The Border Quilt - Quilt Along - Part 4

I am moving along with my quilt. The next border is Friendship Stars. I took a lot of pictures as I made this border and I hope some of my hints and tips will help you as you make the blocks for this border.

I layered the marked squares on the dark squares and
'chain pieced' 1/4" from the marked line (both sides).
This saves time (and thread!).

I used a small ruler to cut the squares apart on the marked line.
The smaller ruler is easier to move around - also a time saver.

I arranged as many sewn units as I could on my ironing board and
pressed toward the dark fabric.
Can you see a 'theme' here? I'm all about saving time!

I want PERFECT Half Square Triangles and this is assured with the Bloc_Loc ruler.
First you trim one corner (with the ruler 'locked' on to the seams).

Turn the block. lock onto the seam and trim the opposite corners.....

and the blocks are the perfect size with the diagonal seam right in the corners.

More time saving with chain pieced units and the whole chain on the ironing board.

Snip the threads between and these units are DONE!

Pressing these steam open gives a flatter quilt.

Sewing with the 'blocks strip' on top of the plain border
allows me to see where the star points are.

Worked perfectly - no cut off points!

Friendship Stars and plain borders are now on my quilt.

The next border needs MORE Half Square Triangles. I'm going to try a different method so be sure to watch for the next instalment in a couple of weeks.

The Border Quilt - Quilt Along - Part 2

For Part 2, I added 4 more borders to my quilt. Remember that I am changing the 'values' for my quilt. The main difference you will see in this part is my choice for the solid fabric borders.

I chose Banyan Batiks Shadows in Orange and Banyan Batiks Ketan - Champagne for the first 'checkered' border. I sewed my stripsets first and pressed toward the Orange.

I needed to cut units from the stripsets and to make it more efficient I layered two stripsets together, carefully 'nesting' the seams. 

I picked up the pairs and sewed...........OOPS!  This is NOT what I was supposed to do. Luckily I didn't sew them all and only had to unpick a few! But aren't those centre seams perfectly matched!

This is the correct way to sew them. I pressed these seams toward the Orange.

Next, I added the Orange/Champage borders to my quilt......

and then I added a Ketan dark blue border. 

I pressed toward the dark blue border. Not just because this is the dark fabric, but because all those seams in the Orange/Champage border 'want' to go that way. Why fight it!

I repeated the steps for another 'checker' border. This time I used Purple Shadows and Apricot Ketan.

Another Ketan dark blue border completes this part.

How are you doing with your quilt?  I'd love to see some pictures of what you've done so far and share them with other quilters who are making the Border Quilt.  Email me what you've got to:
info (at) daphnegreig (dot) com