Adding Mitred Borders to Quilt Blocks {A Tutorial}

I've been working on a quilt top over the last month or so, that has involved adding mitred borders to each of my blocks. These can be a little intimidating, so when I had to decide on what my tutorial as part of the 2016 Finish A Long would be, I decided it would be a great topic to cover.

Mitred (or mitered, depending on your country) borders are borders that are joined at a 45 degree angle at the corners of the block or quilt. They can be really effective - especially if you use a directional fabric, such as a stripe.

To add mitred borders to a block, you will need to do a simple calculation to figure out what sized borders you need to cut.

1. Decide what width borders you want to add to your quilt block. 

For example, if you want an 8" x 8" quilt block to finish at 12" x 12", you will need to add 2.5" borders to each side. This calculation is:

(Desired Block Size - Current Block Size)  +  0.5"

                                                                             2

which is:

(12 - 8)    + 0.5"

                                                                          2

2. Calculate the length of the border strips.

Your border strips will be cut with enough overhand on both ends to enable you to sew a 45 degree angle. This calculation will give you strips that are a lot longer than you'll need, but it's far easier to

To calculate the length you'll need

(Current Block Size) + (Border width x 2) + 2"

So for the example above, the calculation would be:

(8") + (2 x 2") + 2 = 14"

Adding Mitred Borders

Once you've cut FOUR border strips, you're ready to add them to the quilt block.

1. First take your block, and mark a point 1/4" in from both edges at all four corners. 

 2. Take your block, and finger press a small crease at the centre of all four sides. Take one border strip, finger press a small crease at the centre of the strip, and align this with the crease on the quilt block. Sew between the points marked on the block, leaving 1/4" unsewn on both ends of the seam, keeping the block on top as you sew the border strip. Stitch a few reverse stitches at both ends of this seam.

3. Continue around the edge of the block, adding border strips and aligning the centre as per step 2. You will need to fold back the edge of the first strip and take care not to catch it as you sew each subsequent strip to the block.

4. Once you've sewn all four border strips on, you'll have an interesting looking piece, with bits hanging out at the corners... Don't press anything yet!

5. Take a ruler, and line up the 45 degree line along the outer edge of your border strip, and align the edge of the ruler with the mark 1/4" in from the corner of your block.

Mark this line on all 8 ends of your border strips.

6. At each corner, fold the block diagonally in half, and carefully align your drawn lines, and pin.

7. Starting right at the point where the seams around the block meet, sew along the marked line, securing the start of your seam with a few reverse stitches. Repeat for all four corners.

8. Take your ruler, and trim 1/4" away from each of these seams.

The wrong side of your block should look something like this after trimming.

9. Now it's time to press your block! First, carefully press the corner seams open.

And then carefully press the borders away from the block.

And there you have it, a block with mitred borders! I'm hoping to properly share the quilt I've been working on using this technique very soon - but this is a sneak peek...

Hopefully it won't be so long between blog posts from now on - I have quite a few things to share, once I get my shit together and take some decent photos!

xx Jess

2016 Finish A Long Quarter 2 Link Up

I have well and truly failed at the regular blogging thing over the last few months, so much so that I totally forgot that the end of Quarter 2 of the FAL was upon us. I haven't even had a chance to share my one and only finish for this quarter yet - I promise that will happen before the linky party finishes! I've made major progress on another of my Q2 proposed finishes too - something I hope to share over the next week or so as well.

This year the FAL is being hosted by a global group of bloggers:

• Debbie - A Quilter's Table - USA

• Jess - Elven Garden Quilts - Australia

• Stacey - SLO Studio - Canada

• Jennie - Clover & Violet - USA

• Helen - Archie the Wonder Dog - UK

• Nicky - Mrs. Sew and Sow -UK

• Cindy - Fluffy Sheep Quilting - Ireland

• Rhonda - Rhonda's Ramblings - USA

• Leanne - She Can Quilt - Canada

It's time to link up the projects on your 2016 Q2 FAL list that you finished. First, a huge thank you to our fantastic sponsors:

Oakshott Fabrics - £75 (75 Pounds) gift certificate	The Tartankiwi - choice of 3 patterns	The Intrepid Thread - $50 gift certificate	Happy Quilting - choice of 3 patterns
Green Fairy Quilts - $25 gift certificate	Blossom Heart Quilts - copy of DIY Block Design	Mad About Patchwork - $40 gift certificate	Clover & Violet LLC - choice of 3 patterns
Fluffy Sheep Quilting - �25 (25 Euro) gift certificate	Christa Quilts, copy of Machine Quilting With Style	7 Acres Cleared Fabric Shop, $50 gift certificate	Make Modern Magazine - 6 month subscription
Porch Swing Quilts, 2 winners, 3 patterns each	Sunny Day Supply - $30 gift certificate	Sew Sweetness, copy of Windy City Bags	Sew Sisters Quilt Shop, $25 gift certificate
On the Windy Side, pattern pack	Mariners Compass Quilt Shop, $50 gift certificate	Fat Quarter Shop, $50 gift certificate	Laurel Bee Designs, 2 pin bowls for 1 winner
Imagine Gnats, $40 gift certificate	Sew me a Song, $20 gift certificate	Simply Solids, £40 (40 Pound) gift certificate	Knotted Thread, $30 gift certificate
The Quilt Ranch, $25 gift certificate

InLinkz.com

For the 2016 FAL, we also will feature a tutorial week. Here is the schedule so you can visit them all:

• July 1 - Rhonda - Rhonda's Ramblings - Modified Card Trick Block
• July 2 - Jess - Elven Garden Quilts - Adding Mitred Borders to Quilt Blocks
• July 3 - Leanne - She Can Quilt - Modern Labyrinth Trivet
• April 4 - Debbie - A Quilter's Table - Metal Zippers 3 Ways
• April 5 - Cindy - Fluffy Sheep Quilting - NY Beauty Block Tutorial
• April 6 - Nicky - Mrs. Sew and Sow - Covered Box Tutorial

The 2016 Q2 link for your finishes is now open below on my blog and on each of the hosting blogs - you only need to link on one blog for your finish to appear on each blog.

Link-up "rules"

• Add one link for each finish. If you want to link a round up post of all your finishes, use that link to enter one of your finishes and then link the rest of your finishes separately. Please, only one link per finish, as your link is an entry into the randomly drawn prize draws.
• Please use the 2016 FAL button or the hashtag #2016FAL
• Please ensure that the photo or blog post you link up contains a link or reference back to your original list so that we can verify your entry (make sure it is from the appropriate quarter)
• Please become part of the FAL community. Please check out the links of others and comment. We all need encouragement so let's applaud each other. The 2016 FAL Facebook page is here and follow us on Instagram @finishlong and tag your photos #2016fal and #falq2yourname (substitute your name - this makes it easier for us to match your finishes with your lists.
• Our hosts will also link their finishes to share in the community, but they are not eligible for any of the prizes.

The Q2 Finishes link will stay open from now thru July 7 - link up your finishes early and if you have a last minute one, add that one later so you don't miss out. The prizes will be awarded as soon as we can verify all the entries and do the drawings. We will post the winners on each hosts' blog. Also, start making your Q3 FAL lists as the Q3 list link opens on July 8!

An InLinkz Link-up

I hope to be back very soon with some quilts - and I'll be back in a few days with my promised Mitred Borders tutorial :o) 

xx Jess

The Farmer's Wife 1930's Block Tutorial - #83 Poppy

I'm feeling like the slackest blogger ever at the moment. I have been sewing quite a lot, and I'm hoping to have a chance to share what I've been working on really soon! I finished quilting and binding my improv quilt over the weekend, and I just need to get some decent photos so I can blog about it. And I've started my next class sample - more to come on that in the next week or two!

Today though, I'm sharing my next block tutorial in The Farmer's Wife 1930's Sew Along, hosted by Angie of Gnome Angel. My block this week is #83 - Poppy. I was a little dubious when I saw how many pieces are packed into this 6" block (over 60!?!), but she came together pretty happily in the end :o)

I've been using my stash of Japanese prints (mostly Suzuko Koseki and Dawaibo from both Polka Dot Tea and Sew Me A Song) for these blocks. I deliberately chose high contrast colours for this block, as I wanted to emphasise those tiny pieces. The orange print is quite small-scale, but the black and blue are both medium/large scale prints - I think the combination works quite well, despite the tiny size of the pieces. 

This is a pretty basic tutorial - I paper pieced my block - and the biggest advice I can give here is to identify which fabric goes with each template section and label it accordingly. This meant I could cut a bunch of squares from each of my three fabrics (mostly 2" squares, with a few 2" x 2.5" for the ends of the rows) and then piece them without having to think too carefully about what went where. 

Once I'd foundation pieced each of the sections (my friend Cat shares a great paper piecing tutorial here) I laid them out and double checked that I hadn't messed up my fabric placement. From there, it was simply a matter of piecing all those bits together.

I don't have all that much special advice here. I didn't use pins or clips to hold my pieces together - I actually find with really small sections like these, either of these tools actually shift my pieces just slightly and it causes more issues than if I don't pin. Go figure. I just made sure the edges of each pair of pieces lined up nicely, and sewed right along the solid line rather than using my 1/4" foot. I pressed my seams open in all cases, to spread the bulk as much as possible.

First, join F and G to E.

Then add the side sections of the middle star to (EFG) - these are sections H and I (pictured to each side of the block in this photo).

Followed by the first outer edge sections. These are sections C and D.

And finally the longer outer edge sections - sections A and B.

Every time I make one of these blocks I get the bug to keep making more - so once I get my last two class samples made for this year, I hope to get back to my Farmer's Wife 1930's quilt! 

The Farmer’s Wife 1930s Sampler Quilt: Inspiring Letters from Farm Women of the Great Depression and 99 Quilt Blocks That Honor Them by Laurie Aaron Hird for Fons & Porter/F+W; RRP $28.99 – Click here to purchase.

Improv quilt quilting progress

So, somehow it's been almost a month since I posted here (although I'm sure most of you are used to my erratic-blogging ways by now!) April was a bit of a blur, with 10 days in Melbourne for AQC - but since we got back I have been sewing up a storm. Over the last few weeks, I finished piecing my improv quilt top and started quilting it last week. I didn't manage to get a good photo of the quilt top before I basted it, so you'll have to wait for the big reveal when it's finished for that!

The entire time I have been piecing this quilt, I've been bustingly excited about quilting it. Not that I didn't enjoy the piecing part - it's been the most fun I've had making a quilt ever, quite seriously. I didn't have all that much of a plan when I started quilting - I just knew I wanted lots of organic straight lines (free motion quilted of course!) with a few pockets of curvy designs. I started out in the yellow/ochre block of colour, slowly getting a feel for what I wanted to do. I've used two different yellow variegated 40wt Aurifil threads in this section - a darker thread in this area (until I finished the spool),

and then a lighter (orangey yellow) variegated thread for the rest of the yellow block and out into the low volume. Once I got into the low volume area, I hit my stride with the quilting, very much inspired by the grey Carolyn Friedlander print in the photo below.

You can see here how much that fabric inspired this quilting - and the texture is just amazing. Because many of the low volume fabrics I've used have a grid-type design in them, I have actually done virtually zero marking on this quilt - I've used the fabrics as a guide instead.

 Earlier this week, I managed to start quilting the orange section. I'm using a variegated coral coloured Aurifil 40wt for the orange section - and I'm really surprised how well it blends into these fabrics. There is a big variation in tone and value through this section, and although I initially questioned this choice of thread, it works amazingly well.

You can definitely see it on the lighter fabrics, but it's proven to be a real chameleon thread across the others. I felt this thread was a bit dark to use on the low volume areas though, so I switched to a variegated grey 40wt for the low volume section near the oranges.

Considering I only got this quilt basted last Wednesday, and I haven't really spent all that much time quilting it (about 15 hours I think?), I can't really believe it's almost half quilted. This quilt has stolen my heart, completely and utterly. It's my absolute favorite, and I see many more improv adventures for me this year!

You can see a few areas I've left unquilted - some of these I will go back and free motion quilt, but others I will add a bit of hand-quilting too. And some of them will be left alone, happily puffy among all that textured, tactile quilty goodness.

 xx Jess