Easy, accurate borders

After a while in the garden - boy do those weeds grow quickly at this time of year - I got to the sewing machine at about five this evening.

I'm not very good at reading patterns and instructions, I'm more a 'make it up as you go along' sort of quilter. I'm sure I sometimes make things more difficult than they need to be and cause myself unnecessary problems. Today, though, I read some instructions and am so over the moon with the results that I thought I'd share it for all you others who may not work 'by the book'!

I'm working on the Takusan Tsugi quilt from the current issue of Fabrications Quilting for You, a simple square on point design with black sashing to show off Japanese fabrics. Here's what I read:

TIP Whenever you add borders to a quilt always measure across the centre of the quilt to establish the true size of the borders to be added. Measuring the sides or just sewing on the borders will invariably result in a wavy edge!

Then the instructions say, "...make it fit by easing if necessary."

I'm sure most of you are more than au fait with working like this but if passing on this tip helps one quilter I'll be happy. Please let me know how you get on.