On the Border, Border, Border

Okay...no progress on the actual quilt itself, but I'm learning right now.  I'm learning how to miter multiple borders.  Like I said, this calendar quilt is going to have three borders (hence the "Border, Border, Border" title).  If I put those borders on one at a time, that means I'll have to miter the corners 12 times.  Twelve times.  So not fun.  So not happening.  No siree.  Oh jeez, at least I hope not.

So what does one do when one doesn't want to miter 12 corners?  One googles.  And one reaches out for help.  And do you know what?  My faith in the internet, bloggers and e-mail has been proven!

Julie at Jaybird Quilts has a fabulous tutorial on mitered multiple borders that I've been picking apart and scribbling notes about since last night. 

I was having problems understanding the tutorial (cuz I'm so smart and all - yep), and right in the midst of me practically having a meltdown, I get an e-mail from Sandi at Piecemeal Quilts.  I'm telling her what a doofus I am and what I'm trying to do, and bless her heart, she sends me instructions in an e-mail about how to miter multiple borders.  She even sent me some links.  And one of them was Julie's.  How cool is that??

Both of them put up with my multiple questions, my exasperations, my endless complaining, and never acted like they got exasperated.  I can't thank them enough for the help they provided me.  And for the fact that they didn't tell me to get lost and leave them alone.  And quit complaining.  And quit whining. 

So...today, I decided to make a small sample so I could get some practice doing the miter for multiple borders.  I need all the help I can get so I don't ruin all the fabric for my quilt.  I guess I got a little cheap miserly frugal and made my first sample so small I couldn't practice the miter for the three borders.  So I had to start all over again just making my next sample larger.  My first mitered corner left a lot to be desired.  The second mitered corner was a little better.  I guess I'm about 80% satisfied with it.  As for now, I've decided to leave it alone, and I'll just tackle it again tomorrow for corners three and four.   Hopefully I'll do better.

Looks like I won't get the quilt top finished in time to take to DD#1's house for her birthday on Friday.  But that's okay.  If I learn how to miter those multiple borders, that will be an awesome reason for being late. 

I owe you Julie and  Sandi.   You were both wonderfully understanding while I was going through my learning curve last night.  I appreciate all of your help.  I could not have done it without you.  Well, I haven't really "done it" yet.  But I couldn't  have gotten this far without your help.  And I know I'm going to tackle this and I'll finally get it done.  Just maybe not by Friday.