Hi , 

I'm so excited about the response to our latest Custom Quilting tutorial! Custom quilting is a longarming term - but that doesn't mean we can't custom quilt using our home sewing machine too.

Custom quilting means honoring our pieced or appliqued quilt pattern, and there is no better place to custom quilt than your quilt's borders. Let's learn how to plan and quilt a custom design within any 6-inch wide quilt border:

The designs I used in this video are from our Spring Flowers Quilt Stencil Collection. Mix and match two corners and 3 different repeating border designs to fit any size quilt.

The best thing about quilting on a line using these paper stencils is how fast you can finish a quilt. I quilted the blocks, sashing, triangles, and borders of my Spring Quilt Panel in less than 6 hours - that's super fast!

Would you like to make this baby quilt too? Find this Spring Quilt Panel here on Spoonflower.
 

Border Stencil Decision - Leave Gaps or Overlap?

You will occasionally have a situation where your border stencils will not exactly fit your quilting space. Here you have a decision - do you leave gaps between the stencils or overlap them?
 

Leaving a gap between the stencils is the easier option, but it will result in more space between the designs. Make sure to mark the quilt with a fabric marking pencil or tape to indicate the gap being left.
 

As you quilt the border, you will stitch to the end of the first stencil, then across the gap, then onto the next stencil. This is a very easy and quick way to handle extra space in your border.
 

For overlapping, plan the amount of overlap and this time mark it on the stencils. This way the paper will guide you as to how much the designs overflow on top of one another.
 

Quilt the first stencil completely and stop with your needle in the down position. You may need to trim some of the next stencil away so you can properly place the overlapping stencil. As you quilt over the doubled layers of paper, try to make very tiny stitches to make the paper easier to rip away.
 

Before you start custom quilting your border, remember to take a picture of the design. If you're quilting a large border, consider numbering the stencils. This will help you remember the arrangement when you're on your machine.
 

Don't brew yourself a cup of Frustration Tea - only have one loose stencil on the quilt at a time!

That's it for this week, . Do you have any remaining questions about custom quilting? Please reach out and let me know! I'd love to update this post with more questions from quilters to help everyone learn more about custom quilting.
 

Let's go quilt,
 

Leah Day

PS - A quick reminder that we are also running a sale on all of our downloadable video workshops. All classes are 50% off until June 1st!

Click Here to check out all nine of our workshops.