Nov
18
An appliquér’s mitered border
Filed Under Borders, Hand appliqué, Photo tutorials
I sew mitered borders from the top, where I can see what I’m doing. For me it’s more of an intuitive approach, but maybe that’s just because I’m an appliqué girl!
This illustration shows an inner border and an outer border, sewn together and applied to the quilt top at the same time and mitered at a 45º angle at the corners. The border strip sets need to start out longer than the sides of the quilt.
Sew the borders to each side, leaving ¼” free at each end of the seams. Secure the starting and stopping points with backstitching.
Place the quilt on the ironing board. Fold one border under at a 45º angle so that it lines up exactly with its neighbor underneath. Use your ruler to check the angle of the miter and its 45º relationship to the square corner of the quilt top. When all is satisfactory, press and then carefully baste in place without shifting the fabric.
Hand appliqué the miter, using threads to match the fabrics. Remove the basting stitches.
Complete all four corners in this manner. After a final check that all four corners are square and correct, trim off the excess border ends, leaving a ¼” seam allowance. Press seams open.
And that’s how I do that!
Until next time,
Kay
Comments
One Response to “An appliquér’s mitered border”
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How funny! I always thought I was the only one who did mitered corners this way. I guess appliquers have like minds in the way we tackle certain things.
Nice little tutorial. Now maybe everyone can start doing them the correct way! ;-)
I’m enjoying your blog, Kay!