A friend asked for help. She does hand quilting and assembled some embroidered blocks into a quilt as per customer's request. Did the hand quilting and bound the quilt. The customer was thrilled.....until she put it on the Queen size bed.
It did not fit! She wants 8 inches added to each side.

How would you solve this problem? Would the strip added to each side have to be 3 layers? and quilted. Would you remove the binding? or would you find another way to attach it to the quilt. The owner is buying fabric to make the extensions.

My solution was to tell the customer to make a dust ruffle to tuck between the mattress and box springs. Perhaps there is another solution.

Ok, let's hear your solution to this problem.

June in Cincinnati
for Joyce in Missouri

I like to use a dust ruffle & have the quilt come just down to the ruffle. If they get extra fabric, the dust ruffle would be coordinated & should look great.

I use a dust ruffle!

i would put a "ruffle" on three sides of the quilt maybe. it might look cute. otherwise I would take off the binding and add the extra fabric in all three layers. in maybe a round about quilt as you go fashion maybe?

She could make this quilt a wall hanging and make a different larger quilt for her bed.

lots of work, but you could........ remove the binding and use quilt as you go technique to add a border.

Use it on a smaller bed!

I vote for the dust ruffle! Yikes, adding to it would all a whole bunch more time on your part.

I'll have to check into the quilt as you go method. I have a wallhanging that needs to be a lap quilt.

Hi June and Joyce,

I would tell the customer to get and use a dust ruffle when using this quilt. Since it appears that you made the quilt according to the customer's instructions you did what was requested. In this case though the customer did not have clear instructions. She should have included a total size of the quilt for you before you started. You could have clearly determined then that additional width would be needed for sashing and the borders.

This is a case where the customer should learn by her lack of thought prior to having the quilt assembled and hand quilted. She should have made sure she was going to have enough of the quilt to hang down on each side of the bed for what she desired. This she clearly did not do. I would ask her did she measure any of her other quilts or bedspreads?

Hand quilting the assembled quilt and binding has been a lot of dedicated work to complete. I'm not sure what you charged if anything but having to undo the binding and increase the size of the quilt is also an enormous task. I'm not sure I would want to tackle the job. I would want to determine if adding the additional borders all around the quilt top would in the end look like a second thought to the quilt. It can be done but doing so would need to be your decision alone.

If you are not sure that you can remove the binding and add to the quilt and still have the quilt look and still keep the integrity of your previous work then I would probably not attempt the task.

Good luck as you make your decision.

Pam M

i vote for the dust ruffle, too. a quilt to the floor on the bed gets to heavy/cumbersome to throw off when I get too hot.

I'm with Pam. I would tell the customer it isn't doable for a reasonable amount of money. If she wants to pay an UNREASONABLE amount of money, I would.... nope, not even then. :lol: :wink:

I had the same situation with a customer order. I did add a border for her, but it was almost as much work as making the original quilt. An earlier time the same customer wanted a ruffle added to a finished quilt. I did that, but don't recommend that .
Unless the work size was your fault, I would tell a bed skirt is the only option.

I go with this option...it is nearly impossible to add on to a finished quilt, and I would make them pay for the UN working and the reworking, DOUBLE....

I saw an episode on tv (sewing with nancy - column quilts, I think). i think this method can be used to solve your problem. Cut 8inch strip of fabric for front, for back and 8inch strip of batting.

Check out this link. Use her sandwiching method to add 8inch strips to either side of the finished quilt. Then rebind it.

Be patient, it takes a bit to load.
http://video.wpt2.org/video/1701089053/

I've seen this done and it looks great. I don't see how you could add to it without taking the binding off, but you would just sew the ruffle "bed skirt" onto the wrong side of the finished quilt.

Is your friend going to be paid extra to do this? Or is it out of the kindness of her heart? She completed the job she was asked to do.

I agree with Noveletyjunkie, put it on a smaller bed or use it as a throw on the back of the couch. Bed quilts aren't supposed to be bed spreads that hang off. They decorate the top of the bed...well that's my opinion anyway.

You're getting a lot of wonderful advice, love to hear what is finally decided.

Thanks for the video link. I've always enjoyed her show!

Several people have mentioned the time involved to Un-sew then add and finish. I used to work in an alterations shop. Many times people have come in needing a zipper replaced in a jacket. When I quoted a minimum of $20.00 they seemed surprised. One thing I was taught in the garment industry was that it takes 10 times longer to repair something than what it did to sew correctly the first time. Besides that, there is always the danger of accidental tearing of the fabric. Unless you delight in absolute self-torture, I would pass this project up. Someone else said "unless they are willing to pay". BTW, I had a few people tell me that they only paid $20.00 for the jacket to begin with. Can you guess what my (polite) response was??

Hi June & Joyce: I'm with Pam and Gaigai. A dust ruffle sound great if the quilt comes down over the top mattress. People who don't sew don't understand how much work what they want is!

Hi TonieLoree: I totally agree. I had a neighbour whose husband had very short arms. She found out that I made all of my children's clothes and asked me to shorten the arms of all his shirts for him (for free!) as the seamstress was charging her (gasp!!) $11.00. I told her she was getting a bargain and explained what you have to do to shorten sleeves. Having worked in alterations, you know how much work that is! I would much rather make a jacket from scratch than replace the zipper!

A dust ruffle will only work if the quilt already covers the mattress, which may not be the case. I would go over the other options with the client, pricing them to cover my time and materials. It might turn out that the client decides to keep that quilt for another bed (or to give as a gift) and asks you to make another quilt for her bed. In that case, be sure she provides good measurements, realizing that the quilt will shrink a bit when quilted.

I put a larger border on one of my finished quilts. Removed the binding and just added the border with of course the batting and backing and yes it would need to have some quilting.

Try using the Cotton Theory method of joining extra pieces to the edge of the quilt. Most quilt as you go projects use similar methods. You can see videos of the Cotton Theory quilting on Sewing with Nancy.

Once again, it is the "clueless syndrome".

I just made a pinwheel quilt for my daughter's MIL (also my good friend). She saw the quilt top and said how big it looked, that she didn't want it down to the floor. Later she told me the bed was a full size. So I took a row off the side and shortened it. Added borders, quilted it, took it to her, laid it on the bed and it is too narrow. Barely hangs over the edge. She said maybe I could add on to it. I told her, "Live with it. It ain't getting enlarged". Turned out the bed IS queen size. Oh well, live and learn. I told her to put it under her other blanket.

I refuse to make quilts too big to launder. And sweetly explain this concept to folks who don't know the difference between a quilt and a bedspread. The biggest I will make is 100 inches square.

Sometimes we do not get good information from the people we work for. Knowing the measurements of the bed would be helpful...as well as how much "drop" there needs be to be make the finished product pleasing to the eye.

I make quilts for charities, so I do not make them to fit certain bed sizes. They are often made from donated fabric/scraps so they become whatever size they are purely because I run out of blocks. I do add borders to enlarge them to make something more than a lap quilt or wall hanging size, which I think would be useless to someone wanting to keep warm.

Joyce has years of experience doing hand quilting, but also will stitch for her customers. Hand quilting is "premier" for a quilt to be kept in the family and passed down to future generations.

Mine are quilts for comfort...and there is a world of difference as those of you who quilt for charity will readily agree.

Thanks for your helpful answers. Keep your ideas coming.

June / for Joyce in Missouri

lol This is what I would do too. Then make a bigger one.

She could buy a nice solid color, lightweight bedspread and lay the quilt on top of the bedspread. Would be a nice back drop for your finished, repeat, finished work of art.

I agree with everyone here, customer should have made her instructions clearer. It seems to me that she doesn't have a clue has to how much work this is, and it may not look good on the quilt after it's done.

I enlarged a finished quilt and it wasn't that difficult. It was long enough, just needed more width. I made a strip for each side, sandwiched and quilted the size necessary. I didn't piece the addition, because the fabric lent itself to my using a strip the width and length needed. I didn't remove the binding, but sewed the strips by stitching on the binding seam. It makes a little added interest to have that line of binding. I am very pleased with the result and it was easier than I thought it would be. Hope I have explained this well enough. (Is it clear as mud?)

The sa,e thing happened to me---I did take the biding off, added 8 inches all around ahd hand sewed the extra batting strips on. Now my DIL has decided she wants vines added to the extensions so I'm appliqueing those before I sew the extra pieces on.
Good luck, Kutnso

That's exactly what I was going to say.

I added a lacy ruffle on three sides and it beautiful.
Naincie/Wyoming

I hope you were paid well for the extra work, otherwise you are a saint & a wonderful friend. :-D :-D

Wellll ----- they can never call you the "WICKED" MIL :-D :-D :-D

I don't like dust ruffles so I would take the binding off and had some borders.

Warning, I am new to posting,
My answer to a short quilt is to make a pillow cover.
I make mine 24" by how ever long it needs to be..You can make yours any size you want. It makes it easy to make your bed, you can get rid of all those extra pillows that wind up on the floor. You just move the pillow cover to the end of the bed. And the bolster covers are only good for one thing.
This also saves money$, if you put a sleeve on the back you can also use it for a valance for window or shower curtain. you can even use it for a table runner!
You can incorporate the quilt blocks, add applique, beading or you can just use the quilting pattern.
The french have a very elegant word for this but I don't remember what it is. My GGM had a very old one when i was young, that I wish I had today. Monia