Getting Creative with Pieced Borders on Your Quilts
As an avid quilter for over a decade now, I’ve learned that the quilt border can make or break your finished quilt. A boring or mismatched border sticks out like a sore thumb. But creative pieced borders can take your quilt from drab to fab!
What Are Pieced Borders?
Pieced borders on quilts are borders made up of smaller patches of fabrics sewn together to create interest. Rather than framing your quilt center with a solid strip of fabric, you piece together patchwork units, blocks, or appliqué shapes. This adds color, texture and visual appeal. Sort of like putting on the perfect necklace to accessorize an outfit!
Benefits of Adding Pieced Borders
From my own experience, here are some of the pros of using pieced borders on your next quilt project:
- They can complement or pull out colors from the main quilt design.
- Borders donât have to be boring anymore! Pieced borders make things funky and fun.
- Great way to use up scraps or stray fabric yardage.
- Opportunity to highlight or introduce new design elements like floral appliques, pinwheels, etc.
- Allows you to easily adjust quilt size later if the center is a bit smaller than originally planned.
I don’t know about you, but I think those creative possibilities are pretty amazing!
Inspiring Ideas for Pieced Quilt Borders
When dreaming up pieced borders for your next project, the sky’s the limit on unique designs. But here are a few specific ideas that I find rather stunning to get your creative juices flowing:
Prairie Points – These triangular folded fabric pieces arrayed along the border look so delicate and pretty! Lovely on a baby or girl’s floral quilt.
Tumbler Blocks – Playing with different colored long hexagon shapes lets you transition between quilt center and border seamlessly.
Gradient Triangles – Arrange triangles in gradating shades from light to dark to pull colors from fabric in gorgeous ombre effect.
Framed Squares – Alternate patchwork squares with thin sashing strips in a contrasting color to frame center.
Key Blocks – Turn favorite block pattern on point and scatter along borders. Kind of like sending a secret message only other quilters will understand!
As you can see, there are limitless design choices for piecing eyecatching borders chockfull of personality. From my perspective, time spent on creative borders is so worth it. Sort of like the awesome shoes you put on before stepping out the door!
Tips for Constructing Pieced Borders
While exotic pieced borders are easier said than done, don’t let the details bog you down! Here are my best tips for seamless border construction:
- Measure carefully! Border length must match quilt top circumference or stretching and distortion occur.
- Anchor border strips with pins before sewing to avoid shifty stretchiness messing things up.
- Use an accurate 1â4 inch seam allowance so points align and pieces nest together perfectly.
- Take time to finger press seams flat as you go to prevent wonky wavy borders.
- Check border alignment often as you sew. Rip out and redo if seams don’t match up accurately.
I’ll admit that I’ve spent hours ripping out warped wobbly borders in frustration before getting things right. So following these tried and true construction guidelines will definitely save your sanity in that painful situation!
Well I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling pumped to go piece together some fresh border designs on my next quilts! What creative pieced borders will you try? Perhaps a stunning sawtooth design? Or a graceful vine of floral appliques? The possibilities are endless, so don’t be afraid to get adventurous with it!
Let me know if you have any other tips or tricks for piecing gorgeous quilt borders. I’d love to hear your real life experiences too! And happy quilting my friends!
| Border Type | Pattern Ideas | Yardage Needed |
|---|---|---|
| Scrappy | Use leftover fabric scraps from the quilt top | Varies |
| Solid Color | Single solid color fabric | 1/4 – 1/2 yard |
| Patterned | Small scale prints, geometrics, dots | 1/3 – 1/2 yard |
| Pieced | Patchwork, nine-patches, four-patches | 1/2 – 1 yard total |
| Piano Keys | Alternating rectangles resembling piano keys | 1/2 – 3/4 yard total |
FAQ
What are some good ideas for pieced borders on quilts?
- However, one popular approach is to use scrappy strips from the quilt top to make a colorful and eclectic border. This ties together the whole quilt.
- On the other hand, you could create a planned border with coordinated fabrics that picks up some of the colors from the main quilt. This gives a more polished look.
- Nevertheless, a border made up of quilt blocks, sort of like a framing block border, can add visual interest. You could use a simple block or get creative with something more complex.
Should I match or contrast the border to my quilt?
- You could go either way. Matching the border is a safer choice, while contrasting it is more striking. Do what makes you happiest!
- However, if your quilt has big, bold prints, consider a solid color border to frame it. Sort of like a neutral picture frame allows the art to shine.
- On the flip side, a quilt with subtle prints or colors would pop with a vibrant, scrappy border. So it just depends on the main quilt.
What width should I make the pieced borders?
- In general, a good guideline is to cut border strips ranging from 3-5 inches finished. But the width that looks best sort of depends on personal preference and bed size.
- You may want to audition wider and narrower borders before deciding. Kind of see what delights your eye the most!