with each seam will cause problems as you sew all 15.

Place the 4.25" mark at the center seam--this unit is made from two 4.5" blocks--so when sewn together two of them are 8.5": 4" + 4" + 1/2" seam allowance:

Yes, I checked every pair. I rarely had to fix anything. This when you want to find out your seam allowance is too narrow or too wide. If it is not the right size now, it will miraculously become the right size when you do the next step!

Sew 15 blocks together for the first border. When done the border should measure 60.5"--15 x 4" = 60" + 1/2" seam allowance. I use a quality measuring tape to check long borders. Fold the border exactly in half, press firmly, and "ruler check":

Ahh, perfect! Half of 60.5" is 30.25"--good to go:

What if it is not perfect? Use a ruler to check each block. When you find one or more that is smaller or larger than 4" you will know which seam to fix. I checked every seam as I made the border so didn't have any I had to fix at the end.

Make 4 of these pieced borders, being careful with the placement of the two different block units--I wanted the white all along the outer edge:

I prefer to add the left and right borders, then the top and bottom. The left and right are 60.5" long unfinished. Pin the center of the border to the center of the quilt, then pin the  two outside edges, and pin all along the rest of the border. Sew slowly and precisely--being fast is not as important as being accurate and straight.

After adding the left and right borders, press toward the body of the quilt.

Make the top and bottom borders by adding the corner blocks to each. Again, watch the placement of the HST--the white faces out, the blue faces in.

Add the top and bottom borders to the quilt, press toward the body of the quilt.

The quilt is now 68" finished. You can stop there or add another border. I had plenty of the turquoise print left so I decided on a 2" finished border of it and the same fabric for the binding. I cut 2.5" strips, 8 to piece the border.

Piece the left and right borders to be 2.5" x 68.5". Add those to the body of the quilt, press toward the border.

Piece the top and bottom borders to be 2.5" x 72.5". Add those to the body of the quilt press toward the border.  DONE!

For the binding I cut 8 strips 2.5" wide, joined them together with a diagonal seam, and pressed in half. The binding is now waiting for the top to be quilted. Making the binding now insures I won't use that fabric for something else and then hunt all over looking for it when it's time to do the binding.

I have a detailed Finishing and Binding Tutorial here.

Feel free to design any kind of border you like. It's your quilt, you get to decide.

Let's quilt.

Barbara