Snuggles Quilts

Snuggles Quilts

MENU

Designing and Planning Borders for Your Quilt

Whether your quilt is big or small, lap size or wall hanging, borders are a fun design element to add. These borders serve to frame the quilt and enhance the design. They also serve to make your project bigger if you desire or they are simply the vehicle to use up the leftover fabric from the quilt project. Whatever the reason, you can design and plan borders that make your quilt unique. Let’s talk about borders.

Both plain or pieced borders can act to frame your quilt and give it that final finishing touch. They also aid in making the quilt bigger if desired. I’ll share a few examples of both here.

Plain Borders

These types of borders are more noticeable on larger quilts, but you can also use them on wall hanging size quilts as well. Here’s an example of a larger quilt and a wall hanging size quilt with plain borders:

Marbles & Jacks on the left has a plain black border that kind of fades into the background so the quilt blocks become the star of the quilt. You could make these border strips as wide as you want to make the quilt bigger.

For Rail Fence Blooms on the right, the brown border, darker than the outer background fabric, actually creates a frame for the design.

For this next plain border, I did a double border to make it look like a matte like you would see on a framed photo.

I did the center red border inside and then the outer green border to play off the colors in the blocks to create the matte frame look. If you want to make this quilt bigger, you can add another red print border that is wider than the green border. 

Pieced Borders

Pieced borders to frame the quilt take a bit more effort. And they are also a fun way to use up extra fabric. First, you  have to choose a pieced border that compliments your quilt, but doesn’t distract from the design. Second, you need to choose a border that fits.

Example: if your quilt top measurement, without the border, is divisible by 2, you can create a pieced border that has 2″ finished squares or triangle squares or 2 x 4″ finished flying geese units. If the measurement is divisible by 3, your border pieces should be 3″ finished if using something like triangle squares or checkerboards. Star Struck is an example of this method:

I measured the quilt top and then chose a size of flying geese units that would fit perfectly with corner squares to finish.

If your quilt doesn’t have the desired measurement for the piece border you want, you can always add a plain border strip around the quilt top center to make it the measurement you need. Here’s a few of my quilts where I did that:

For Sun Catcher on the left, I wanted to fit this geese border of this specific size because I thought it complemented the quilt. Since my quilt top needed to measure a bit bigger, I added a tan plain border to make the quilt the right size.

For Cabin Stars on the right, I wanted to frame the star center of this wall hanging with a fun log cabin type border to use up the fabrics. To make it fit, I needed to frame the center with a plain tan border like I did with the larger quilt.

You can also get really creative with pieced borders. On some quilts, I like to use an element from the quilt block to make a pieced border so the design carries all the way through. Here’s a few examples of this:

Here’s a closer look at the borders of each of these quilts with the areas circled to show which element I used from the blocks to create the borders.

Paper Chain, on the left, uses the largest section of a block to make the pieced border where as Trinkets in the middle and Star Wheels on the end only use a smaller part. Notice on all three of these I needed a plain border as a separator to make the quilt the correct size for the pieced border to fit.

Appliqué Borders

Now, if you’re crazy like me, you can choose to frame your quilt with an appliqué border. Here are two quilts where I framed the pieced blocks with appliqué. 

Crisscross Cabin Blooms (left) and Hugs & Kisses (right) both had large, plain borders finishing them off. I thought the plain borders looked empty, so I added the appliqué. That’s always an option!

Now here’s my latest project that I hope to have out in the beginning of 2026 that combines appliqué and pieced borders.

I appliquéd on the inner border that frames the center blocks. That’s where I was going to end the quilt. Then I decided it was too small so I added plain borders and then a pieced piano key border on the top and bottom. This is one of my rare quilts that’s not a square. It’s called Rising Star and, like I said earlier, I hope to have it out in the beginning of 2026.

Measuring your Quilt

Since I talked about measuring your quilt to add borders, it’s always a good idea to review the steps to do it accurately.

  • Step 1: Measure your quilt top vertically in 3 places. On the left, in the middle and on the right. Add those numbers together and divide by 3 for the average. (See diagram below) That will be the length of the border strips for the sides.
  • Step 2: Attach the side border strips and then measure the quilt top horizontally in 3 places. Through the center and on the right and the left. This will be the length of the border strips for the top and bottom. (see diagram)
  • Step 3: Add the top and bottom borders:

And you’re done!

So that’s it for this week. I hope this gets you thinking about adding borders to your quilts if you think they need them. It’s not hard, especially if you are adding only plain ones. Once you master that, you can move on to pieced borders and even appliqué borders.

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Planning a Quilt Border – Plain, Pieced, Combinations?

Earlier this year I wrote a post on making your quilt bigger. One of the options was to add a border to the quilt. Of course, a border of plain strips can be added and you can call it done. But, what if you wanted to add more “personality” to your quilt or to enhance the design of the quilt top blocks? I’ll share a few ideas here, including on whether you need to have a border. Let’s go!

Do I Need a Border?

Your quilt may not need a border. I’ll show you a few of mine where I decided against a border to demonstrate. Generally if your quilt is very busy or has a prominent secondary design that emerges, you may not need a border.

First, my quilt Twinkling Log Cabin:

The two different blocks in this quilt each have a lot of pieces and are very busy. You could put a plain border on it to make it larger, but I think it would detract from the design. If you wanted to make this one bigger, make more of the blocks!

This next quilt really shows this concept. With Strips & Stars below I think adding a border would detract from the diagonal secondary design pattern that emerges when the blocks are pieced into a top.

Once again, to make this quilt bigger, I would recommend just making more blocks and adding to the rows and columns instead of adding a border.

Types of Borders

Now if you decided to add a border, here are some of your options. They range from easy and plain to pieced to appliqué.

First are plain borders. These borders are the ones quilters generally added to make a quilt bigger. I like them because they create a frame to enhance a design but also do not draw your eye away from the design. I call these “quiet” borders. Here is one example:

You can see how this border doesn’t bring attention to it, but enhances the pattern it frames.

This next example, Stepping Stones, shows how you can use these plain borders to increase the size of the quilt while creating an interesting frame.

There’s three plain borders on this quilt. The first inner plain border in dark brown contrasts nicely with the setting blocks of the quilt top so it enhances the design. Since I wanted the quilt to be a bit larger, I added the additional borders. I could have just added a wider red print border, but I thought finishing it off with the brown outer border tied everything together.

Next, pieced borders can be just one pieced border or a combination of a pieced border and a plain border. In many cases, I use a plain border to size the quilt top to the size needed so the pieced border I have chosen fits. Here’s two quilts that have a pieced border only:

With Skylight on the left, I did not need a plain border to size the top fit it because I went with a scrappy, random border with strips that were different widths. Easy to make fit. With Star Struck on the right, I was lucky that the quilt top measurements were perfect to fit the flying geese border with out an inner plain strip.

These next quilts needed a plain border to size it for the pieced border to fit. This makes it easy to do pieced borders, you can always get it to fit if you start with the plain one.

For Star Trail on the left, I used plain border strips that is the same fabric as the setting triangles. This way the plain border sizes up the quilt for the pieced border, but isn’t obvious. With Constellations on the right, the plain border to size up the quilt is darker than the quilt top so it creates a frame and makes the quilt top the right size for the pieced checkerboard border.

Here’s a fun thing you can do with pieced borders. Pull out an element from the quilt blocks that make up the top and use that as a border. Here’s an example from three of my quilts:

Finally, an appliqué border is the best way to add in your unique personality. It’s also a great way to accent a plain border. These are two of my favorite scrap quilts where I did this:

Here’s a quilt that actually employs all three border types, plain, pieced and appliqué! Of course I started with the plain border to size up the quilt top for the pieced one, then added appliqué to the plain border. That was fun!

Be Creative!

Here are some fun pieced borders that are a bit unusual. I had fun coming up with these and I think they add a lot to these quilts. Most of the time, I will do really unusual borders on smaller quilts first, like wall hangings or table runners before trying it out on a large quilt.

So the moral of this post is to be creative with your borders if you decide to add them. It will make your quilts truly yours with the personalization.

Comment below or ask a question and be entered into a drawing for my Star Trail quilt:

The drawing will be on Monday, June 9th. Good Luck! **We have a winner! Congrats, Mary Wright!**

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Borders Add a Finishing Touch

When I am planning a new quilt, I don’t always have an idea for a border. Often I need to make the blocks and lay them out on my design wall before any ideas come to me. I have a design program on my computer but when I try designing borders there before I have even made a block, they don’t always live up to my expectations. It’s fun to play though! So let’s get started.

To Border or Not

First, decide if your quilt even needs a border. There are some one block or two block quilts that don’t need anything else added to them. Just because you can add a border, doesn’t always mean you have to add a border. Here are three of my quilts, both with two different style blocks, that I thought worked without a border.

The quilt on the left above has such a busy look already that I thought a border would actually draw the eye away from the interesting secondary designs that emerge. The same goes for the quilt on the far right above. You can imagine that design continuing on. For the quilt in the center, since a design is created where the two different blocks meet, I thought that was enough interest created. 

Now, some quilters like to add borders to make a quilt larger than the pattern if they need it bigger. For those quilts above, I would just suggest making more blocks to create more rows and columns.

Types of Borders

Now if you decided to add a border, here are some of your options. They range from easy and plain to pieced to appliqué.

First are plain borders. These borders are the ones quilters generally added to make a quilt bigger. I like them because they create a frame to enhance a design but also not draw your eye away from the design. I call these “quiet” borders. Here are two examples:

The lap quilt on the left has a plain black border that fades into the background and makes the blocks more noticeable. For the quilt on the right, I wanted the scrappy blocks to stand out more so I surrounded quilt top with borders the same color as the background within the quilt top.

You can also create a frame with a border that is a little less quiet and almost looks like a photo matte.

The thin, red inner border frames up the center design and the green border is added to brings more attention to that red border.

Now on to pieced borders. Big confession here. I have a lot of fun with pieced borders. They can be as simple as a framing checkerboard of leftover fabric to a design that fits into the theme of the quilt. Here’s a few of my quilts with these examples. First up, a simple pieced border:

The simple checkerboard border is created from leftover fabric from the blocks. Instead of a plain strip as a frame, this one adds a little fun.

Then there are borders that use an element of the block in the quilt to make a pieced border. Here are three examples.

Paper Chain, on the left, does this on a greater level than the other two. Here’s a closer look:

The other two quilts just pull a small element from the block to make the border:

Notice too how there is a plain border between the blocks and the pieced border. This serves two purposes. First, it sets off the designs of both the center of the quilt and the border. And the second purpose is sizing the quilt up so the pieced border you have planned fits. 

Here is a fun pieced border that actually continues the theme of the quilt:

For Celebrate Christmas above, I created pieced ribbons in the border to frame the Christmas ornaments.

There are so many other pieced borders I have done, but I don’t want to bore you with too many examples. You can look at photos of all my designs here: Pattern Gallery. You’ll see examples of a lot of these pieced borders there.

Now on to appliqué borders. I do these types of borders when I have added a plain border and decided that it was too plain! Here’s two of my favorite ones:

I think the appliqué adds a fun finish and frame to both of these quilts.

Finally there’s the pieced border that flips things from the conventional to not so conventional. Here’s my quilt, Seaside Cottage, that has small scrappy blocks making up the quilt so I used larger blocks for the border. I think it adds an interesting balance.

So those are some of my border ideas. As I said earlier, the possibilities are endless. Have some fun and play! Especially if you have fabric left over after making blocks. Next week I am going to cover another element that can be added to a quilt to enhance a design, sashings.

Until next week, 

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Border Tips for Scrap Quilts

Now that we’ve had two weeks of scrap quilting tips, it’s time to talk borders. There are a lot of border types that can enhance your scrap quilt or you can choose no border. That’s the purpose of this post, to help you decide what you want to do. I will show you what I have done with my quilts. My borders range from plain to scrappy to appliqué to borders with secondary design elements. Borders are a way to frame the main design and also make a quilt bigger. So no matter the reason, the border you choose plays an important role in the finished project. Let’s get started!

Plain Framing Borders

Some borders are just there to frame the central design of the quilt pattern and not interfere with the design itself. These borders are simple and don’t take too much effort. The main thing you need to decide on is what colors you want to draw out when you are framing it. Here is one of my quilts, Stepping Stones, with a plain border:

Since the body of the quilt is framed by red print triangles, My first border is made of of strips of a brown print fabric to frame the center. I could have stopped there, but I wanted to make this quilt a bit larger. So, I added two more plain borders to create a matte look frame for the quilt. Compare this to the quilt below, Marbles & Jacks:

On this quilt I only framed the blocks with one plain black print border. I did this so the blocks are the star of the quilt and the border fades into the background.

Using Scraps for Borders

When you’re making a scrap quilt, you often have a lot of left over scraps. Since they coordinate with the quilt you just made, why not make a pieced border to add to the design? This first example, Star Struck, is a quilt with a pieced border with no plain border in between.

I think the pieced flying geese border plays off the blocks better with no plain border in between, although a plain border in between would be good as well.

My next example of a scrappy border is my quilt, Scrappy North Stars. I featured this one is the post a few weeks ago demonstrating how to “calm” a quilt with a lot of fabrics. I did it by using a plain black print border strip to frame the central blocks and to help show off the scrappy piano key border.

Finally you can add a plain border as the last border after a pieced border like I did with my quilt, Sister’s Reunion.

Appliqué Borders

One of my favorite things to do is to add appliqué to a plain border to finish off a scrap quilt. I decided that appliqué to frame the 100 scrappy blocks in both of the examples below adds a unique frame along with the plain border.

I think the appliqué in the border also adds a calming effect to the scrappy chaos of the blocks. 

Borders From Block Elements

Another fun way to frame a quilt is to pull out an element from the blocks that make up the central quilt design and use that as a pieced border. It’s a way to tie the border to the theme of the quilt and also a way to use up extra fabric. Here are two simple examples. First, Star Wheels:

The photo on the right shows the detail. The black element from the block is pulled out and used as a scrappy, pieced border element. My quilts, Trinkets and Paper Chain also use this concept:

The Trinkets border is similar to the one I used for Star Wheels above, except the pieced border is sandwiched between two plain borders. But it is inspired by a unit from the blocks. 

In Paper Chain (below) the border is a little more complicated because it is not just one element of the block, but basically a repeat of a larger portion of the block.

So you have several options with this type of border. I generally pair this type of border with some kind of a plain border that helps define it.

Secondary Design Border

I like to use a border to create a secondary design. I did this with my quilt, Homestead Trail.

I worked a checkerboard design into the brown print border to create a fun zig-zag design.

No Borders

Finally, there are some quilts that just stand alone and don’t need a border. These quilts are “framed” with the binding only so that the design of the blocks is the only thing that the viewer sees. Don’t be afraid to go the “no border” direction. If you have enough going on in the quilt pattern itself, you might not need one! Here are two that I’ve made that I thought looked good enough and had enough interest that they did not need a border.

Measuring the Quilt Top

As you can see from this post, whether you are adding a plain border or a pieced one, it’s important to have exact measurements for your quilt top. I’ve been asked in the past what is the best way to measure your quilt top for accuracy. Here’s how to do it:

  • Step 1: Measure your quilt top vertically in 3 places. On the left, in the middle and on the right. Add those numbers together and divide by 3 for the average. (See diagram below) That will be the length of the border strips for the sides.
  • Step 2: Attach the side border strips and then measure the quilt top horizontally in 3 places. Through the center and on the right and the left. This will be the length of the border strips for the top and bottom. (see diagram)
  • Step 3: Add the top and bottom borders:

This works for both plain and pieced borders. If you are wary about doing a pieced border, definitely measure the top and put a plain border around the quilt top that makes the size of your quilt compatible with the pieced border you want to add.

That’s it for this week. I hope you have learned something about borders from this post. Now you’re ready to make a scrap quilt and border it! Leave a comment or ask any questions below and I will enter you into a drawing for my pattern, Homestead Trail. The drawing will be on Monday, April 1st. **We have a winner! Congrats, Judy Smith!**

Happy Quilting!

To Border or Not to Border

Some quilts look good without borders added and some don’t. If you make a quilt that does not have a border because the pattern doesn’t call for it, you can always add one on. There are benefits to adding a border to a quilt whether your pattern calls for on or not. So this week I have chosen to do a post on border types and my tips on how to determine what kind would be right for your quilt. Let’s get started!

Border Types

No Border: First, there are some quilts that you will not want to add a border to so as not to detract from the overall design or secondary design that the blocks by themselves create. Here are two examples:

Both of these quilts have such strong patterns created by the quilt blocks, I felt that adding a border would detract from the visual effect. Although, for the quilt on the left, a plain dark border would be OK to add if I wanted to increase the size of the quilt. Mainly, the question you want to ask yourself when thinking about adding a border is “will is add to the design or will it hide the design?”.

Some table topper patterns look good without borders also. The two patterns below show that. If you had a plain border on either of these it might detract from the design.

Quiet Border: The next type of border is added, in my opinion, to frame the blocks but not bring attention to itself. It’s used also if you want to make a quilt bigger but don’t want to detract from the design. That’s why I call this one a “quiet border”. The two quilts below are examples:

In both cases I wanted to frame the quilt, yet I did not want the border to be the focus of the quilt. In fact, for Flower Boxes on the right, the border that matches the light background of the blocks makes the block pattern stand out even more, in my opinion.

Framing Border: This is similar to the solid border above but it’s not really as “quiet” because different color prints are being used to actually create the look of a real frame. 

By alternating between the browns with a red print in the middle, I created a frame for the quilt blocks and appliqué. Yet it still doesn’t detract from the quilt blocks because the borders are plain strips of fabric. Also adding several plain border strips like this is another way to add size to your quilt.

Pieced Borders: These borders are used a lot to use up leftover fabric, make your quilt larger or to add an interesting design element. I use these types of borders a lot in my designs for those reasons.

Sometimes I add a pieced border to a quilt with no plain border separating it from the quilt blocks:

I did that with Star Struck because I liked how the flying geese border played off the star blocks and the light colored geese flowing through the quilt.

Other times I add a plain border between the pieced border and the blocks so the center is framed and the pieced border is more noticeable.

For Scrappy North Stars on the left, I put in a dark plain border between the blocks and the piano key scrappy border so it wouldn’t clash with the blocks. Also, look closely at the pieced border for Star Wheels on the right. The pieced border is a color print version of the black element of the pieced blocks that make up the quilt.

Then there is the combination pieced and plain border in reverse, like in Sister’s Reunion:

And finally… I wanted to do a unique pieced border on Seaside Cottage. Since the blocks in the center of the quilt are made up of small pieces, I decided to make a pieced border out of larger blocks:

I think it creates a nice balance and adds interest.

Appliqué Borders: Last, but definitely not least, are appliqué borders. These are usually plain borders that are used as a backdrop for an appliqué motif. These borders can be on the outside of the quilt blocks framing the quilt like the two pictured below:

Or you can appliqué in a border area and then frame that with plain borders like I did with Christmas Dreams:

So that’s my synopsis of border types that I use. Have I left out any that you like to use? Are you now inspired to border a quilt top just made up of block rows for some added fun?  Leave a comment or question below and be entered into a drawing for my pattern, Twinkling Log Cabin:

The drawing will be on Monday, August 28th. Good luck!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Personalize Your Quilt with Borders!

I touched briefly on quilt borders, in a post back in December, and about how to coordinate them with your blocks. Now I want to expand the quilt border discussion in this post. I love to play with borders. They can be used for many purposes, including making a quilt larger. So, let’s have some fun!

Plain Borders

These are the easiest borders. It’s also the easiest way to enlarge a quilt to the size you want. You can either stick to one color print border, or you can do a few borders of varied widths in different colors. Here’s one of my quilts with just one plain border. 

I chose a dark color print border for this quilt to draw your eye to the pieced blocks. This is an example of where the border serves as a “frame” for your quilt, like frames for photos. Below is an example of a quilt with more than one plain border:

I did the center red border inside and then the outer green border to play off the colors in the blocks and to also show another type of frame look. If you want to make this quilt bigger, you can add another red print border that is wider than the green border. I did something similar with this next quilt:

Another great use for plain borders is to provide a “canvas” for appliqué or so you can do a creative scalloped edge, which can’t be done with a pieced border. Here’s one of my quilts with a scalloped edge:

And here is one of my quilt where I used the outer plain border to showcase appliqué. 

Talk about adding personality! You can really have fun adding appliqué to a border and frame your quilt with a unique motif.

Combination Borders

I call borders that are made up of plain strips and pieced portions “combination borders”. Adding pieced borders can serve two purposes: to make your quilt larger and to use up the leftover fabrics from the quilt top. I like to create a fabric stash with leftover fabric, but I know there’s some quilters out there who like to use everything up. If that’s you… here’s one solution! Use the extra fabric to make a border like this piano key border on my quilt Scrappy North Stars:

I’ll share a secret…. often, you’ll see a quilt where the pieced border is preceded with a plain inner border strip. This is usually when the quilter needed a way to make the quilt top measure the size needed so the pieced border fits.

For example, if your quilt top measures 64″ square, that number can be divided by 2 or 4 evenly so you can add a pieced border made of of units that measure 2 or 4 inches. Note, these measurements I am using in this example are finished sizes. If the pieced border units you want to use on the quilt are 3 inches finished, those borders will not fit the 64 x 64″ quilt unless you can add a 1″ plain border to the quilt so it now measures 66″ square, which is divisible by 3. See how that works? Here is one of my quilts that demonstrates this:

I really wanted the pieced stars for a border on this quilt above but the only way to do that was to add a plain tan print border between the pieced quilt top center and the pieced star border. I also pieced the stars of the border with a small strip of fabric between them which also helped with the fit and look.

Yes… you do need to do a little math once in awhile when quilting. But when the finished quilt top has a magnificent pieced border to frame it, I think you will decide it was worth it.

Pieced Only Border

This option is also a fun way to finish a quilt. Like I mentioned above, this can only be done if the quilt top dimensions are divisible by the size of the pieced border units. Here’s one of my quilts where I was able to do this:

Since this is a bit more difficult to do unless your quilt measures perfectly, I usually do it on smaller quilts like wall hangings and table runners.

Now there is a way to do a pieced only border even if your quilt top is not divisible by a particular unit size… make it a completely crazy, scrappy border made up of different width units. I did this for my quilt here:

The photo on the right shows a close-up of the border so you can see how the pieces that make up this border are not uniform. This was a fun way to use up the leftover fabric from this quilt project.

Measuring the Quilt Top

After reading this post, you will notice that I mention knowing the size of your quilt top so you can decide on a border. Even if the pattern you are making gives you measurements for the border strips, this is a good step not to skip.  Here’s a brief explanation on how to do this.

  • Step 1: Measure your quilt top vertically in 3 places. On the left, in the middle and on the right. Add those numbers together and divide by 3 for the average. (See diagram below) That will be the length of the border strips for the sides.
  • Step 2: Attach the side border strips and then measure the quilt top horizontally in 3 places. Through the center and on the right and the left. This will be the length of the border strips for the top and bottom. (see diagram)
  • Step 3: Add the top and bottom borders:

So now you are ready to border that quilt! What do you like to do for borders? Share in the comments below and be in a drawing to win a copy of my quilt pattern Star Struck.

The drawing will be on Monday, January 16th. ***We have a winner! Congrats, Barb Jansz!***

Happy Quilting!
Deanne

Having Fun with Quilt Borders

To a lot of quilters, borders tend to be an afterthought. I consider them to be the frame of the quilt so I’m here to tell you that you can have a lot of fun with borders! You can also use borders to increase the size of a quilt or use up fabric if you are the type of quilter that wants to “use it up”. Quilt borders can be plain or pieced. They can be coordinated or completely scrappy. They can also have appliqué! Let’s cover some of those options this week.

Measuring your Quilt for Borders

My first recommendation is to measure your quilt top to get the exact measurements needed for your border strips. An accurate measurement is a good way to keep your border from turning out wavy or distorted. Even if the pattern you are making gives you measurements for the border strips, this is a good step not to skip.  Here’s a brief explanation on how to do this.

  • Step 1: Measure your quilt top vertically in 3 places. On the left, in the middle and on the right. Add those numbers together and divide by 3 for the average. (See diagram below) That will be the length of the border strips for the sides.
  • Step 2: Attach the side border strips and then measure the quilt top horizontally in 3 places. Through the center and on the right and the left. This will be the length of the border strips for the top and bottom. (see diagram)
  • Step 3: Add the top and bottom borders:

Plain Borders

Once your quilt is measured, these are the easiest borders to do. You can do just one color and one border, or you can do several. I like starting with a skinnier width and then do a wider width on the outside. It gives it a bit more dimension. I did this with my Christmas Dreams quilt:

I also matched the binding color to the inner border strips for some coordination. 

Here’s an example of a one color, one strip border with cornerstones in a different color on my quilt, Follow the Stars. Still does the job and it also extends the secondary design.

Combination: Pieced and Plain

Next up is a combination border. It can either be a pieced border on the outside of a plain border, which is the most common, or a pieced border framed by a plain border. The plain border first can serve the purpose of getting your quilt top to a measurement that will be right for the pieced border. Here’s a few examples:

In Scrappy North Stars (above), there is a thin black border strip to frame the central design and then I used the scraps from the blocks to make a piano key border.

Here’s a pattern with the pieced border first, then the plain border. To be able to do this, you need to make sure your center part of the quilt top is meticulously pieced so the measurements work for a pieced border. This is an example of a pieced border first in my Trinkets quilt.

Combination: Pieced or Plain Border mixed with Appliqué

The next type of border I like it is a combination of a border, whether pieced or plain, with an appliquéd border. As  you know, appliqué is one of my true loves! I have fun adding it to quilts, especially in the border area, to add a flourish. Here’s one of my favorites from my book, Blooming Patchwork:

For this quilt, I started out with a plain border that I used as the “canvas” for some floral appliqué. Then I finished it off, framing the appliqué, with a pieced border. Another option is to combine the plain border with the appliqué like I did in Crisscross Cabin Blooms.

Pieced Only Border

Another border option is to just jump right to a pieced only border with no plain borders. These can be challenging because you have to make sure your quilt measures exactly the size you need for the pieced border to fit. So it may take a little math! I wanted to do this for my Star Struck pattern because I thought the pieced geese border framed to star block center of the quilt in an interesting way. It almost looks like a star burst.

Unique Borders & Piecing

Now for some unique stuff I have tried. One of my “tricks” is to create a border that appears to continue the pattern of the quilt to the borders. For the quilt, Paper Chain, I took an element of the block and created a pieced border on the other side of the plain border.

This almost gives the illusion that the quilt pattern can continue on and on. 

On this next one, Starlit Path, I did a pieced border that just has some flying geese units at the right intervals to mimic the design in the blocks and create some movement.

Some Final Thoughts on Borders

Here are some fun pieced borders that are a bit unusual. I had fun coming up with these and I think they add a lot to these quilts. Most of the time, I will do really unusual borders on smaller quilts first, like wall hangings or table runners before trying it out on a large quilt.

The above are some unique ways to use up the scraps from your quilt. The pieced border doesn’t have to contain the same size pieces. That is true scrappy fun! 

Sometimes a quilt doesn’t need a border. If your pattern and secondary design are busy and beautiful on their own, your quilt might not even need a border. An example of this is my quilt, Twinkling Log Cabin:

No border needed here, but I added a little whimsy by finishing it with a scrappy binding. I just can’t get away from the scrappy!

That’s all I have for this week. I could go on and on for pages more on borders I have done, but I think I touched on a variety of good options here to get you started. Let me know in the comments what you do for borders and if you have tried any of these that I have talked about. I will draw a winner from the commenters and you will get my newest pattern, Star Wheels:

The drawing will be on  Monday, November 15th. Good luck!

Happy Quilting!
Deanne