Sizzle Month 11 Top and Bottom Borders

We are about at the end of this journey. The top and bottom applique' borders are ready to be created.

My  instructions are very similar to Month 10, the Side Borders. I printed the patterns on Quilters Select Print and Piece Fuse Lite and cut all those shapes out. 

IMPORTANT CUTTING TIP: I found my top and bottom borders to be too short when all the applique' was done and had to add about 3" to each end of both before trimming. The applique' process takes up some fabric. Also, since I had not prewashed the rust fabric, the borders may have shrunk in the sink as they soaked. Ultimately, the borders were trimmed to 6" x 71.5"--start with at least 7" x 75"--I wish I had. 

Preparing the shapes takes time. First, you fuse the pattern to the back of the fabric, then cut out the shapes, allowing a 1/4" seam allowance:

Glue the edges of fabric over the interfacing:

I like the forked tongue end of the Appliquick tool, it really grips the fabric:

 To make the tip pointy, I turned it under first:

Then I fiddled with both sides to make the tip as pointy as possible:

Real leaves don't have perfect points, so allow for some imperfection if you can't get them all really pointy.

You may remember last month, I found it very easy to print the placement patterns on vellum, tape those together, and have a placement pattern I can see through without all the work of tracing on vinyl:

Using the placement pattern, I put the 3 green leaves on the background, pinning them in place. I did two sets of 3 leaves at a time, then applique'd them. The green thread worked on  both fabrics, so each group of 3 was stitched as a group:

After all the green leaves were applique'd, I added the orange/yellow sets of leaves, 4 in each group. I did the four leaves as a group so I could applique' them in one step, not changing thread. The green circle covers the place where I moved from one petal to the next.

The single yellow petal that does not go under the green circle was stitched after the 4 orange/yellow leaves were stitched. Since I had to start and stop and tie off the threads, they were done last.

Becky recommends using Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles--that is what I did. I started with the interfacing on the back side of the fabric, that adds a good edge for the applique'.  A row of small basting stitches is used around each, in the seam allowance:

Using the templar "washers" the correct size, draw the basting thread around each circle, pull tightly and press:

I used spray sizing spritzed directly on the circles, let that dry just a bit, then used the iron to fully dry the circles. Be sure they are really dry before you remove the washer--I left them at least 30 minutes after ironing dry. Carefully open the basting just large enough to remove the washer, then pull the basting thread to get the circle back into shape. The sizing helps the edge stay crisp and the circle easily goes back into shape.

Once all the circles were made, I added all the blue circles, then all the green circles. Blue thread on the blue, green thread on the green:

I soaked each border in the sink in warm water for about 15 minutes to remove the glue and fusible interfacing. I left them dry overnight before pressing firmly and trimming them to size.

Just as with last month, I used a 6" wide ruler and white chalk pencil to draw lines on the border before cutting. I was able to be sure the shapes were centered before making a mistake cutting. Then I cut the border to 6" wide.

It was at this point I discovered my borders were too short. I added about 3" of rust to each end of both borders, then carefully trimmed them to 71.5" long. See CUTTING TIP above to avoid this problem.

Becky decided to put her top and bottom borders in the same orientation--she did that deliberately. I put mine so they are "mirror images" of each other, with the long orange petals along the outer edges. As she says, "it's your quilt, you get to decide how you want to do it".

So, here we are at the end. Next month we will talk about the quilting and a few other things.

Let's quilt.

Barbara