Thread: Help!! How to Enlarge a Finished Quilt

i vote for the dust ruffle, too. a quilt to the floor on the bed gets to heavy/cumbersome to throw off when I get too hot.

Originally Posted by milp04

Hi June and Joyce,

I would tell the customer to get and use a dust ruffle when using this quilt. Since it appears that you made the quilt according to the customer's instructions you did what was requested. In this case though the customer did not have clear instructions. She should have included a total size of the quilt for you before you started. You could have clearly determined then that additional width would be needed for sashing and the borders.

This is a case where the customer should learn by her lack of thought prior to having the quilt assembled and hand quilted. She should have made sure she was going to have enough of the quilt to hang down on each side of the bed for what she desired. This she clearly did not do. I would ask her did she measure any of her other quilts or bedspreads?

Hand quilting the assembled quilt and binding has been a lot of dedicated work to complete. I'm not sure what you charged if anything but having to undo the binding and increase the size of the quilt is also an enormous task. I'm not sure I would want to tackle the job. I would want to determine if adding the additional borders all around the quilt top would in the end look like a second thought to the quilt. It can be done but doing so would need to be your decision alone.

If you are not sure that you can remove the binding and add to the quilt and still have the quilt look and still keep the integrity of your previous work then I would probably not attempt the task.

Good luck as you make your decision.

Pam M

I'm with Pam. I would tell the customer it isn't doable for a reasonable amount of money. If she wants to pay an UNREASONABLE amount of money, I would.... nope, not even then. :lol: :wink:

I had the same situation with a customer order. I did add a border for her, but it was almost as much work as making the original quilt. An earlier time the same customer wanted a ruffle added to a finished quilt. I did that, but don't recommend that .
Unless the work size was your fault, I would tell a bed skirt is the only option.

Originally Posted by gaigai

I'm with Pam. I would tell the customer it isn't doable for a reasonable amount of money. If she wants to pay an UNREASONABLE amount of money, I would.... nope, not even then. :lol: :wink:

I go with this option...it is nearly impossible to add on to a finished quilt, and I would make them pay for the UN working and the reworking, DOUBLE....

I saw an episode on tv (sewing with nancy - column quilts, I think). i think this method can be used to solve your problem. Cut 8inch strip of fabric for front, for back and 8inch strip of batting.

Check out this link. Use her sandwiching method to add 8inch strips to either side of the finished quilt. Then rebind it.

Be patient, it takes a bit to load.
http://video.wpt2.org/video/1701089053/

I've seen this done and it looks great. I don't see how you could add to it without taking the binding off, but you would just sew the ruffle "bed skirt" onto the wrong side of the finished quilt.

Originally Posted by sahm4605

i would put a "ruffle" on three sides of the quilt maybe. it might look cute. otherwise I would take off the binding and add the extra fabric in all three layers. in maybe a round about quilt as you go fashion maybe?

Is your friend going to be paid extra to do this? Or is it out of the kindness of her heart? She completed the job she was asked to do.

I agree with Noveletyjunkie, put it on a smaller bed or use it as a throw on the back of the couch. Bed quilts aren't supposed to be bed spreads that hang off. They decorate the top of the bed...well that's my opinion anyway.

You're getting a lot of wonderful advice, love to hear what is finally decided.

Originally Posted by kclausing

I saw an episode on tv (sewing with nancy - column quilts, I think). i think this method can be used to solve your problem. Cut 8inch strip of fabric for front, for back and 8inch strip of batting.

Check out this link. Use her sandwiching method to add 8inch strips to either side of the finished quilt. Then rebind it.

Be patient, it takes a bit to load.
http://video.wpt2.org/video/1701089053/

Thanks for the video link. I've always enjoyed her show!

Several people have mentioned the time involved to Un-sew then add and finish. I used to work in an alterations shop. Many times people have come in needing a zipper replaced in a jacket. When I quoted a minimum of $20.00 they seemed surprised. One thing I was taught in the garment industry was that it takes 10 times longer to repair something than what it did to sew correctly the first time. Besides that, there is always the danger of accidental tearing of the fabric. Unless you delight in absolute self-torture, I would pass this project up. Someone else said "unless they are willing to pay". BTW, I had a few people tell me that they only paid $20.00 for the jacket to begin with. Can you guess what my (polite) response was??

Originally Posted by gaigai

Originally Posted by milp04

Hi June and Joyce,

I would tell the customer to get and use a dust ruffle when using this quilt. Since it appears that you made the quilt according to the customer's instructions you did what was requested. In this case though the customer did not have clear instructions. She should have included a total size of the quilt for you before you started. You could have clearly determined then that additional width would be needed for sashing and the borders.

This is a case where the customer should learn by her lack of thought prior to having the quilt assembled and hand quilted. She should have made sure she was going to have enough of the quilt to hang down on each side of the bed for what she desired. This she clearly did not do. I would ask her did she measure any of her other quilts or bedspreads?

Hand quilting the assembled quilt and binding has been a lot of dedicated work to complete. I'm not sure what you charged if anything but having to undo the binding and increase the size of the quilt is also an enormous task. I'm not sure I would want to tackle the job. I would want to determine if adding the additional borders all around the quilt top would in the end look like a second thought to the quilt. It can be done but doing so would need to be your decision alone.

If you are not sure that you can remove the binding and add to the quilt and still have the quilt look and still keep the integrity of your previous work then I would probably not attempt the task.

Good luck as you make your decision.

Pam M

I'm with Pam. I would tell the customer it isn't doable for a reasonable amount of money. If she wants to pay an UNREASONABLE amount of money, I would.... nope, not even then. :lol: :wink:

Hi June & Joyce: I'm with Pam and Gaigai. A dust ruffle sound great if the quilt comes down over the top mattress. People who don't sew don't understand how much work what they want is!