When you are designing a quilt, there are several parts of the process. The main body of the quilt is one part. Borders are another part to design. I often wait until the main part of the quilt is done before I decide on a border. Sometimes, I like to add more to the design than a simple border.
When I was going through my studio recently, I found a number of partially finished projects, including this piece I had started in 2015. The fabric had been bought in a couple of different places, a quilt show and guild meeting. I had taken them with me to a quilt retreat and came up with the center of the quilt.
There is a four patch made of two different fabrics and the gradient strips were from another set of fabrics. I added a thin black sashing between each block. I decided this quilt needed a black border. So I cut one a couple inches wider than I wanted to finish the quilt and sewed it on. I then quilted the quilt using a variegated thread.
After it was quilted, I squared up the quilt using a large ruler to be sure that the border was even all the way around. In this case, the border ended up 2.5 inches, because that balanced well with the center design.
Just a bit more to the design
I decided that it needed just a little something else. So I decided to add a thin strip of fabric to the border just before I added the binding. The first method to add color is to just sew in a very thin strip of fabric. I find it difficult to do this really precisely, but some people can do amazing things with tiny bits of fabric.
Another way to add a bit of color is to sew a piece of piping. Piping can be purchased pre-made or made yourself. It is a piece of fabric with a cord inserted down the length of the fabric. You often see it used to add accents to clothing or to around cushions.
The third method I have used is a flange. A flange is a small piece of folded fabric that is only sewn down along the side opposite the fold.
Add a flange to the border
I chose to use a fabric from the collection that I used for the small squares. I cut strips a little longer than the length of the quilts sides and 3/4 inch wide. The strips are then pressed in half. I like to use a little bit of steam or a spray starch alternative to help make sure the strip stays folded.
Each strip is then sewn to the edge of the quilt, sewing a very narrow (less than 1/4 inch) seam. Most piecing on quilts is done with a 1/4 inch seam. I sew on all four edges, overlapping at the corner. I then trim the strips to the edge of the quilt.
Next, I add my binding to the quilt. Binding is fabric that finishes the edge of the quilt. There are a lot of ways to finish the edge, and lots of tutorials on the internet on how to do it.
I sewed the binding over the flange to the front of the quilt and used a 1/4 inch seam. This ensured that the stitching from the flange was not visible. Once the front of the binding is sewn, I turn the rest of the binding over the edge and sew it down on the back of the quilt. In these pictures, I am adding the binding. The bright fabric is visible when the binding is turned.
When the binding is complete, you have a thin strip of bright color to accent the quilt. I used this technique on my quilt Eternity, which I covered in this post.
This flange brought the bright colors to the edge, and with the border quilting, draws the eye back and forth. Hopefully this will encourage you to add a bright bit of detail to your works of art, even if they aren’t quilts.
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