opinions please
 

I'm making a Ribbon of Hope quilt for a friend, (rail fence with a ribbon of hope in the middle). Well I came to the part when I was attaching my last 3 rows to the middle of the quilt, and the rows do not match up. If I adjust the seams going up and down, then the bottom section becomes 1/4 in too small.. My question is, if I adjust the bottom section to fit, trim the above sections by 1/4 of an inch, on the right side, I think I should trim the left side by 1/4 inch. I will be putting a 2 inch border, then a 4 inch border on as well.

Doing this pattern, 6 - 6 1/2 in. square accross, 8 6 1/2 in squares down, but with a 12 in square ribbon in the centre, there are a lot of seams to match. I have 3 rows above the ribbon and 3 rows below. I put 4 squares together to make a larger square, then added the last 2 squares (sewn together) to make 6 inch block. I really don't know where I went wrong. I took a picture and I can't get that to copy here. I has not been a great day.

My colors are purple/pink, light pink with the ribbon, and white. My first border is going to be white, the second, is purple/pink. The right side of the quilt top is mostly white and the left side is mostly purple/pink.

If anyone understands all this, would you please give me your opinion. Thanks for reading this.

opinionplease ( part 2)
 

I see the picture did get attached. Also the part that is not straight is where I have pinned it, trying to decide what to do.

Are you pressing your sewn pieces? It looks to me if you do that, and then keep the seems matched as you have, you could "work" it just a little and it will all come out close enough to add the border.

It's hard to tell since you haven't pressed it,....but....could you take off the last vertical row of three on the bottom and sew them back on with a narrower seam. That was the edge might line up with the rest of that side.

If it's only out a 1/4 inch, I would put the longer side to the feed dogs and put the shorter piece on top and try sewing it together. A little bit out on the seam lines shouldn't be too noticeable and the feed dogs help ease in extra fabric. Or you can just trim the 1/4 inch off on the one side that is long. It won't be perfect but chances are you'll be the only one to notice it. It looks awesome!

I have pressed seams that did not quite match and with a little stretching or sewing in the opposite direction I could make it work. I stretch just a bit - pin - and press right before I sew. Usually you cannot tell and the result is close enough.

Just wondering -- Does your bottom part of 3 rows match your top part of 3 rows? If so, then your problem is in the middle group. Is your ribbon of hope block exactly the same size as your block of 4 rails? If not, fix the ribbon to match up, either by trimming or changing the width of the white border. Good luck, Ann

Don't agonize over it! It is beautiful, and you will be the only one who will notice the imperfections!

Did you square up your blocks before sewing your rows together?

This is what I have done also. Thankfully, fabric is pretty forgiving. Also, Tartan's suggestion of putting the longer side down against the feed dogs works for me a lot of the time.

Pat