Basic Quilt Drafting - Borders - Corner Units -

As promised - this time I'll show you how I made the CORNER UNITS -

Without a pattern - ;))

I know a lot of quilters are afraid of MATH -

So I'll try to simplify it -

And just DRAW you a bunch of pictures - ;))

First I sewed all of the inner GREEN borders to the outer PINK borders -
The ones that I cut last time -
And attached the two SIDE borders to the quilt top -
One on the LEFT side and one on the RIGHT side -

And then I set the quilt top and the remaining borders aside -
Until I made the CORNER UNITS -

I had pressed all of the borders AWAY from the center of the quilt top - it was the path of least resistance considering all of the seams in the center blocks -

In each of the corners - I wanted to extend the GREEN inner border to the outside - so I colored those in my diagram -

And then re-drew the TOP and BOTTOM borders again at the bottom - so I could concentrate on them and show you what I did without the distraction of all of the stuff in the middle -

Since the center sections of the TOP and BOTTOM borders are pressed AWAY from the center of the quilt - the CORNER UNITS should be pressed TOWARD the center - to allow the seams to nest properly - so I added some more arrows -

And I know that I want a PINK square in the corner - so I colored that in -

But - which way to press the seam between the CORNER UNIT and the center border section? -
Back to the main diagram - if the SIDE borders are pressed AWAY from the center of the quilt top -
Press it in the OTHER direction - TOWARD the center of the quilt -

So I added those little arrows -

Which meant that the other GREEN piece needs to be pressed TOWARD the PINK corner square - so I added those arrows, too -
EDIT UPDATE - When the corner unit is added to the center border piece - the whole seam will be pressed toward the center - so ignore those arrows -

That all looks really complicated - so I re-drew the corners again over to the side - with just the PINK corner square and the first GREEN side to be attached - and the arrows -
EDIT UPDATE - Ignore the arrows -

Looks like I need four PINK corner squares with a GREEN strip sewn to the TOP of each square - pressed TOWARD the PINK -
EDIT UPDATE - The arrows point the wrong way - Press AWAY from the PINK -

From there - I just copied what I had done before -

Two of the PINK/GREEN units need a GREEN strip added to the LEFT side -

And pressed TOWARD the GREEN -

The other two PINK/GREEN units need a GREEN strip added to the RIGHT side -

And pressed TOWARD the GREEN -

SOOOOOOOOOO -

What size do all of these "units" need to be cut?? -

The PINK squares need to be cut 4-1/2" square because that's the width that I decided to use for the outer border (2 squares times 2" per square = 4" PLUS 1/2" seam allowance) - and I have two leftover pieces from the TOP/BOTTOM borders that are already 4-1/2" wide (and over 9" long) - so just cut 4 squares @ 4-1/2" -

And the GREEN strips are already the correct size WIDTH-wise - because I'm using leftover pieces from the TOP/BOTTOM borders for those, too -

The LENGTH of the GREEN strips that I have to add to the TOP of each PINK square has to be the same as the size of the PINK square - so 4-1/2" LONG - and I need 4 of those -

The other GREEN strips that will be added to the sides of the corner PINK/GREEN units need to measure the same as the side that they will be attached to - in this case -

OH, CRAP - now I have to do some MATH -

Just kidding - ;))

All you have to do is sew together the PINK/GREEN unit and measure the long side - the side that you're going to sew to the second GREEN strip - and cut 4 GREEN strips that length -

Mathematically - mine should come to 4-1/2" (PINK-CUT) + 2" (GREEN-CUT) MINUS the 1/2" seam allowance that got eaten up when I sewed the two pieces together - so 6-1/2" MINUS 1/2" = 6" - or whatever other size I decided to use.

NOTE - If you have been following along - and actually DOING the MATH - you know that I would have been short if my WOF wasn't a full 42" - but I lucked out because it WAS - and even then I BARELY made it. But I DID the MATH ahead of time because I wasn't sure. Unless you KNOW that you have enough fabric - and not a limited amount like I had - ya GOTTA DO THE MATH - BEFORE you start cutting - or you run the risk of coming up short - ;))

After that - the rest is simple -

Assemble the CORNER UNITS - like I explained above -

Sew one to each end of the TOP and BOTTOM borders - following the diagram - so that they are pressed/oriented correctly to make matching the seams easier -

Attach the TOP border to the TOP of the quilt top -

Attach the BOTTOM border to the BOTTOM of the quilt top -

And you're DONE! - ;))

Quilting without a pattern is SO liberating!! -

Like I told one of my readers -

I love being able to quilt without a "pattern". It has several advantages. It allows me to "make it my own" - so I'm not tied to something designed by someone else. And I don't have to "wait for" or "find" a pattern - if I can sketch it - I can probably make it. (How do you suppose "designers" come up with their designs and "patterns"?) - AND with graph paper - you don't even need a computer or EQ7 to figure it out - easy peasy - ;))

Try it - you might like it - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -