Wave Goodbye to Wavy Borders

Have you ever stood at a quilt show and wondered why some quilts hang perfectly straight and others have wavy borders? Or you may have even noticed that your own quilts look a little too rippley (is that even a word?!). There is a solution to this problem.

When we work on our quilt tops (before the borders have been sewn on) we are constantly opening them up and refolding them to show them off to our mom, daughter, best friend, partner, etc. All that manhandling on a quilt top tends to stretch it out a little making the outer edges “rippley”. In order to fix this problem we need to take some measurements before we attach the borders.

The first set of measurements to be taken are the length of the quilt top for the side borders. Measure the quilt in 3 places, but NOT along the outside edges. Measure down the centre and at the “quarter” marks as shown in the diagram to the right. Add all 3 measurements together and divide by 3...that will give you the average measurement. This is the measurement for the side borders. Lucky you if they're all the same!

Measure out the amount from above on the two side border fabric strips leaving about a half inch on either end for trimming later. Mark the centre and the quarter marks on both the borders and the quilt top. These marks will be lined up with each other to distribute any extra fullness along the edge of the quilt top. Rather than actually measuring, usually I just fold the quilt top (and border pieces) in half, finger press at that point, mark it with a pencil and repeat for the quarter marks. If your quilt top is extra wavy you may want to mark and pin the points in between as well.

When sewing the border to the quilt top place the quilt top on the bottom as you sew. This way the feed dogs will help ease in the extra fullness. Because all the seams are now on the bottom take extra care that seams are still facing the way they have been pressed. An awl or long pin can be helpful here.

Press seams toward the borders (refer to my Proper Pressing Techniques tutorial if you need some help) and trim the ends even with the quilt top.

The next set of measurements are for the width of the quilt for the top and bottom borders. Again, measure the quilt in 3 places (centre and quarter marks again) this time including the side borders in the measurements. Add all 3 measurements together and divide by 3...that will give you the average measurement. This is the measurement for the top and bottom borders. Repeat the process from above for applying these borders.

You will be amazed at how straight and flat your quilts will be using this technique. Also, the biggest beef I hear from the longarm quilters I know is that it's so hard to quilt out the extra fullness in borders without causing puckers and pleats. So, if you normally use the services of a longarm quilter they will thank you for the extra effort and care you’ve put in to making your quilt top flat and even…and not “rippley”!