King's Daughter

I'm making a wickedly easy from a collection of fat quarters that I washed, and they shrank. Most were just big enough, but some were a little slim, so I cut the pieces just a tad smaller, and drew seam lines on the back. I'm making a king size quilt with it for my husband, and we only have a queen size bed, but that's what he wants (I must be insane! I've never made anything bigger than a baby quilt!!). Anyhow, do you think this will be OK? Should I maybe double stitch it or reinforce it somehow?

redrummy

That is what I do if I find I drifted off the 1/4 seam, I reinforce it by sewing over it again, and to prevent it pulling apart from use, quilt good.

May in Jersey

IMHO, Scant 1/4' seams just dont work. There isn't enough fabric to hold the pieces together. I know some of your fabric shrunk but that shouldn't be a problem, using 1/4" seams would make your quilt just a bit smaller that you orginally planed. You could always add a border or borders to make the quilt come out king sized. May in Jersey

May in Jersey

IMHO, Scant 1/4' seams just dont work. There isn't enough fabric to hold the pieces together. I know some of your fabric shrunk but that shouldn't be a problem, using 1/4" seams would make your quilt just a bit smaller that you orginally planned. You could always add a border or borders to make the quilt come out king sized. May in Jersey

Prism99

It would be better to add to your fat-quarter collection so you have enough fabric to make 1/4-inch seams.

As the other poster noted, close quilting will help reduce strain on the seams. However, with a king-size quilt there is still going to be a lot of stress on the pieced seams. Double-sewing will reinforce the seams somewhat, but it isn't a guarantee against fraying and it requires a lot of extra time.

Honestly, I'd just add more fabrics to the collection you already have. This will prevent problems with the quilt in the future.

May in Jersey

Sorry for the double post, don't know how that happened. May

pieces

You need to make the 1/4 inch seams consistant throughout the quilt. Smaller seams will pull out. After all the work of piecing a quilt you don't want all the seams to come apart after the 1st washing. Or when someone sits on it. The finished quilt size can be adjusted by making more blocks or by adding a border.

jljack

I wouldn't recommend seams narrorer than a scant 1/4", for all the reasons stated above. Your quilt center will come out a few inches smaller, but you can make it up by a wider border. Good luck!!! I'm sure you'll do fine. My 2nd quilt was a queen size that I didn't have a pattern for, after my first, which was only 49x49. Quite a difference, but it all works the same, just a different size.

athenagwis

I would highly suggest against it. Sorry to be a downer, but I have 2 quilts where I thought 1/4 inch was optional that I did 8 years ago, and they both have gaping holes where the seams busted. If I were you, I wouldn't chance it, especially with the time you are going to put into it. I would buy more fabric, or as suggested add another border to compensate.

Good Luck!
Rachel

King's Daughter

So I guess my plan won't work. It's not so much the size, is that I can't get more of most of the fabrics I messed up, but I can substitute others. Thanks for your honest advice, I'd hate to mess it up!