Determine Top & Bottom Border Length
- Measure the quilt from side-to-side through its horizontal midpoint, including the width of the side borders. Cut or piece two borders that length.
- Fold a border in half crosswise and crease. Pin the midpoint of the border to the vertical midpoint at the top of the quilt, right sides together and raw edges matched.
- Continue matching and pinning the border to the quilt just as you did side borders, working with ends first then matching and pinning the remaining length.
- Sew the border to the quilt with a 1/4" seam allowance. Press the seam allowance towards the border.
- Repeat to sew the bottom border to the quilt.
- Repeat all steps if you want to add another border around the first.
Straight Border Alternatives
- It's fine to sew the top and bottom borders to the quilt before you add the side borders, just flip-flop the instructions, measuring through the quilt's horizontal midpoint first.
- Some quilters like to piece border strips together like they do binding strips, with seams that move diagonally across the border instead of the side-by-side orientation produced when strips are sewn together at their ends.
