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 Free Pattern : A Parallelogram Border

The simple shape makes a number of great borders, depending on how you turn them.

The basic unit looks like this:

What size is it?

You can make this unit any size. All you need to do is to assign a size to each patch of the block. Imagine a 1x2 grid over the unit. If you assign 2" (finished) to each patch, the block would be 2x4" finished. If you assign 3" (finished) to each patch, the unit would be 3x6" finished.

Your border should be in scale with your quilt's size. For delicate quilt centers, you wouldn't want an overwhelmingly big block for the border. If you are not planning your quilt in advance on the computer or on graph paper, wait and "audition" a border when your quilt center is fully done.

Constructing the border

Quilters use a 1/4" seam allowance. Therefore you will need to add 1/2" to the finished measurement when cutting. Let's say each unit of our border block will be 3" finished ... the block will be 3x6" finished.

Start by cutting a 3-1/2" x 6-1/2" green rectangle for each unit. Then cut two 3-1/2" x 3-1/2" squares for each block. Take a green rectangle and lay an orange square on top, right sides together and matching the raw edges. Stitch diagonally across the orange square and carefully press back. Do the same for the other side.

You may choose to trim out the extra orange fabric from under the corner unit, or trim off both the extra orange fabric and the green fabric, or don't trim at all. If you are machine quilting, the extra fabric thickness isn't going to trouble you.

Here are several ways to arrange your parallelograms:

Related : More Free Border Patterns

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