How can you add to a finished quilt?
 

I have one I made like 25 years ago before the mattresses were thick like they are now. Now it is not wide enough to cover well on the sides. Can it be added to somehow? It has worn very well so adding new fabric shouldn't be an issue (and I might even have more of what I used on that quilt).

I added a ruffle to a quilt for the same reason.....I just made the ruffle and sewed to the binding....turned out well and recipient loved the way it looked.

Can't you just take the binding off and add another border? You'd have to sash it and leave a little extra batting on the side of the new border, I think. Just an idea, nothing that I've actually done!

PS, I see that we live in the same place, more or less. I'm in Richland and I do Linus quilts and a little at White Bluffs Quilt Museum. I belong to the TC Quilt Guild (since March) but have not yet made a meeting.

Margaret

Another alternative to adding permanently to the quilt is perhaps to just layer it ? I recently made a quilt for my mothers birthday only to find out that she had under estimated the height of her mattress ( we live several states apart ) so the measurements I used when making the quilt ended up being about 10 inches too short ( 5 inches per side ). What she did was buy a flat sheet in a coordinating color and she places that on the bed before the quilt on top, so that the sheet hangs to cover the gap, and with the coordinating colors it looks very nice. She said she actually prefers that instead of having me try and enlarge the quilt, since now she can use the quilt in the spare room ( with a shorter mattress ) when she wants to swap out her own bed , without it being too long for the spare bedroom !

I was thinking along the lines as SlightlyOffQuilter in just putting something under the quilt and layer it. If you don't want to use a sheet then make another topper larger than your quilt so it shows below your quilt. It wouldn't have to be quilted.

If you have seen how dust ruffles are made you can make a bed topper the same way to fit the top of the bed before putting the quilt on top of it. I did this when I acquired an antique iron bed that was much higher than a standard bed.

As MFord said, you can just take the binding off and use any one of the quilt as you go methods to add an additional border. I'm doing that for a friend of mine with the same new bed issue. Take binding off, take new border fabric and lay right side down on quilt, take backing and do the same (place on back of quilt, right side facing quilt). Match all the edges, pin really well, sew a seam thru new backing, quilt and new border. Press new border & backing into position. Cut a new piece of batting & butt up against quilt. You could whip stitch the new batting in place or just make sure that you quilt pretty heavily over it. Quilt new border & rebind.

I agree with Auntie V or find some wide lace and ruffle it.

I'm with PaperPrincess on this one. I have done this more than once, using the Quilt-As-You-Go method, and no one would ever know the difference. I quilted the new border before sewing it to the quilt. It's time-consuming, mainly because you have to take the binding off, but definitely worth the time and effort. Holler if you have questions....

I put a border on my quilt removed the binding than added border that border can be any size you need