I am an idiot. Please help!
 

I'm new to quilting. I'm working on my second quilt and I swear to God that I measured 4 times, but guess what I did? Cut my square too short. Is there a product like a tape that I can tape on the extra .5 inch that I need (since I have no extra fabric other than some scrap) or am I s.o.l?

Thanks

Taping will not work. However, if you have extra fabric, you can sew pieces together to "make" a new piece of fabric that is large enough. If you have a piece that is 1.5" wide and as long as your square, for example, you can sew it on and then cut the resulting piece to the correct measurement. Old-time quilters often had only small scraps to work with and would do this to get a piece of fabric large enough to cut to the size needed.

That's what I've had to do....put some scraps (even scraps that are different fabric) together to make another piece. Once you quilt it, you can't really tell where it is

I have had to do this before and it works. You cannot see it on the completed quilt. Don't get discouraged, just chock it up to a learning experience and move on. :sew:

You are not an idiot. Believe me, a quilter who has not done what you have done at least once, is a rare thing indeed. And I don't think quilters are the only ones. I bet carpenters do it a lot too, hence the carpenters credo "measure twice, cut once". We all know that saying and still we end up with the occasional short, pieced together with scraps piece. I have more than a few borders on quilts with a 1/2" patch in them.

Don't worry, this is a mistake that many of us make -- if I am cutting and let my mind wander the least little bit I am guaranteed to have miss-cut at least one block (or a whole border length -- which is really annoying). As others have said, if you have a scrap that is at least 1 1/2" wide, sew it on and then re-cut the block. When I patch like this, I try to check the adjacent blocks and make sure the seam does not encounter the seams of any adjacent block. I also sometimes press the seam open so I have less bulk, but once quilted only you know it was a mistake.

I use iron on fusible on the back of the fabric. After quilting it cannot be seen.

Happens to all of us. Some of my "best" quilts came out of making just such a mistake and then getting creative to make some kind of quilt out of my mistakes.

Prism 99 has the answer, so I won't go into it. good luck and have fun1

Yes even carpenters can't get it right. You should see how many homes are off in their square footage.

My mom was a garment sewer and did lots of it. I can remember her doing the exact thing to have enough fabric for a pattern piece (of which some were homemade patterns). She called this piecing "patching." She'd say, "I had to patch to get all of the pieces." Congratulations on being a new quilter. Don't hesitate to ask questions when you have a problem.

Same as Prism said. Just add a piece of fabric to your block. Look at it as a creative learning opportunity. We have all made mistakes like this and we learn from each one of them. Who knows you may create a whole new block design!

Well, have you heard of” i cut it twice and it is still to short”?

First of all, yo are not an "idiot, you have to make alot of mistakes to sometimes get it right, I am not a perfectionist so I can usually handle flub-ups by just quilting and binding however it turns out. Yours is a different story, but learn by it. I've been ready to give my stash away more than once from many mistakes, but it always lures me back

I cut two borders last week at 51/2" that is until I measured after cutting. One was 51/2" the other 5" . So I made both 5". Lucky me an easy fix.
A as you like myself have no more fabric( you could go shopping) could you cut all down to the size you have cut. The quilt will be smaller but borders will add on to arrive at same size.
If you add on a small section I found pressing an open seam was best as it will lie flatter and blend in more.

Extra. I have just looked at an email and had another idea. Take a section of the fabric and print on a printer on the special fabric. This you can sew on and it will be a definately match. You could join two wrong sizes and then print this new fabric will have no join but it will give a cost.

This happens to all of us for one reason or another. Just be sure that when you stitch pieces together to make your new section that you add enough scrap piece to make the seam that you must create to fall well away from the edge or you will have extra bulk to deal with in a place that is difficult or will pull away because it is so small. In others words if you need to add a half inch, add an inch sized section and recut so the seam is well back from the finished seam. If you need to match a pattern, use Elmer's to add in the matching.

If you add a piece of fabric to the square, add a bigger piece than you need, then trim to the size needed.

Find a way to patch it, as many have suggested. It will make the quilt more interesting too!

Don't feel bad... The reason I know the mistakes that are going to be made on a project is because I've already made them..... and then, made them again. Being human is a challenge sometimes.

I think often of the old saying that I learned when I went to Jr college in theatrical set design. "measure twice and cut once". We have ALL done THIS!! I will tell you a trick I use but it can't be more than an 1/8" of an inch difference. I fuse lightweight fusible interfacing (normally cut 3/8" wide strips) to the wrong side of the short edge. Trim the block. When I stitch that side to another block, I take it over to the ironing board (medium heat setting) and press it securely to reinforce the shorten 1/8" seam allowance. Never have had a problem.

You are not an idiot, don't be so hard on yourself. We have all done it and will probably do it again in the future. I just "did the math" on a quilt for my son and added a border of six inches and thought I was being so smart to add the six inches for my binding. Only I didn't remember that the six inches was going all the way around the quilt so had to piece to make it work. So piece together a square and as everyone has told you, when it is quilted you won't even see it.

I've done that before too. But my suggestion is to piece it in the center rather than the edge. First of all, the extra seam has less chance of being caught in your regular 1/4" seam, which would make a really bulky bump, but in the center you can pass it off as a "design decision " rather than an error! :)

Find a way to patch it, as many have suggested. It will make the quilt more interesting too! And BTW, I have NEVER made a mistake like that....NEVER! ;-).

I've been in the same boat as you. I found if I put a piece of painter's tape on the cutting line of my ruler I have a better chance of not making those cutting mistakes. Also they now have rulers with guide lines you set that help out too. I have them now but haven't really gotten into using them much. So used to my old ways its hard to break into a new way of doing things. My rulers are getting old though so when it comes time they are useless for cutting purposes, I'll switch to the new ones I have already.

This reminded me of a friend who bought a really nice house for cheap. She said that the builders forgot to measure for the laundry room, therefore no laundry room in their new house.

Piecing the square is probably your only option. Regardless of how many years I've been quilting, I can count on occasionally cutting a square too short. One thing I have done in the past when I'm cutting multiples of a measurement, I will put a piece of masking tape or painter's paint on the top of the ruler, so I can see exactly where I have to cut.

You have received excellent advice. I just want to add, don't be so hard on yourself. You are in very good company, and it has nothing to do with being a new quilter.
As has been said, we all do this from time to time, and you will probably do it again now and then. No head banging and name calling required; just take it in stride. And just wait till you cut a whole stack of squares for a quilt wrong, lol. Sometimes there is no patching, sometimes it just becomes a creative design opportunity. Embrace those times too, you just might LOVE the new pattern you come up with.
Smiles and hugssssss...... remember we are quilting because we love it and it's FUN!

Join the club of the quilting world. If anyone tells you they have never done this I think they are truly telling a whale of a FIB. More than once I know I measured 2-4 times on blocks and they have come out too small. Sometimes I really do think it is some fabrics. I experienced square shrinking a lot once and I recut squares fro the same fabric and a different fabric, pressed both after the block was made hst it definitely turned out to be the fabric. So no you are not an idiot, this just happens, so hang in there and keep making your quilts.

A sign of a great carpenter and quilter is being able to cover up your mistakes and make them look like you meant for them to be there. Fantastic advice has been given because we've all been there at one time or another.

You are not an idiot. We all have made the same mistake. In fact, I'm working on a quilt right now that was supposed to have 7 1/2" rectangles and I just noticed the other night that I cut mine 6 1/2". Oh well, it's still working. haha Year before last, I had to sew an extra little piece to my backing because I cut the corner off. duh! Like everyone said, don't be so hard on yourself. If you have to be perfect to quilt, I might as well quit right now.

Follow the advice of the quilters who're telling you to piece the scraps together to get the length you need. And if it is just .5, you can use some similar colored fabric and once it is quilted only the eagle eyed will ever see it if you can resist pointing it out. Trust me, it won't be long until you have to look for it. froggyintexas

You can make a color copy of your fabric & print it on inkjet fabric sheets! Works like magic! There are several brands--EQ printables, Printed Treasures, etc. You actually have a piece of fabric. If the piece is too small, you can make a copy of the small piece then lay the fabric on the copy & copy again before printing on the inkjet sheet.

I recently did the same..in the process of making my quilt. I sewed two scraps together. I know its there but I don't think anyone else will one its all together and quilted. Can't wait to finish that quilt...

I wish I could say I have never been in that boat but truth told, I have been along for several rides. Like the others have said, Just sew a piece of scrap to the shot cut piece and after your quilt has been quilted, only you will know where the repair was needed.

This just happened to me on my last quilt! Tried to buy more of the fabric but couldn't find online or at any of the LQS within 50 miles! So I sewed together several of my scraps and although I can see it, it blends in nicely and no one else can see it!