BOMs Away Monday - 24 Dec - Wild Rose flimsy & Mitering borders tutorial

Welcome to my Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays!

We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.
This week's link-up is at the bottom of this post.

She's a flimsy! 

Wild Rose Cottage is off the BOM list, waiting patiently for her turn at the longarmer's.  

And did you notice she's also the "model" for the BOMs Away button?  ;D

I thought I would share how I measure out borders (and sew them) when I want them mitered. I've tried other "cheater" methods, but ended up with ripples and caved-in corners, so I stick to this method now:

After cutting 4 strips that are each longer than the quilt's finished measurements (the middle measurement plus 2x the border width), I put a pin at the point I want for the middle. If you want to fussy-place large prints, you'll need to make sure your strips are long enough to accommodate the placement you want.

Fold the border in half, lined up perfectly, and put a pin in there (this will stay in there until you pin the border to the quilt).  
Lay it on the grid with the long edge that will join the quilt positioned closest to you. 



Line that pin  up perfectly with the 0 edge of your mat. Keep the border aligned with the grid, and put another pin exactly on your last line. (My mat is 36", so with the fabric folded, this gives me 72" so far on my border.)

Now I can slide the border over on the grid so I can measure out the rest of my length. Don't forget you get twice as much measurement as each mark since the fabric's doubled over.

Making mitered corners is all about the finished ends of the seams, NOT the edges of the fabric. So, when you pin the final measurement, place the insertion point 1/4 inch away from the edge and exactly on the length measurement you need for the finished length of the quilt's center. I needed 79 1/2", so my end is at a 1/4" mark here.

Grab a ruler with a 45-degree line. Place that line on the top edge of the border so that the edge farther from you will be longer than the edge closer to you.

Keeping that 45-degree line perfectly lined up on top, slide the ruler sideways until the 1/4" line intersects the insertion point of your measuring pin. 

You DON'T want the edge of the ruler at that pin point! You need your seam allowance added in.

Carefully pull the pin out before you make your cut! Your blade won't like it if you forget.

You will have a perfectly-angled border piece ready to be attached. Find the center of your quilt and match the mid-pin on the border to that point.

Then move to one of the edges. When you pin these, do not match the side edges of the fabrics. That will make your mitered Y-seam yucky. 

You need to stick the pin first into that obtuse border corner so that it is 1/4" from the top edge and 1/4 from the diagonal edge - see that white V I drew there? That's where you measure your 1/4 inches.

Match up that finished point on the mitered piece to the 1/4" finish point on the quilt edge:

Then pin the in-between parts and do the other side the same way.

Can you see in the close-up below that the crossing of the fabric edges does not match up at 1/4 inch below your sewing edge? That's how it should be. Remember: You're matching the seam end point, NOT the fabric end edges. And yes, being lazy about this will affect your Y-seams.

When you sew the seam, you're only sewing between your end pins. Use backstitching to secure your seam, and make sure you don't go past the pins. Press the border away from the quilt.

Go ahead and attach two opposing borders. Doesn't matter if you go side & side or top & bottom.

Can you see how the stitching ends right at this pin below?  You can also see that I've added the other borders. If you've done things right, that second seam end butts up right against the seam beginning for the first side you put on.

When you have all your borders on the quilt, it's time to do the Y-seams that finish your corners. 

The key is to fold that inside section running straight away from your stitching line so that it lets you match up your raw edges smoothly. Below, the fold extends to the right.

Make sure the seam allowances are folded out of your way - in this case, the one on top and the hidden one on the bottom are both folded to the right, away from my stitching area. 

The pin was carefully inserted so that both seam ends come together in one spot. I stab straight down through both points exactly, pinch it securely, then remove the pin so that I can insert it carefully at the slant needed to finish the pinning. If you stab it straight in, then rotate it down to finish the pinning, it will slide your fabrics ever-so-slightly - but that slight bit is enough to mess up your Y-join sometimes.

Even though it's a pain to start sewing at triangle ends, I find it infinitely easier to start on the clean end of the seam (and this time from the very edge), then work my way toward the meeting point, stopping at that pin. I can just see so much better to get that perfect join where all 3 seams meet.

Another thing - that seam's on the bias, so it'll stretch and get messy if you let the quilt's weight hang down and pull on it - especially if it's a big ol' queen or king! So make sure you've got your quilt all up on the table next to the machine bed.

And Voila! You have a nice mitered border. :)   It's a real pain the first couple of times, but once you get practiced, these mitered borders and Y-seams won't intimidate you at all anymore.

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 What have you guys done on BOMs or interval projects lately? Weeklies are welcome along with regular projects that you’ve broken into monthly units, and –of course- true BOMs.   Share your eye candy and show off your progress since the last time you linked up! There are some wonderful monthly and weekly projects going on out there. :D