Quilt is measured--now what do I do?
 

I am new to quilting and I haven't found an answer to my question and I hope someone can help me. I am ready to put the binding on my quilt but I was told I should measure the quilt top to bottom and side to side along the sides and through the middle. Yesterday my husband helped me lay the quilt out and measure it. The middle measurements were shorter than the others and none were the same. Do I trim off the longer areas to match the middle measurements. When I pressed the quilt I only did around the border area--should I press the entire quilt and then re-measure? Thank you for any help you can give me.

Does the quilt lay flat??? If it does than you measure from the middle from top to bottom and then do the sides from top to bottom. I usually take the average of the three measurements for length. Now do the same with the width if thee measurements are not way off you will be alright. You cut the binding to the length and you will ease it to the quilt pinning and matching the center of quilt and center of binding. Do both sides then you will co the binding on the sides hope this helps you

Thank you for the reply--yes, the quilt lays flat--I like the idea of doing the average of the three measurements. I didn't know if I should trim or even add another border and then trim it so measurements would be the same everywhere.

Are we talking about borders, or binding?

This is what I was wondering also.

I'm asking what to do before binding. Since every area I measured is different I didn't know whether to trim sides and top and bottom to the same measurement as the middle as that measured narrower on the up & down and the side to side. I just thought about the extra border if putting another one one that would be wider and then trimming that down to where everything measured the same.

Are you talking about putting a border on? Or are you talking about the binding which finishes the edge of the quilt after it's quilted?

If you're talking about a border, then no you probably shouldn't trim anything. You take the three measurements and add them together and divide by three and that's the length you should cut your borders.

Measuring down the center in either direction is one method to get the right length for the BORDER. If your sandwich is quilted and ready for the binding, you can square up the quilt. Here is a video to show how to do that. (It's not the best quality but I think she explains it quite well)
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to-sq...inding-232714/

I would go back up to your post about "adding another border" The quilt should be squared up before you quilt and bind. Perhaps I am not understanding the sequence here. Have you quilted it? If you have then most likely you can't ad another border. So If it is quilted then trim and measure and try to do the squaring with the binding. Am I really confused here about the stage you are in? You don't say how much the sides and ends are "off" Are you binding with bias or straight fabric? If it is quilted then measure and put pin the bnding so each side will be the same as welll as the ends. Your binding will have to scrunch in the difference. The borders should have been used to assure the quilt top was squared before quilting.

Thank all you ladies--I have learned a lot today. I have learned that you take your measurements before adding on the border and using those measurements to cut the borders instead of going by what the pattern said to cut. I do know that I and another woman in the class found that not all the blocks came out the same size and we had to deal with that when it came to squaring those because the pieces of fabric we were given were not as large as they should have been and then there was the sashing and I'm sure not all seams were exactly the same. The only reason I would have added another border is to finally use those measurements and try to get everything cut according to those instead of what the instructions gave up to that point. I'm thinking now I just need to get this quilt done and put behind me and go onto another one using what I have learned. Again, thank all of you so much.