Popular Quilting Border Designs and Patterns to Try

Quilting Designs to Frame Your Masterpiece

If you’re like most quilters, the border is often an afterthought. But a well-designed border can transform a quilt from good to great. In this article, we’ll explore some of the most popular quilting designs for borders and how to choose the right one to set off your quilt center.

Common Bordering Techniques

There are a few basic techniques quilters use to add borders to their quilts:

1. Straight bands – Straight strips of fabric sewn onto the outer edge of the quilt center. This simple style allows the center to shine but may seem plain.
2. Mitered corners – Straight strips with the corners cut at a 45 degree angle to eliminate bulk. Adds polish without distracting from the design.
3. Scalloped edges – Border strips with curves or waves cut into the fabric. More intricate than straight strips but can overpower a subtle center.
4. Pieced borders – Borders made of multiple fabric pieces sewn together into a pattern. Great for showcasing other techniques but harder to sew accurately.

No matter the style, the key is picking a border that complements without competing with the quilt center.

Popular Quilting Designs for Borders

Here are some of the most versatile and admired quilting designs for borders:

Braided Rail Fence

As the name suggests, this border mimics the look of zigzagging wood fence rails. Short bias-cut strips of fabric are arranged diagonally across the border to resemble braids of different colors overlapping. From my experience, braided rail fence is one of the most forgiving pieced borders – even slight alignment errors aren’t noticeable in the finished design. It’s been a reliable choice on many of my quilts over the years.

Grandmother’s Flower Garden

Also known as a tulip design, this timeless floral motif features large solid fabric “blossoms” surrounded by narrow bias strips in varying colors. Like an impressionist painting, the randomly positioned blossoms create movement. The border can be pieced or appliquéd. Either way, grandmother’s flower garden brings delicate charm to any quilt.

Jacob’s Ladder

Resembling zigzagging stairs, this border features slanted bias-cut strips that overlap like ladder rungs to form diagonal lines across the border fabric. Easy to piece and highly versatile in color choices, jacob’s ladder exudes simple elegance. I especially like using low-volume prints within the ladder “rungs” for subtle visual interest.

Lone Star

Iconic in Texas and beyond, the lone star motif creates a five-pointed star silhouette using half-square triangle blocks. Placed tip to tip, the stars unfold diagonally across the border. While more complex to piece accurately than straight borders, lone star really makes a statement when well executed. It’s a go-to choice for patriotic or southwestern themed quilts.

So in summary, those are some of the most popular free-motion quilting designs enjoyed by modern quilt makers. Hopefully examining the different styles has helped reveal which border option best suits your quilt center and personal taste.

But is it worth putting in all that extra effort if you’re just making a quilt for yourself? From experience, I can say the time invested in an attractive border really makes the finished quilt feel more special, like a true work of art. It signals that your effort should be treasured and passed down, not forgotten in the laundry room. Skill building also comes from challenges like piecing intricate borders. While a straight strip might suffice for a quick gift, a more complex border shows your commitment to excellence.

Choosing Fabric for the Border

Okay, so you’re sold on adding an eye-catching border – now which fabric to use? Here are some tips:

Consider the quilt center colors and prints. Will the border fabric complement or contrast? Choose colors that appear elsewhere in the quilt for unity.

Check the value or lightness/darkness. Borders with similar value to the center create flow while high-contrast draws the eye.

Think about the quilt’s message. Will florals suit a baby quilt better than bold stripes? Abstracts allow imagination while representational motifs convey specific themes.

Respect the border’s role. Avoid ultra-busy prints that compete with the quilt center’s star. Solids or low-volume fabrics let the center take the spotlight.

Mix it up within the border. Graduating from dark to light values, or pooling several compatible prints adds visual interest without distraction.

In summary friends, you’ve put too much work into your masterpiece to let a plain hem suffice as its frame. Spice it up with a stunning quilting border design – your quilt and viewers will thank you! Now get to piecing and happy quilting!

Quilting Design Ideas for Borders

FAQ

1. What designs work well for borders?

   Simple patterns that flow all the way around a quilt often look good for borders. Block prints, stripes, flowers and grids basically can go well. However, complicated motifs may become tired for the eyes to follow completely around the edges.

   

2. Should the border fabric match or contrast?

   Either way can succeed, it depends on personal taste. A border that’s fairly similar blends the quilt together kinda smoothly. But a border with bold color or texture brings a stunning punch of difference and defines the shape pop. Match versus contrast borders – it’s a tough call!

3. What size should borders be?

   Most experts suggest borders equal to 1/9 the width of the quilt. So a 90″ wide quilt would take a 10″ border. Seems pretty arbitrary but it appears to look balanced. Smaller might get lost, bigger could overwhelm. You might play with the math and do “sort of” what feels right for your specific quilt though.

4. How many border strips are typical?

   The standard is two border strips, one on the outer edge and one inside it. But you could do just one wide border for simplicity. Or get creative – three strips might look amazing. Go nuts with an adventurous stack of narrow borders perhaps. There are no strict rules!

5. Do I need mitered corners?

   Mitered corners where the borders form clean diagonal lines are quite classy. However, they take time and require precision. On the other hand, you could just do basic butted corners which are a lot quicker. The visual impact isn’t too different actually. Up to you – do you feel like putting in the effort for mitered corners?

6. Any tips for getting sharp corners?

   When sewing border strips, slow down and backstitch at the corners. Markdiagonal sewing lines with an air erasable pen or light box possibly. Use lots of pins. Quote Della at the quilt shop – “Measure twice, sew once.” Supposedly most corner issues stem from not pinning or measuring accurately. Take your time – it’s worth getting borders with stunningly sharp corners!

7. What if I mess up the borders?

   Don’t panic if a border goes awry somehow. As the saying goes, “Quilts are like children – we love them despite their imperfections.” Most glitches can be fixed with careful unpicking or hiding beneath a new border. We’ve all been there, so no shame in a do-over! Any mistakes will basically just add character in the end.

   

8. Any final border tips?

   Press seam allowances open to keep borders flat as possible. Use good lighting and straight pins for precision. Take breaks if frustration sets in. Finally, enjoy how the borders finish your quilt – they really make it sing! Playing with different designs can only lead to learning. Who knows, maybe you’ll come up with the next best-selling border pattern!