Tuesday, March 16, 2010

One Side Down...Three to Go!!

The above picture is a bit blurry...it's not your eyes! I took the picture over and over and could not get it to be clear. It shows the edge of my Seeds of Kindness quilt turned under 1/4" and hand basted down, then it has been hand-basted to the border fabric...the apple print. I worked on it about an hour tonight and have one side sewn down. I remove both basting rows as I applique it to the border. Below is the same section after it is finished.


See the white line that looks like chalk?? Here's what I did to attach the border fabric...I cut a piece the length of my long side (72") six inches wide. I was wondering how I was going to make sure the quilt top was not only pinned straight on this long skinny rectangle, but that the apple cores were evenly spaced. So I marked a line 1-1/2" from the edge. That gave me an extra 1/4" under the wavy edge. I measured the peaks of the wavy edge in the middle of the top where I was sure they hadn't been stretched or distorted. They were 5-1/2" apart from high point to high point. So I found the center of my border piece and the center of my quilt top. I pinned that point first. Then I measured and pinned all the other high waves. I pinned the low waves next. I was going to start the hand sewing when I started wondering how many times I would be stuck with a pin before it was all over. So I invested the few more minutes and hand basted the edge down. That meant I also didn't need to have a place to put each pin when I was finished with it.


Long post for a simple procedure. I am a self-taught quilter and am always looking for ways to do things more easily and quickly. I hope someone else learns from me. Guess that's why I tend to over-explain things.

~Joan





3 comments:

Ruth said...

Thanks for showing your process. I'm going to be doing the same for a Grandmother's flower garden throw that I'm making. I am just about finished with the piecing and hope to get a border put on soon. Your post helps me see what I need to do.

Karen said...

This is great!! Thank-you for sharing how you put the border on the apple core quilt.! I have been working (slowly) on hand piecing an apple core quilt and have been wondering what to do once I am done piecing it. This has been very helpful! :0)

MARCIE said...

Oh and you have a cute little apple border! 525 pieces! Holy moly! It looks wonderful!