I do my quilting on a Pfaff 2044, which is set into my sewing table with drop leaves for expansion. It has a fairly small throat, so I try to do my quilting for large projects, like the collaborative Paris quilt, in sections. The sections on this quilt are all 18″ to 20″ wide, so they are easy to work on.I did the center section in two parts, then the borders in four sections, for a total of six sections. Here is the method I am using to stitch them together.

First, I trimmed the batting and backing edges around the quilted center sections to 1.5 in. Then I added a 2.25 in. border to the front of the quilted sections, stitching through all the layers and pressing it open. I trimmed the backing and edges of the corresponding border section to .75 in. I trimmed the batting by .25 in. on each edge to keep it out of the seam, then stitched the seam by machine and pressed it open.

Here is a photo of the process, with the border pinned back so you can see the seam. You can also see the template I made myself to keep the border an even 1.75 in. Since it is bright red and very visible, I wanted to be sure it stayed the same width.

Next time, I’ll tell you about my challenges with a new quilt about Paris and Giverny.