pennyswings

Don't worry you did not make a mistake if you cut it like that. Like Bella said, the half inch is taken up by 1/4 inch seam when you attach it to the quilt and 1/4 inch seam when you attach the binding.
Listen to me, I am a new quilter too and here I am giving you advice. The people here are great and very helpful.
I find that you learn with each one you do. I remember when I made my first quilt and the triangles on some of the blocks did not match perfectly when I sewed them together. I wanted to rip them all out but did not have the time because it was a Christmas present for my son and his family. My sister told me, hey those tiny mistakes are what make it more precious and she is right. I have learned to lighten up. I still try and match my blocks as best as I can but I try not to stress if I cannot do it. I do not plan on showing them, I make them for the pleasure it gives me and for the people I love.
Listen, now that you know the border will be ok, go buy some more fabric, you never have enough!! LOL :lol:
Don't forget the pictures when you are done.

Donna Stahlbaum

To Dingle, If there is no Fabric left for border, why not try a corner square of some other matching fabric. :roll:

skacian

Welcome from Tennessee.....

JCL in FL

Good for you on finishing your top. I made one for my daughter many years ago. If you are adding sashing strips around the top do that now. and then make a sandwich consisting of the top, the batting and the backing. It's best done on a big table or the floor. Then you either baste through all layers or you pin them together using many, many pins. Make sure you backing and batting are larger than your top, you can trim these after you have quilted. Start quilting from the middle out. I use a PVC pipe frame and hand quilt but you can quilt it on the machine in the same manner.Remove the pins as you go. When your don trim you back and batting a little larger (1/4inch) than the finished top.The binding is the last thing to go on. I use binding I've made from material . Usually mine is 2 and 1/2 wide material I've pressed in half and sewn to the top side of the quilt. I lay the folded strip with the fold towards the inside of the quilt top and sew 1/4 inch all around the quilt.putting the ends one in side the other at the start/end point and then I flip it over and do a tiny stitch on the back side. If you have any questions there are many people on this site to help you when you get stuck.Watch some of the tutorials, they are really helpful Good luck, show us when you're done.

weezie

Why didn't it work out right? 2-1/2" wide strips make 2" wide borders, allowing for a 1/4" seam on each side. Is it too short? If so, supplement with blocks (cut 2-1/2" x 2/1'2") and add the blocks before you sew the border to the rest of the quilt top. Putting on the binding is the final step. My personal preference is to machine stitch it to the top and hand stitch it on the bottom.

patty48

Why didn't I think of that!!! I'll be passing that tip on to my quilt buddies...

Dingle

Hi Everyone
In case some of you missed my last post it didn't work out because I used the wrong "B" word. I wanted to say binding, not boarder. I'm not putting a boarder on this. I need it to be roughly 50x60. I wanted to put a 2 1/2" binding on the quilt and made a mistake by cutting the fabric at 2 1/2". I should have cut it 4 1/2". Fabric store is 1 1/2 hours away. Not worth running to Vegas just for that, and my next trip won't be until sometime in April :( I'll just have to figure something else out until then. If I can't find the print I'll just have to use a solid. Don't want this to go to waste just because I can't get the print. Thanks all for your help.

Kris

JCL in FL

Kris 4 1/2 in is a pretty wide binding. If you cut 2 1/2in, double it and sew it on 1/4in on top of quilt then flip and blind stitch it to the back you'll have a regular size quilt binding of 1/2' which I think is pretty normal. Most of the patterns I've used say cut 2 1/2 Some people like the binding a little fluffier and cut the binding strip 3". or 3 1/2 but I would think 4 1/2 would give you an awfully large binding. What you could do with the 2 1/2 if you don't think it is big enough for your binding is just make it a border around your quilt. Have you started quilting it yet? If not it may take you a while to do it. And by then you may have made a trip to a quilt shop.

Dingle

Top is already done. I always thought the binding was 4" wide I must be confused. But I still don't have enough to do the binding. I messed up on a few strips with the ruler slipping so I used more fabric then I had planned to. I even bought more then I should have. Being a newbie I know I will make mistakes. Guess I just need to buy even more fabric. What a bummer :lol:

Kris

JCL in FL

That is why all of us have such large stashes of fabric. We've been there. Believe me. I made a quilt for my sister last year and honestly had a piece of fabric about 4X6 left and I had to piece my border several times. I've been at this for years and the seam ripper is my best friend. I think I enjoy making throws so much because there isn't a normal size, it's what it is. When you make one for a bed it has to be in a close neighborhood to the size of the bed.