IMO I would not change the quilt. It was gracious of you to finish it for her. She did not say anything about size. Apparently her daughter does not understand the difference between a massed produced bedspread and a quilt that is a work of (he)art.

Personally, I would be thrilled to receive a quilt made from blocks my grandmother made and pieced by a dear friend of my mother's.
The most I would do is offer to put a sleeve on the back so she could hang it.

I agree!

I'm sure the basis of this problem is the fact that non-quilters simply have no idea of the effort, the time, the personal inpouring of energy (psychic , physical, emotional, and artistic) that goes into a quilt. They see it as an exercise that is repetitive and therefore not requiring even much thought! They also don't realize the numbef of hours we put into a quilt, or the relief, reward, gratification we feel when we finish a quilt. For many of us "it is done!" which also is a strong emotional/psychic celebration, no matter how brief.

Send her this as a quote and then tell her, if you want, lets get together over coffee and talk about what to do. Make sure she buys the extra fabric (skirt addition sounds like the best idea to me) for whatever you decide, and even matching thread. Non quilters have no idea how much a spool of good thread costs, much less the $10/yd that most fabric cost.

If you do it this way, you have a good chance of strengthening your friendship even more. You will have educated her in a new (quiler's) way and trusted her to understand where you are coming from. You are respecting who she is and where she is in the cosmos (which is not a quilter's cosmos) and she will see where you are.

Maybe I'm just crazy thinking this. ...

Not sure if this would work but could you "somehow" add without taking off the binding? Like making the binding look like a flange?

Make the border, attach to the edge of the binding, then fold it so the binding covers the sewn raw edge?

Long-time friendships are hard to find so I'd try to fix it if it's possible.

Good Luck !

I would just simply tell her in great detail what you would have to do in order to make the quilt bigger...I bet she will reconsider...

Tell her to take it to the store and pick the fabric for the borders (tell how much she will need) and you will attach them.

I am doing that same thing now to one of my own quilts.
It works!
Suggest that first, and offer to make a couple of sets of matching pillowcases/shams.

Ooops, happerend to think the embroidery was "one way"?
How about making an under larger bedquilt, plain in the center, just for the longer sides?

If she really wants it larger, suggest that you could attach a bed skirt to it (she could either purchase a ready made skirt that you could use, or coordinating fabric that could be ruffled/ stitched onto it). I made a bedspread this way and it looked great (quilted top with ruffled sides). If you are lifetime friends, I am sure that you want to do something...but if you really don't have the time or desire, this shouldn't ruin your friendship. You were a gem to do what you already did for her.

That is what my mother did with grandmother's quilt. She added a bed skirt/ruffle to the binding on the inside and it looks fine.

New idea. Suggest that SHE - the friend, NOT YOU, quilt the necessary amount of embroidered blocks it would need to enlarge the quilt, which would add her loving handwork to the quilt she wants her daughter to have, and when she is done, you can get together and disassembled the boarders, go to the fabric store, TOGETHER, pick out the new fabrics, and TOGETHER, you can lovingly refinish the quilt. Ah...the joys the daughter will have with all those generations of loving handwork everytime she looks at the quilt with work done by her grandmother, her mother, and mostly you.

Now removing tongue partially from cheek. Seriously, suggesting that your friend add her hard work may be just what is needed, and done gently in this way, showing her how much more her daughter could appreciate the quilt, may give you another couple decades to have to decide.

take off the finding and add more and keep the friendship but be open to discuss money involvement in another project if it comes up.

Ask yourself this; how do you feel about doing more on the quilt? It's not just about how she feels, you know? If you redo the quilt but feel like you are being taken advantage of, but not saying so, then that will take it's toll on the friendship.

You really do need to have her over for coffee or whatever and have an open discussion about the quilt and the work that went into it. If she doesn't quilt herself, she might regard it as just a little sewing project. A lot of people don't realize how much time, effort, money and hard work go into making a quilt. You did more than "just a little favor" for her.

To ask you to redo the quilt without realizing the extend of what she is really asking of you is not fair. And it is the sort of thing that can eat at you unless you do have a real heart to heart HONEST talk with her about it. I think you owe it to both of you, and that very long friendship that you want to keep going.

You've asked all of us what we think, so let us ask you. How do you feel about taking on this chore, and it will be a chore? DO you feel you are being taken advantage of? Do you really feel like you would rather tell her thanks, but no thanks, once was enough? Could you suggest she have someone else add on to the quilt? Where do YOU stand?

When a quilt it done it is DONE! If mine are not exactly the size needed for the bed, I just turn it sidewise. After all, how many people are coming thru your bedroom on TOUR? Did she admire how beautiful the quilt looked? how nice you made her blocks look when worked into a quilt? Did she take you to lunch in appreciation for your kind work? That's what real friends do for each other. You may have one that thrives on complaining vs appreciation.

If it were me, I would tell my friend that to add to it would ruin the look of it and that I wouldn't even know how to go about doing it. And that would be the truth.

There are solid quilt like things(sorry I dont know what they are called, but not skirts) usually white or ivory in the center and colored along the edges that are made to sort of frame a quilt that is a little to small.