Adding Borders with a Banister

Adding borders by measuring through the middle of a quilt top.  The banister is an essential tool!

Just outside my sewing room is the railing for the stairs.  It works very well for a no math method of measuring for adding borders to quilt tops.

The old-timers say to measure through the middle of your quilt, as things can get wonky out at the edges.  If you measure through the middle, it can tame the wonkiness at the edges.  So that's what I do.  It's been one of those game-changing skills / techniques that has greatly improved my quilting.

I can hang the quilt over the railing so that the center of the length or width is along the top of the rail.  I straighten it out ...  Then I stretch out the intended border to match that length or width and cut 2 borders accordingly. 

Then I go back to my sewing room.  Fold the top in half and use a pin to mark the center.

Fold it in half again, and use pins to mark the quarter points.  I do the same for the newly cut borders, and match up the end points, the middle and quarter points.  Then I ease in the rest, pinning so it can be sewn on evenly.  Press the seams.

Repeat for the opposite border.

The railing might be an unusual quilting tool, but it has proven essential for me!