Jaba, the quilt that shrank was made out of top of the line fabric, and I didn't prewash, I rarely do even now. I now usually take into account shrinkage if I'm going for a certain size, which I didn't way back then. I don't use cheap fabric just for that reason. As time goes on & the more I sew & quilt, I find fabrics in my stash I must have purchased 20 years ago, they are not the same quality fabric I will only use now. Guess one can call me a fabric snob, but whether I'm making something for myself or someone else I want the quality to be top quality.

I think all quilts shrink more than we realize, even those that are prewashed tend to shrink a little. It comes from repeated washing & drying, though times I will place out on cloths line. Only ones that won't shrink are those made for wall hangings & never get washed.

Quilter65...any of your choices will look pretty! I like the stripes and alternating red/green ribbon in your last pic...love your border print!

I decided to do the ribbon border as my first round...seems softer against the appliqué than the more geometric borders...so while I am busy un-sewing some 1/4 triangles ( it doesn't work for me to try to sew at 3am when I can't sleep!!!), should I float the ribbon or not? Mama hen was kind enough to head me in the direction of her gorgeous ribbon border pattern, but I decided to keep this simple and use the quilterscache pattern. The dark blue is actually a batik with blue, green and a bit of purple....hoping to do a darker border with the next round. Your quilts are all so beautiful....I don't kid myself for a moment that mine measures up! But I am having fun! ;)

Hi, ladies. Back from a church carry-in and so full. I surely hope it doesn't snow here Jaba. It was 83 degrees yesterday and they are forecasting snow tonight. Yikes. MamaHen, thanks for the reminder about shrinkage. I had washed all this material as soon as I bought it so it SHOULDN'T do so. This is the second quilt I have made from these fabrics, Jaba, so trying to use it all up. I watch sales like a hawk and buy when it is on sale and hopefully can snatch a coupon off the internet. Which brings me to an issue, I am going to have to measure all the striped fabric and be sure I have enough. I maybe just a bit short and then I will have to figure something else out. Fortunately I have some other striped that I can maybe substitute that I haven't already used a bunch of. This is fun figuring it all out. I need to grow the sashing strips by 1/4 inch per seam on the ends so it will get to 64" and then the border will work. Hope that doesn't look dorky and I have thought about how to do that without being too obvious. We'll see if it works out. Jillmc, I looked at MHs floating ribbon a while myself. Really liked it and actually like yours without the float. I think I will have to float the SNSNS however.

I think that will look great, Jill!
I got to work on mine a bit yesterday. I am doing jaba's square in a square. What is supposed to end up 4 1/2" was a little small. I adjusted my needle over as far as I could without hitting the plate. Still small, so I cut my squares at 3 instead of 2 7/8. Now my blocks are big enough but if I just take 1/4" seam to put them together my points aren't going to match up. I don't know why I am having so many problems with this quilt. It's frustrating.

jillmc, float or not float ribbon border? , either way would look good, pick the one that appeals to you the most & you'll be very happy with it.

quilter65 you had told me you pre-washed your fabric so that is the reason I said I didn't think it would shrink very much. Don't know about where you live or anyone else but your fabric to me looks like it is a metallic, which is more expensive and here anything....and I mean anything with any metallic is at least a $1 more a yard for fabric. I just looked at 2 different lines of fabric that went together and each one had a metallic type match and instead of $12.99 or $11.99 a yard the metallic match or "blend" to that fabric line was $13.99 and $12.99. Guess that tiny bit of metallic makes it more expensive, so the other is cheaper fabric? Needless to say and I will admit I bought only 1 of the fabric lines. To me if I can find $9 - $10 a yard fabric, that is cheap, seems still very pricey on a whole quilt. Not bit--ing, just my neck of the woods and very few fabric shops, actually 2 within a 120 mile radius.
PamH don't know what to tell you that it is not measuring out for you. Every machine is certainly different. On mine it works beautifully and the way I sew seams, maybe on yours you need to cut at 3 1/8" and then just square up your blocks so they are the right size. Sorry I can't be of more assistant to you.

Jaba, I live in a rural area. Yes, the fabric is metallic. I had seen some while on a shop hop and really loved it, but you are right it was pricey (at least to me) at around $13/yd. So I started cruising internet sites because whenever I did find some at LQS, it would only be one and not coordinates, etc. I found a site where it was $7/yd and then I got a coupon and free shipping so I went a bit crazy and bought several coordinates. Surprisingly, I am using other fabric in my stash and some I had found on sale after Christmas for 50% off and find I maybe like it better. I found some fabric tonight on a site with tigers for $3/yd and my grandkids' school's mascot are tigers, so I am thinking this would be a very good buy. I try to buy locally if at all possible, but when I see fabric for $29/yd, I just can't do that.

Jill, I prefer no float for your border. Can't wait to watch it progress!

Jill, I really like the ribbon border with it's float, seems to me it emphasizes the ribbon effect.

I had the same problem. I think the center square should have been bigger but I already had mine cut, so they are what they are. I did cut the outside squares 3" to begin with because I didn't want to cut on that 8th mark. I thought this was going to give me a little to square up but it didn't. Then I ran out of the outside squares with only 2 left to make. So I had to use 4 1/2" squares of center color or the corners. It worked out but not what I had planned.