Once these are assembled, we need to consider the borders. The border will frame your quilt and needs to be proportionate to the quilt centre, so it looks as if it is an integral part of the quilt. Whether you have already set aside fabric for your border or are just beginning to think about it, either way is correct. Some quilters like to wait until the centre top is complete before making a decision, while others wouldn’t dream of starting a quilt without putting fabric aside for the borders and binding first. The choice of border is entirely yours, but here is a small tip to keep in mind – your quilt can often take on the colour of your border.

Note: Finished size of quilt – 74” by 96”.

Requirements list: (WOF = 44” width of fabric).

15” of fabric for sashing strips

12” fabric for first border (see below measuring for borders)

52” fabric for second border (see below measuring for borders)

Assembling top

You can assemble your quilt top as I have done here (see photo) or move your blocks around. I have arranged the stars on top, the Dresden Plates in the centre and the Drunkard’s Path on the bottom. Lay out your blocks on a large flat surface to ensure that they are organised in the correct order before you start to stitch. Check to see how they look before you make a final decision. Then you are ready to start piecing them together.

Make sashing strips: The appliquéd panels need to be highlighted, so we are going to set them apart with some sashing strips. Cut sashing fabric into six 2½” strips. Recut two of the strips in half at 22” each. Attach one full-length strip to one half-length strip. Repeat three more times. Cut strips to measure 2½” by 60”. You now have four sashing strips.

  • Take all the star blocks and sew them together, taking a ¼” seam, to complete a row.

  • Take all the Dresden Plate blocks and, as before, sew them together to complete a row.

  • Take all the Drunkard’s Path blocks and sew together to complete this row.

  • Attach sashing strips to the top and bottom of each appliqué panel.

  • Attach stars to top of one of the appliqué panels (Section 1).

  • Attach checkerboard squares to top and bottom of Dresden Plate row (Section 2).

  • Attach Drunkard’s Path to bottom of the other appliqué panel (Section 3).

  • Now attach three sections of the quilt together.

    • Borders

    The next step is to measure for our borders. You may like to lay your quilt out on a bed to determine how wide you would like your borders to be, keeping in mind they must be proportionate to the quilt and not overshadow the quilt centre. Our quilt is framed by two borders, one is narrow finishing at 1” in the quilt and the second outer border measures 6” wide. Although we know that technically our quilt should measure 60” across by 82” down, this might not always be the case. The quilt top can become stretched through frequent handling and inaccurate seams. So we need to measure before we cut. We also need to make border strips that are long enough to attach to each side and top and bottom. When piecing border strips together to get the required length, remember to allow for any necessary seam allowances.

  • Lay quilt on a flat surface and measure the length of the quilt down the centre from top edge to bottom edge. It is important to measure through the centre of the quilt as this will help in squaring up the quilt and bring the edges in line with each other.

  • Cut two border strips that match this measurement by 1½” wide. Attach to each side of the quilt easing in any fullness.

  • Measure the width of the quilt across the centre from side to side.

  • Cut two border strips that match this measurement by 1½” wide. Attach to top and bottom of quilt again easing in any fullness as before.

  • Repeat above steps to make the outer wider border. The outer wider border should be cut at 6½” wide, finishing 6” in quilt.This completes the top of the quilt.

    • Next week: The quilting process.