Two at a time Preemie Quilts - Part Two

Now that the body of the quilt is complete, your should take a large square ruler and square it up. The two pieces should measure 14 1/2" but that is an approximate. It is more important that it is perfectly square.

First Border......................................................

It is at this point that most instructions say to measure here and measure there, and find the center, blah, blah, blah, but this is a very small quilt and is supposed to be quick. So I simply take the light 1 1/2" strip and lay it right side up. Put the central piece, with the right side down on top of the strip ( this prevents stretching) and sew.

Trim the strips at the ends and press out towards the border.

Accent......................................

Take the 1" strip and fold it in half lengthwise, pressing it flat. I have heard this called unfilled piping. You could also use filled piping, ric-rac or lace but the unfilled piping is something you can make easily from something in your stash. It is just an accent piece which can add a little pizazz.

Line up the raw edge of the piping with the raw edge of the quilt. Increase the stitch length and baste the piping close to the edge.

Second Border.....................................................................

Lay this piece right sides together and stitch it down. Press it out towards the 2nd border.

This is where the instructions usually say "Quilt as desired" and end the conversation. So I will give you a few of my personal tips. I prefer to use a very flat type of batting like Hobbs Theremore or Warm and Natural. Flat, flat, flat. If you have any friends who are longarmers for hire, they might have some 22" scraps they could save for you.

I do not use pins or tacks to baste, but rather a small amount of 501 Spray holds the whole thing together well.

I am not very good at free motion quilting but I feel it would overwhelm these little beauties anyway. So I do simple diagonal lines on every other square and in the ditch on both borders.

There should be 4 strips left and these are for the binding. No, I am not going to type instructions for that. And..........................................

Ta-Dah........................................