I'm finishing up a quilt top and went to the LQS the other day to buy my border fabric. I had already determined the yardage based on the length of the quilt and not piecing the strips. The owner of the shop convinced me that it would be OK to piece the border strips since there wasn't a directional print and I could save on fabric. I figured, probably she's right. I had the quilt top with me, so she measured it and punched numbers into her Fabric Calculator, jotted down dimensions and determined the yardage for my borders. We had those all cut, then I asked what she had for wide backing fabric. I hadn't planned to purchase that this trip, but it was on sale and I decided to go ahead and get it.

The fabric was 108" wide. We planned to turn it around and use it for the long side and then the cut length of the fabric would be for the short side, plus a few inches. She, taking charge of the situation, had written down the dimensions as we were figuring borders and said 68" is the width of the top with borders, so 2 yards would be plenty. I'm thinking, maybe not quite, so how about 2 -1/8 yds? So that's what I got; brought it home and washed it.
Here's the problem...
Turns out the 68" measurement only included the inner border and not the 5" outer border!!!! I'm about an 1/8 yd short! I used the shop owner's calculation and it was incorrect.
How would you handle this situation? Thanks for listening and any advice you could give from your own perspective.

I would go back and explain what happened.

I would talk to the shop owner and bring up they made a mistake and hope they will make it right, after all it was there error not yours.

I would go back to the quilt shop when she is there and explain that she didn't include the other borders and you are short. If she's customer-oriented she'll take back your piece and cut you a new one. It seems like it would not be a stretch for her to be able to sell the piece you brought back to another customer that it would work for.

If she won't take it back, I'd probably buy the new piece and sell the incorrect one here on the board.

Hope this helps!

I would go back and explain what happened to her. Hopefully she will make it right since it was her mistake. We all make them at some point, it's how you handle them that's important.

I'm just wondering if they would take it back since it's been washed.

I would go back to the shop and explain that what "we" measured was a little short, then purchase more fabric. I figure I could have easily made an error if I had been the one to measure, instead of her. However, I would certainly know how much I need before I go back to the shop.

Luckily, pieced backs look great... Hope she makes some sort of adjustment for you.

I would go back and explain what happened.

I think I would go back too. Even if it is washed, they should make SOME accomadation. Let us know how it ends up.