How to Make a Picture Frame Border

Today let's learn how to make a picture frame border, just like the one used on The Second Life of Quilts.

I was shown this technique in Noriko Endo's class in Houston last year, and thankfully remember how to do it. It's made from two pieces of fabric, with no seams showing in the corners, and is more suited for mini and small quilts.

The only stitching visible is the straight line stitching along the inside edge of the frame, giving the piece a great finished look.

So how do we do this? First, cut two pieces of fabric the same size as the mini quilt, placing right sides together.

I'm using the solid backside of this piece of fabric as my right side - I'm not to fond of the print for my border. The point is to choose what side you want showing in your border, and make it the right side.

Next, determine the width of the border. I chose 2" for mine, and I would suggest nothing over 3" unless you plan to quilt in it. I marked in 2" from the edge all around.

Stitch on the drawn line, then cut out the center 1/4" away from the stitched line.

For turning purposes, make a small clip in the inside corners.

Press, and turn both wrong sides of one border edge up. Press the seam to one side. This helps to create a crisp seam.

Turn the piece that's on the inside over on top of the other, matching border edges. Carefully press at the seam.

Continue around the border, repeating the steps for each side. When done, place border frame on top of the mini quilt, pinning in place.

Stitch a straight line 1/8" from the inside edge of the border.

Prepare binding, pinning to the outside edge. Stitch both the binding and the outside edge of the border down at once. Finish the binding as usual, and ta-da, you have a picture frame border on your mini quilt!

Happy Quilting!

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