Has anyone ever done this to a quilt before?
 

The quilt was finished, label on and survived two washes in the machine but.....I wasn't happy with it. More I thought about the person it's intended for, the more I thought the centre was wrong, specifically the colour of the church which because of the type of fabric was going to make the quilt exceptionally high maintenance. I was just as dissatisfied[ATTACH=CONFIG]499546[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]499549[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]499550[/ATTACH] with the back of the centre panel so now busy making another centre piece to slot into the quilt. I think I'm going to quilt both separately so that they don't interfere with each other before wracking my brains as to how best to make the quilt look as if its never been altered. I think, and perhaps someone can keep me right here, that I should manage to fit it in using a quilt as you go kind of method? On a positive note the tartan washed up beautifully!

Sorry, I would NEVER have done that. Usually if I am going to pull something, it is before I pin baste the quilt. Good Luck !!

Well that is some undertaking! I'd never attempt it, but, am sure you will get it the way you want. Let us see when it is done.

Hmm. I guess I would quilt the center as a stand alone piece. I hope that you made it larger than needed. Then I would temporarily bind the edges & wash it twice, like you did the original. Then I would cut the center to just fit the opening, and use a large zigzag to secure it to the border. You could also whip stitch by hand. Then apply a trim strip over the seam. Make sure you have laundered the fabric for this strip also. Cut it twice the width you want, then fold both sides in to meet in the middle. You can top stitch this on the front, and will probably need to hand stitch this to the back. Good luck. The new church center is really nice.

thank you for the advice. Much appreciated. I did start unpicking but was in danger of taking the whole quilt out to the garden to make a bonfire! Drastic action for sure but it saved my sanity - temporarily anyway!

Good luck with your quilt. No advice as I've never done anything like this. Hope you will post pictures after you are finished and let us know how you ended up handling this. Beautiful quilt!

Thinking about this a bit more, I think it would be better to hand stitch the center into the border rather than zigzag it. I think you will have better control. I would tack the corners, then the centers, then the rest of the seam. Don't know if you have access to a work area that large, but I would try to keep your work flat on a table the entire time.

thank you. I hate hand sewing but it will be my penance for not listening to the voice in my head in the first place. That'll be the sensible voice - not the others lol!

I am certain I would not have had the courage to do that to a quilt. Good luck.