What causes wavy quilt borders

You know the beginning of every quilt pattern, where they list out all the fabric pieces you need to cut? Here’s something interesting about those border measurements – if they list a specific length for the borders, you actually shouldn’t cut them then. Let me explain why…

How to get flat quilt borders

Transcript of the video

No one’s quarter-inch seam is likely to be exactly a quarter inch across every single seam of a quilt. When those tiny variations add up, the center part that you pieced will probably end up a different size than what the pattern expected. This means those borders, if you’ve cut them ahead of time based on the pattern measurements, might be too long or too short for your actual quilt.

Let me show you what can happen when border lengths don’t match your quilt’s actual measurements. I have two quilt tops here that tell an interesting story. The first one is nice and flat, but the second one… well, you can see those ripples along the edges. There’s extra fabric creating waves in the border. This happened because when I sewed on these borders, they were slightly bigger than what the quilt center needed.

In garment sewing, we call this extra fabric “ease” – and sometimes it’s actually helpful, like when you’re setting in a sleeve cap. But in quilting? That ease creates problems. When you go to quilt a top that isn’t flat, that extra fabric has to go somewhere. You’ll either end up with tucks and puckers as you try to flatten everything out, or if you try to avoid the puckers by stretching things to fit, your corners won’t stay square and your quilt won’t hang properly on the wall.

So what’s the solution? Instead of trusting the pattern measurements, measure your actual quilt center. But here’s a key tip – don’t measure along the edges. Those edges can stretch from handling, and those little seams at the very edge might spread slightly, making your edge measurements less reliable.

Measure in three places across the middle of your quilt. I usually measure once right down the center, then again about halfway between the center and each end. Add those three measurements together and divide by three to get your average – that’s the length you want to cut your borders.

I do still cut my border strips to their proper width when I’m doing my initial cutting – I just wait to cut them to length until after my center is pieced. If you follow this approach of measuring in three places and using that average, you’ll have much better success getting beautiful, flat quilt tops that hang perfectly on your wall.

Understanding this simple change in how you approach borders can make such a difference in your quilting journey… happy sewing! 😉