I really hate sewing borders onto a quilt. In order from least favourite to favourite steps in making a quilt, adding the borders ranks just above basting in my book, and basting is right at the bottom of the list. I really need to learn to do it less grudgingly. If I could manage that it might not take me 3 days to attach very simple borders to a relatively small quilt!
If I hate putting them on so much why do I bother adding them? A lot of modern quilt skip the borders. Sparkling strings was perfectly happy without any borders.
Some quilts, however, need a little something more. I just finished the top for the non-string version of Sparkling Strings. Without the strings there was a lot less going on in this quilt and it seemed a little flat and bland. Fun quilting in all the white space will help but…
Same layout as Sparkling Strings, but it needed a frame.
I will be quilting this sometime before I release the pattern, which I hope will happen in June after my pattern tester has made her version, but right now I need a change. I’m going to get Seeing Stars out of its bin and see about machine quilting it. It’s been waiting a year. Maybe it’s time!
The think I hate about borders is that if I cut them out at the beginning, sometimes my quilt has shrunk by the time I try to attach them. I've never seen someone have such a strong negative reaction to them, though! :-) Of course, your borders are usually a lot more complex than mine.
ReplyDeleteI hate borders cause I think they take away from quilts. I study antique quilts a lot and many don't have borders. So the credit shouldn't really go to modern quilters. I think borders look like someone was to lazy to make more blocks and wanted a bigger quilt.
ReplyDeleteSometimes borders are a pain, true! But I do think the red border is a perfect finish here. I love that quilt; it is quite an attention getter! ---"Love"
ReplyDeleteI don't know...sometimes I make a quilt and it just doesn't need borders but other times it screams and yells at me until I add them. Borders can sometimes add the just right amount of spark to jazz up a quilt.
ReplyDeleteI have a love/hate relationship with borders and borderless quilts. Sewing on borders is actually what I hate the most about quilting, but it can frame quils so nicely. I also love the look of quilts without borders, but I am too lazy to make that many blocks every time. :) The red border really added a lot to this star quilt.
ReplyDeleteThis quilt looks so much better with the borders - it was worth the effort. But I'm with you in disliking borders. I'm not sure if it's the long seams, the endless pinning to make sure they're not wavy or just the desire to be DONE finally with the quilt. Maybe it's all of those, so when I find a quilt that looks good without borders, I do a little happy dance.
ReplyDelete