QuiltingByCourtney

So I am quilting a quilt for a gal, she made back in like 99 and its super pretty but I am thinking they may not make this backing print anymore for material. Anyway, I knew it was going to be tight as far as her backing size fitting the top..............as I measured and remeasured....agh my greatest fear...I am at the bottom now and the backing is 5inches too short!!!!!!!!!!! I want to die, I emailed her and am praying she has more of that backing laying around her house she can sew on, but with my luck she won't and will have to cut the bottom border shorter...at this point it makes me never want to quilt for someone again...the only other option is take what few inches are left along the edges, trim that off and sew it onto the bottom backing, then reload it and finish quilting....and this was a bear paw queen size pattern that she had me do SID on and it took forever now this!

Has this ever happened to anyone? Please tell me I'm not the only one! :'''''-(

toolazy

I munged up one of my own quilts (making it for myself) in similar fashion. I added a different fabric at the bottom. What's another stripe among friends? Especially if it's on the back.

Hope you and client find something that works and that makes you happy.

QuiltingByCourtney

Yeah, me too, I am hoping she is ok with me cutting the couple inches off the side edges and using that on the bottom since it will match....I am just a perfectionist and there should have been more fabric I know but she made it soo long ago I was ok, I will do my best to make it fit....she is easy going so I hope she says "yep just do that" then I will be ok...but my fav is just doing my own stuff instead of for others you know. Then you don't feel that pressure.

ckcowl

oh my...that is so sad...i always insist on an extra 5" all the way around for backing & batting so i can avoid that situation...if a customer's quilt comes in with the backing too small i let her know & send it back to be 'fixed' I actually have a quilt with the exact problem...it's one of my own & i don't know what i was thinking....i stopped quilting it near the bottom when i realized my error, unloaded it & stuck it in my closet...now i use it to show people when they wonder why i always insist on extra...maybe someday i will figure out a fix & finish it- but for now it's just a sad example. it's too bad your's is a customer one & not one of your own. I hope she has the extra you need to finish it up- it sounds as if the other option (cutting the sides) may be a workable solution too...take a deep breath, many people have done this- you are not alone...but do learn from your mistake & always insist on the extra...and measure, make sure when the quilt comes in so you can give it back if it's not big enough....take pictures of that one so you have an example to show others.

MisDixie

Oh yes my dear, been there and done that! I was a good 8 inches short and out of material. I was sure I had measured it twice. I trimed off the sides and added them to the bottom. Lots of work to unload and reload but it worked out great.

justflyingin

If she is so laid back about it, I'm not sure why she will mind another color strip along the bottom. Maybe a coordinating color--and there she can center her label. I certainly wouldn't lose sleep about it if I weren't planning on it being a reversible quilt.

knlsmith

I haven't had it happen to me...YET. It is one of those things that happens to everyone sooner or later. Think of it this way, you've got your one time done, so it won't happen again.

I think taking from the extra on the sides would be a perfect solution. It's on the back, and the will keep the integrity of the front.

QuiltingByCourtney

Thanks everyone, thankfully the backing edges had sufficent length there is 3.5 extra on each of those so I know I can get the 5 inches I need for the bottom. Just waiting on her to respond to my email to go forward. I hope this never happens again and I have my one time out of the way. I for sure will take pictures of this for others....it really surprised me how much the backing moved though, wow...

quiltingcandy

I had a similar situation with a quilt for my daughter, what I did was split the backing in half, cut a 7 inch piece off one end and put a complimenting piece on both sides of the 7 inch. So it looked planned, instead of the pure frustration it was. When my daughter saw it she thought I was trying to make it 2 sided. Told her it was my attempt not to take my frustration out with my rotary cutter.

Quilts rock

I did have that happen and what I did was made a border of coordinating material, sewed it top and bottom and then went ahead and quilted . It looks really nice, I actually got some compliments on it. But, I was soooo upset at the time.