Have you ever looked at a finished quilt and noticed how balanced it looks and how the binding is so straight? What you are seeing is the result of a quilt that has been trimmed and ‘squared up’.  

If you trim and ‘square up’ your quilt you will enhance its beauty and create a consistently straight edge for applying your binding. No more slanted quilt top seams and wavy quilt borders. And this method works on square or rectangular quilts.

Have you ever done a press and ‘true-up’ of a pieced 12-inch square quilt block or any pieced square block? This step avoids slanted seams and crooked edges. The same concept applies to the quilt. As you quilt the dimensions of the quilt will shrink. This is a natural result of the quilting process. To compensate for this shrinkage you trim and ‘square’ each corner of the quilt which will enable you to ‘square up’ the entire quilt.

When I first tried to ‘square up’ a quilt I laid it on the floor and used a carpenter’s 16x24 inch L-shaped framing square metal ruler to mark the quilt. My poor knees, Yikes! My method has evolved. Here’s my favorite two-part way to Trim and ‘Square Up’ a quilt:

                                                                                  Trimmed and Squared Quilt

Use a 6x6 inch Square Quilting Ruler to square each corner of your quilt.

Please note: The quilt used for this method is a toddler photo quilt that measures 34-inches wide by 37-inches deep. The center patch is four photo blocks with 2.5 inch sashing. I used border widths of 4-inches and 6-inches. I typically use 4-inch and 6-inch border widths for the final two quilt borders mainly because using my 4 and 6-inch rulers to cut my border fabric is much more accurate and easier than straining my eyes to see other measurements. And the border proportions look great. Of course, the number of borders and the border widths for your quilt is your choice. Just bear in mind that a 6-inch width final border is used in my method. If your quilt has a final border wider than 6 inches, then use my method to get the trim line markings as a guide to trimming your wider quilt border. Example: If you want a 7-inch width final border then add two inches to the trim line markings before you trim your border.

If you want to know how to get your photos on fabric, read this blog about making a photo quilt.

Note: Border 1 is the border closest to the final border of the quilt. Border 2 is the final border of the quilt.

Use the Border 1 and Border 2 seam as a straight edge guide to position your 6x6 inch square ruler.

Left edge of the 6x6 inch Square Ruler aligned with Border 1 and Border 2 seam at the 5.75-inch measurement on the ruler

Move your ruler 1-inch to the left. Your Border 1 and Border 2 seam should be aligned with the 5-inch measurement of your ruler.

6x6 inch square ruler position. It has been moved 1 inch to the left of the Border 1 and Border 2 seam. The seam will be aligned with the 5-inch measurement on the ruler

Move your ruler up 1 inch from the Border 1 and Border 2 seam. Your bottom Border 1 and Border 2 seam should be aligned with the 5-inch depth of your ruler.

Use an erasable marking pen or chalk to mark the quilt by tracing the right and bottom edges of the ruler.

                                            Marked right and bottom edges of the 6x6 inch square ruler

Double check the ruler positioning. You should see a 1-inch square appear in the left bottom corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler. The vertical and horizontal lines at the 5-inch ruler measurement will align with the vertical and horizontal lines of the border seams. A 45-degree diagonal line will intersect the bottom corner of the one-inch square.  

                                1-inch square appears at the upper left corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler

Without moving the 6x6 inch square ruler you will see a 1-inch square at the bottom right corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler. The 45-degree line should continue through the bottom right corner 1-inch square. Put a pin where the 45-degree line ends. This is the squared corner mark for the East Border.

The method is the same as East Border. For the East Border you moved the ruler left and up. For the West Border you will move the ruler right and up. Look for the 1-inch square. It will appear at the upper right corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler and again at the bottom left corner. The 45-degree line should point to the 1-inch square in the bottom right corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler. Put a pin where the 45-degree line ends. This is the square corner mark for the West Border.

Now test if the East and West borders of the quilt are square by folding the quilt in half, wrong sides together, and smoothing the quilt flat.

Put a pin through the corner marks of both borders like a thumb tack.

Tip: I put a ear plug at the sharp end of my pin. It saves me from finger pricks and makes the pin easier to see.

Check the alignment. Do the corner marks align? Does the quilt fold flat and even?

                                                                Corner marks with pin through them

If not, examine the East and West Borders markings. Check the 5-inch measurement. Check the Border 1 and Border 2 seam, is it straight? Use the most accurate Border marking as the guide for the other. (Remember quilting is mostly art and a little bit of science. No one will know that you had to make a minor adjustment to ‘Square Up’ your quilt top.)

Once you are satisfied with your border markings, use your rotary cutter to cut the quilt on the marked lines. (It look a little weird but at this point only the left and right corners of your quilt are cut.)

Now get ready to mark the North and South Borders. The good news is the East and West Borders ‘Squared Up’ corners can be your guide. Rotate the quilt so that the borders you just cut are closest to you.

6x24 inch ruler used to extend the East and West Border corner marks to the top of the quilt and along the bottom of the quilt

Use your 6x24 inch quilting ruler to extend the East and West Border corner marks up to the top of the quilt and along the bottom of the quilt.

Rotate the quilt so that the uncut corners are closet to you. There will be a uncut corner on your far right and an uncut corner on your far left.  

Let’s start with the right corner. Position your 6x6 inch quilting ruler so that its 5-inch measurement aligns with the Border 1 and Border 2 seam and the ruler’s edge on the right aligns with the extended corner mark.

Double check the ruler positioning. You should see a 1-inch square appear in the right bottom corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler. The vertical and horizontal lines at the 5-inch ruler measurement will align with the vertical and horizontal lines of the border seams. A 45-degree diagonal line will intersect the bottom right corner of the 1-inch square and reach the top of the 1-inch square on the upper left.

Use the bottom of the ruler to mark the corner line. This is the NorthWest corner of your quilt.

The method is the same as marking the NorthWest corner. For the NorthWest corner you moved the ruler left and up. For the NorthEast corner of your quilt you will move the ruler right and up. Look for the 1-inch square. It will appear at the upper right corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler and again at the bottom left corner. The 45-degree line should point to the 1-inch square in the bottom right corner of the 6x6 inch square ruler. Put a pin where the 45-degree line ends. This the square corner mark for the NorthEast corner.

Now test if the NorthWest and NorthEast corners of the quilt are square by folding the quilt in half, wrong sides together, and smoothing the quilt flat.

Pin going through the NorthWest and NorthEast Corners of the quilt

Put a pin in through the corner marks. Do the corner marks align? Does the quilt fold flat and even? If you are satisfied with the results, then use a rotary cutter to trim the corners using the marked lines.

Close-up of extending the NorthWest and NorthEast corner marks so that they meet

If the corners are not aligned, examine the last two corner markings. Check the 5-inch measurement. Check the Border 1 and Border 2 seam, is it straight? Use the most accurate Border marking as the guide.

Close-up of rotary cutter used in the final step to ‘Squared Up’ quilt

Once you are satisfied with your border markings, use your rotary cutter to cut the quilt on the marked lines

Awesome! Your quilt is trimmed and ‘Squared Up’.

Use this method as the finishing touch to showcase the beauty of your quilt. Just like we preserve a great painting by having it beautifully mounted before it is framed, your quilt deserves to be trimmed and ‘squared up’ before the binding is applied.

Try the trim and ‘square up’ method on your next quilt. Here are five Free Quilting Patterns to get you started.

May your quilting always bring you joy!

Ernie Grant, Guest Blogger For Madam Sew

Ernestine “Ernie” Grant is an avid quilter with over 17 years experience and is the owner of the custom baby quilt business www.kalibabyquilts.com. As an African American living in Harlem, NY her view of quilting is shaped by her heritage and the elders who taught her – Quilting is not just thread, fabric and stitches. It is art, it is love, it is community.