Friday, January 14, 2011

Help??

My queen size applique quilt is ready for the inner border.
After piecing homespun and then appliqueing large shapes onto it, the quilt top is not square.
The middle measures 68 1/4" and the sides measure 68 3/4".
The homespun is very stretchy and my inner borders are cut on the lengthwise grain with no give.
Mathmetically, the borders should have measured 69".
What dimension would you use for cutting the inner border?
I know what quilting rules tell me to do, but I have to ease a lot of fabric in and it looks 'bunched.'

Any and all advice is welcome!

8 comments:

  1. I've had luck splitting the difference - 68 1/2" - but I don't remember if I've done it with homespun. Is it an option to add a thin border cut on the crosswise grain?

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  2. I am not a blogger; but, one suggestion would be to do something similar to the small quilt in your header. Beverly

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  3. Im not an expert and my quilts tend to be "humble" but I would average the three measurements and cut the border that length.

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  4. Like Maureen, I would cut at 68.5" - and I would starch the heck outta the homespun first, that might help tighten it back up again & keep it stable while you sew the borders on.

    Good luck! I'm rooting for you! :^)

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  5. I don't think that 1/2 inch of ease over 5 feet of quilt is very much. If you cut the border to the shorter measurement, mark the half-way, quarters and eighths and do the same to the edge of the quilt. You will find that there will be just a tiny bit of ease to play with between each pin. After adding the borders, use some steam to help flatten the eased areas. If you want your quilt to finish to the correct size, make one of the borders a bit wider to compensate for the smaller centre.

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  6. I am a spray sizing kind of gal. But in all honesty, 1/2" isn't too bad for homespun and applique together. You'll figure it out and we'll all be admiring the blue ribbon in spring.

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  7. I'm certainly not an expert but I would do it like Susan said. I have not worked with homespun so I don't even know if this is feesible. Let us know what you ended up doing.

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  8. No advice, I just admire your quilting. Thank you for sharing

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