JenelTX

Uh... yeah... working on my second quilt. Sewed the borders tonight. Three out of four of them are too short. Seriously short. LOL! I have no idea how I screwed that up so badly. Back to JoAnn's tomorrow for more fabric.

JillC

You could just add corner stones out of selected fabric that is already in your quilt! Maybe it was just an idea waiting to happen rather than a mistake!

JenelTX

I thought of that, but unfortunately, the borders are too short even for that. Two of them don't even reach the corners of the quilt top! It's ridiculous and pretty darn funny.

JillC

Never did like math! Messes up the creative juices sometime :-))

Peggy Jeanne

I hate that, I ran out of binding fabric. Also a trip to Joann's!

BSKTLOFR-QUILTER

Been there, done that. Sometimes one gets focused on one thing and overlook the obvious. I believe that may be part of the learning process for me. Good job on quilt though.

katier825

Bummer! The best tip for cutting borders is one I got from Quiltville:

"Lay out the quilt on the floor, smoothing as you go so it is straight and flat, but do not stretch...just let it lay flat. Now take your border strip and lay it down the CENTER of the quilt, top to bottom, just smoothing it out. DO NOT STRETCH, just smooth, smooth. Trim it off at the bottom of the end of the quilt. I lay my quilt out on carpet, so I also like to anchor the beginning end of the borders with a couple of long pins stuck into the carpet. It keeps that one border end from creeping as I smooth. Cut the second strip the same way."

"This has ALWAYS worked for me, because when you are dealing with measuring tapes, they dont drape and lay the way your fabric does....your border fabric is your 'measuring tape' and as you smooth it across the center of the quilt top it will lay the same way as the quilt center with no tension on it."

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/...der-hints.html

I often put a board on my bed and do this because it's longer than the table and I don't have a lot of floor space. When I do, I start with a straight edge even with one edge of the quilt and pin every foot or so without stretching the fabric. When I get to the end, I take my mini mat, rotary cutter and ruler and trim it even. I fold and pin or press each border piece and the quilt in 1/4's and match up the pin/folds on the borders with the center of the quilt. I use lots of pins and ease in any fullness. Works great, my borders are always the right size and never wavy.

ckcowl

it is really not a good idea to cut your borders when cutting out the rest of the quilt- you should always make the quilt top- then measure for your borders to avoid such outcomes-
it is a lovely quilt

bubble951

Beautiful quilt. Learning can be a pain. Great advise has been given.

JenelTX

I did! LOL I just measured the top horribly wrong. I think I must've just had one of those brain glitches.