Mitered border question

I am making my very first mitered border, I usually just do the plain
vertical border but want this one to be a little more ...ahem..."polished".
It's just a quick quilt for my Aunt Shirley, but I need to get this finished
so I can get started on the whole cloth quilt I plan to make for my 1st DD
for Christmas. Yes, this Christmas!

Anyway, I have just finished the first mitered border. The plan is to have
another 3 borders and my question is, how do I press the corners of the
borders? Do I press the miter open? And after the next border is added, do I
press that one open as well?

Thanks in advance, someone is always there with the answer whenever I have
asked for help in the past.

Judie in Penfield NY

Congratulations Judie! It is wonderful that you are branching
out. There are several methods to handle multiple mitered
margins. (Yeah, I know it is borders, but margins is alliterative! )

Here's what I'd do if I were using three plain (not pieced)
borders. Piece the three strips together and treat as one border.
Then press each corner seam open.

PAT in VA/USA

Judie in Penfield NY wrote:
I am making my very first mitered border, I usually just do the plain
vertical border but want this one to be a little more ...ahem..."polished".
It's just a quick quilt for my Aunt Shirley, but I need to get this finished
so I can get started on the whole cloth quilt I plan to make for my 1st DD
for Christmas. Yes, this Christmas!

Anyway, I have just finished the first mitered border. The plan is to have
another 3 borders and my question is, how do I press the corners of the
borders? Do I press the miter open? And after the next border is added, do I
press that one open as well?

Thanks in advance, someone is always there with the answer whenever I have
asked for help in the past.

Judie in Penfield NY

Thanks, Pat! I had thought of doing this but for some reason thought it
might be asking for trouble. I'll let you know how it goes, I'm about
finished for the day but do plan to get a lot done tomorrow. My day off
from work and I always think I am going to do everything on Thursday.

Judie in Penfield, NY


On Wed, 15 Sep 2004, Pat in Virginia wrote:

Congratulations Judie! It is wonderful that you are branching
out. There are several methods to handle multiple mitered
margins. (Yeah, I know it is borders, but margins is alliterative! )

Here's what I'd do if I were using three plain (not pieced)
borders. Piece the three strips together and treat as one border.
Then press each corner seam open.

PAT in VA, USA

YW Judie. I need to add: You will need to plan the pressing of
the border strips before you start. Perhaps you can press all
seams open. OR, you can press the left and right seams all to the
inside and the top and bottom seams all to the outside. Also, it
is a good idea to baste the miter seam first, then check that the
seams of the pieces match. (Capice?)
PAT in VA/USA
PS: Where is Penfield NY?

Judie Luisi wrote:

Thanks, Pat! I had thought of doing this but for some reason thought it
might be asking for trouble. I'll let you know how it goes, I'm about
finished for the day but do plan to get a lot done tomorrow. My day off
from work and I always think I am going to do everything on Thursday.

Judie in Penfield, NY


On Wed, 15 Sep 2004, Pat in Virginia wrote:
Here's what I'd do if I were using three plain (not pieced)
borders. Piece the three strips together and treat as one border.
Then press each corner seam open.

Hullo Judie
Good question on pressing.
I have recently decided not to stick to any rule on pressing! but to go
with the way that causes the fabrics the least tension.
That being said: for mitred border corners I press the mitre seam open.
This is mostly because it seems to me that the appearance needs to be
symmetrical - without a 'lump' on one side. But, you may notice that a
very neat 'thing' happens. If you have pressed the long seams towards
the border, and press the mitred seam open, the corner of the top just
beautifully covers the necessarily folded ends of the mitre seam. It
all lies beautifully flat.
If you are doing three borders, I do agree with PAT about putting them
together before making the mitres. Doing the individually, and hoping
to get the seams completely in alignment, is asking a lot of yourself.
Whereas, if you do them as a unit, there is no problem - it is just one
seam.
It will look lovely I'm sure.
..
In article , Judie in
Penfield NY writes
I am making my very first mitered border, I usually just do the plain
vertical border but want this one to be a little more ...ahem..."polished".
It's just a quick quilt for my Aunt Shirley, but I need to get this finished
so I can get started on the whole cloth quilt I plan to make for my 1st DD
for Christmas. Yes, this Christmas!

Anyway, I have just finished the first mitered border. The plan is to have
another 3 borders and my question is, how do I press the corners of the
borders? Do I press the miter open? And after the next border is added, do I
press that one open as well?

Thanks in advance, someone is always there with the answer whenever I have
asked for help in the past.

Judie in Penfield NY



--
Best Regards
pat on the hill

Got it! I plan to press the border seams to the outside, miter seams open.
And I like the idea of basting the miter seam, luckily I have a great
maching for basting, makes a nice long stitch. In fact I just pulled out
my trusty Singer 301 when I started having a tension problem with one of
my many other machines.

Penfield is near Rochester NY, about an hour east of Buffalo. It has been
a beautiful day here in Penfield for the last TWO days. NO rain for two
whole days! Almost makes me forget how homesick I am for Tahoe, not quite,
but almost.

Judie in Penfield NY



On Wed, 15 Sep 2004, Pat in Virginia wrote:

YW Judie. I need to add: You will need to plan the pressing of
the border strips before you start. Perhaps you can press all
seams open. OR, you can press the left and right seams all to the
inside and the top and bottom seams all to the outside. Also, it
is a good idea to baste the miter seam first, then check that the
seams of the pieces match. (Capice?)
PAT in VA/USA
PS: Where is Penfield NY?

Judie Luisi wrote:

Thanks, Pat! I had thought of doing this but for some reason thought it
might be asking for trouble. I'll let you know how it goes, I'm about
finished for the day but do plan to get a lot done tomorrow. My day off
from work and I always think I am going to do everything on Thursday.

Judie in Penfield, NY


On Wed, 15 Sep 2004, Pat in Virginia wrote:
Here's what I'd do if I were using three plain (not pieced)
borders. Piece the three strips together and treat as one border.
Then press each corner seam open.

Judie,
when I do a mitered border, I sew all the borders together first. Then only have
to sew the border on the quilt top once. In other words, I make my pieced (even
just lengthwise pieces sewn together along the long edges) border, then sew it
on.
That way you only deal with the matching and all once. And only have to do the
miter once per corner. Then I, and this is personal preference, press the seam
open on the miter. I also leave about a one inch seam allowance on the corner.

Hope this helps.

Pati, in Phx

Judie in Penfield NY wrote:

I am making my very first mitered border, I usually just do the plain
vertical border but want this one to be a little more ...ahem..."polished".
It's just a quick quilt for my Aunt Shirley, but I need to get this finished
so I can get started on the whole cloth quilt I plan to make for my 1st DD
for Christmas. Yes, this Christmas!

Anyway, I have just finished the first mitered border. The plan is to have
another 3 borders and my question is, how do I press the corners of the
borders? Do I press the miter open? And after the next border is added, do I
press that one open as well?

Thanks in advance, someone is always there with the answer whenever I have
asked for help in the past.

Judie in Penfield NY