Using Wavy Quilt Borders to Enhance Any Quilt

Rarely when I begin a new piece do I really have an idea of what its outcome is going to be, and often, I'll finish something, or finish it to the point where it's ready to be quilted and I'll look down and go, hmm, eh, just not doing it for me, and do I think the quilting's gonna do it for me? And maybe it won't, or maybe I don't plan on quilting it much or something, and I'll look and go, is there anything I can do that's a quick, simple fix? Well, when I finished this guy and had this wide border on it and the border was overwhelming, and I thought, oh, I'll just trim it down. And then I thought, well, I wonder what it would look like with a curvy border? And so I cut a curvy border and fell in love with it. And so I've kind of been making curvy borders ever since then. A curvy edge quilt can be a problem for those who have never used a bias cut binding, but it's really not a big deal. It's pretty easy to do. This one happens to have no binding, I did it in the pillowcase style, but I've done many with bindings. So it just requires you to cut a bias binding. So I'm gonna show you how easy it is to cut this. I do not pre-draw the curve. This is just a freeform cut curve. One thing that I'll point out, though, is that I like to include a little point every once in a while, so those little points just add this little bit of interest. So that's how I feel kind of about this quilt. This quilt, to me, it's not necessarily my style. I was exploring using these dyed pieces of vintage things, but it's kind of boring, it's kind of dull, and I think it's gonna be a little bit more interesting with a curvy edge. So I'm gonna cut that edge for you right here. Now, generally speaking, I'd have a larger mat, but this mat will do. So I'm gonna try to get the most length out of the mat that I can. And basically, I'm not gonna have anything too deep that's gonna make it difficult to put a binding on, and I don't want my corners to be too pointy, that will make it difficult to put a binding on. So I'll start on one edge here, and once I get started with the cutting, I'm gonna hold my far edge, because otherwise, it's going to creep, it's gonna want to move with the cutter. So I'm gonna start right here with a very gentle curve near the corner, because I don't want that corner to be hard to bind. And now I'm gonna just cut a curve. I'm gonna look at the elements that are near the edge of the piece, so I don't cut into them. And there we go. Very easy. I don't have to pre-draw that, I can let it kind of just be organic and grow into whatever it grows into. Now, this is a pretty tight corner, so I want to make sure this one stays a little bit square like it is, so I'm not gonna cut in much at all. And I've got not a whole lot of room here, so I'm going to go to that edge, like so, come over here so that I'm not cutting any of that edge off, So I have that least that quarter inch and begin again. I'm gonna go ahead and put a point right here. So you see, I came off the edge. Now I'm gonna come in a little bit deep here, so that I have a point right there. So you see that wonderful little point? That adds kind of a repeat of the corner points, and it's interesting. So again, I'm gonna get as much of this on as I can, and I'm just gonna continue cutting gentle curves with my rotary cutter that are not pre-drawn. So now you can see the one side with the bottom, and we can see it's already looking more interesting. In fact, I could be really artsy if I wanted to and leave two sides straight and have two sides curvy, if I wanted. But unfortunately for me, this is the direction it goes, and it would look better if those two sides were over here, so I'm gonna keep cutting curves. I have a point right here. Normally, I would want a point somewhere in here, but there's a lot happening here on the edge. I think if I put a point right here, there's stuff happening there too. whereas this edge is kind of boring. So I think I'm gonna put another point down in here, so at least I have two of them and they're somewhat opposite. So that's just something I'm gonna kind of plan. A very gentle curve there, so that I don't have a difficult time binding. And now I'm going to make that point right there. And then I'm gonna come in so that I get that point. Now, I want to come down pretty tight here so that I don't have a difficult corner. There we go. So you can see the balance that is being formed on this outside edge by repeating that/ I might repeat one right here, 'cause if I cut this little portion of this flower out, there's an area here that's kind of open for that. Three's always better than two, odd numbers. Again, a shallow, to make that corner easy with the binding, paying attention to how much space I have next to a design element close to the edge. And so you see you don't have do a continuous cut, you can lift up the rotary cutter and move it around. So I think I am gonna put in a point somewhere near here. This one I don't want pointed, so I'm gonna continue with the curve, put a gentle curve here, so that I have room for this design element. And I'm gonna cut out that flower with a deep curve there, and then I'm gonna put my point and then finish off. And again, an easier corner. Wow. So I don't know about you, but I think that really added something to it. It took something that was kind of bordering on being a little too syrupy and sweet and added a little bit of funky edge, and I think added some interest. So now I'm gonna put a binding on it, that's probably gonna be this dark violet, and really finish off that edge well. So see how easy it is to cut freeform curves? Try it on a quilt that, you get done with it and you're like, eh, that's not doing it for me. Curve those edges. It might really perk it up.