ESSENTIAL GUIDE
“Creating pieced borders is a crucial technique in patchwork and this month we will look at how interwoven, 3D effects can be achieved.”
– Lin Clements
INTERLACED BORDERS
Last month we explored sewing blocks that have woven or interlacing patterns. This month we will extend that idea into creating pieced borders. Pieced borders are often quite simple, perhaps made up of squares and rectangles or easy units such as half-square triangles. However, with a little more planning we can turn a border into something much more interesting by designing layouts that create 3D effects. Borders with these types of designs usually result in larger units overall than, say, a simple four-patch unit, mostly because several rows are needed to create an intertwining design.
shows three examples of such borders, and this article will describe how to make these. I have also designed some cornerstone arrangements, so the borders can be continued around corners. I have chosen sizes to make the borders fairly small so they would fit with various quilt designs, but you could easily enlarge the sizes. The borders can be used for quilts of course, but also make wonderful linear designs for items such as shows two examples. Using the block instructions given last time, you could easily create a wider range of borders.
