Originally Posted by
chantillydreams
So, why does one have to cut it larger? What would happen if one didn't and quilted anyway. Thanks!
I was hoping that someone would answer this, as I tried to earlier and couldn't figure out how to say what I wanted to say....but I will give it a try. The problem with the top and backing being the same size is that when they are quilted together in the sandwich, sometimes the quilting makes one of them get smaller, usually the back. That means you might have to trim more than you meant to when you square the quilt up in preparation for putting your binding on. If you have extra backing, that eliminates that possibility.
Plus, if you happen to send your quilt to get quilted, there needs to be about three inches on each side for the quilt to fit correctly on a long arm machine.
Okay, that almost makes sense. Perhaps someone can "tidy up" my explanation a bit....
Beautiful quilt, by the way.
Dina